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Moab • State lawmakers floated the Colorado River and hiked into Arches National Park in eastern Utah on Thursday as part of a two-day field trip in which legislators heard from local officials in tourism and counties that depend on energy development.
The raft trip and park visit Thursday morning were not just fun excursions, said Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, the House majority leader who helped organize the trip. The excursions help lawmakers understand how vital tourism is to the Moab area, he said, and the impact more visitors and federal regulations are having on the local economy.
Dunnigan cited a jump in visitors at Arches that has led park officials to consider adopting a shuttle system to cut the number of cars in the park. Arches was temporarily closed Memorial Day weekend amid a crush of traffic.
More than 80 lawmakers were on the trip, which wrapped up Thursday.
They have been shuttled around by three buses, where they heard from rural mayors, county officials and representatives from tourism and energy-extraction industries. No official votes or other action were to happen on the trip.
It is part of a revived annual tour that the Legislature stopped taking when the recession hit in 2008. With the economy improving, legislators decided last year to reinstate the trips to get a firsthand look at outlying areas.
State tourism and county officials told lawmakers about their efforts to balance mining and other energy-extraction efforts with a tourism economy dependent on unspoiled natural landscapes.
As lawmakers made their way Wednesday night to Dead Horse Point State Park, they saw oil and gas wells tucked off the road.
Sen. Aaron Osmond, R-South Jordan, said there is a big difference between hearing officials testify about those issues in hearings at the Capitol in Salt Lake City and experiencing it in person and seeing how intertwined the industries are.
"I just didn't understand that dynamic," Osmond said, "until I came out here and heard it and saw it face to face."
Lawmakers on Thursday visited sandstone formations at San Rafael Swell, a coal power plant in Castle Dale and wildfire damage and a water project on the way to Fairview.
The two-day venture, which included an overnight stay at several Moab hotels, cost the Legislature $70,000.