On September 12, 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation creating Canyonlands National Park: “...in order to preserve an area...possessing superlative scenic, scientific, and archeologic features for the inspiration, benefit and use of the public…”
There will be events of celebration and reflection next week in Moab as part of a year-long recognition of the anniversary. . And a new film “Our Canyon Lands” looks at some issues going forward: “...one of the last vast wild places in the lower 48 sits teetering on a precipice of industrial development.
Home to the most stunning desert landscapes in the world, the Greater Canyonlands Region has become the playground of adventurous souls who love and appreciate the wonder of wild places. It has also become the target of industrialists, who threaten to turn our treasured parks into islands, our canyons into roaring hydrocarbon highways and our rivers into endangered arteries among vast swaths of oil and gas development, uranium and potash mining and, potentially, tar sands development bordering Canyonlands National Park.”
We’ll ask you what you think about current threats or opportunities in southeastern Utah. Also, do you have a favorite Canyonlands memory to share? Our guests will include filmmaker Justin Clifton; Tim Peterson, Utah Wildlands Program Director with the Grand Canyon Trust; and former Canyonlands Superintendent, Walt Dabney.