They want antiquing traffic. They want tourist traffic. They want foot traffic. They want the retiring baby boomers who yearn to travel the back highways of America in their leisure years.

They don't want truck traffic. Big-truck traffic. But that's what they would have to endure - every four minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year - if a coal mine opens near Alton in Kane County.

"Ninety-five percent of my business is from tourism, with 65 percent of that being repeat customers," says Becky Yard, who owns Cowboy Collectibles in Panguitch. "The trucks would mean new customers would stop just one time."

Yard and other business owners along U.S. 89 in Panguitch and Hatch are banding together in hopes of preventing approval of the mine and a steady stream of coal-hauling semis rumbling back and forth along the Heritage Highway between Alton and State Route 20 in order to reach Interstate 15 and a loading facility near Cedar City.

The mine may stoke Kane County's bottom line, but shop owners worry the resulting truck caravan will lead to more accidents and scare off tourists who power Garfield County's service economy.

"It would take away from what is here and why we are here," warns Peggy Egan, who owns a bed-and-breakfast in Panguitch.

She notes many outsiders have moved to town, bought some of Main Street's old brick buildings and converted them into businesses.

"Several of the buildings that have been restored would have been torn down," Egan says.

Others are swooping in to retire or buy second homes.

"In a four-block area, 12 homes were purchased by outsiders, most for second homes," she says. "They have a lot of discretionary money. That means they could go anywhere they want. They don't have to come to 'Truck Town.' "

Yard came to Panguitch from Southern California six years ago to open Cowboy Collectibles, which sells Western goods from saddles to replicas of the flint-blade knives once crafted by American Indians.

She and her husband, Randy, have taken to Panguitch, recently listed (the whole town) on the National Register of Historic Places. They volunteer for community projects, participate in civic groups, attend City Council meetings and even donated land and Old West memorabilia for a park next to their store.

Not in their plans: semi after semi pulling coal-laden double trailers and threatening, as they see it, their livelihoods. So they and other business owners are urging city leaders in Panguitch and nearby Hatch to oppose the coal mine.

Alton Coal Development wants permission to mine 2,600 acres sandwiched between the Kane County farming community of Alton and Bryce Canyon National Park.

The company is paying consultants, hired by the Bureau of Land Management, to help prepare an environmental impact statement on the project. The public-comment portion of the study, which could take a year, wrapped up last month (a sore spot with some because many shop owners leave for the winter months).

Project manager Alan Childs says he met recently with residents of Hatch and Panguitch during a Garfield County Commission meeting.

"It's early in the process so there are a lot of misconceptions," Childs says. "We [the company] aren't like the bubonic plague coming through town."

He says the trucking plan represents a "worst-case scenario."

"We have a few options."

Childs says those options could include building a bypass road around Main Street or modifying the hauling schedule so that a few days could be truck-free.

State Road 14 is not an attractive option. It provides a more-direct route from Alton to Cedar City, but big rigs are urged to steer clear of the Scenic Byway.

Even so, Childs argues that the mine and the trucks would bring economic benefits to the region, including 100 high-paying jobs at the dig site 40 miles south of Panguitch and a possible terminal for servicing the fleet in Panguitch.

Royalties from the mining operation would enrich Kane County, but how much money - if any - could flow to Garfield County and its communities remains unknown.

"They [Kane County] get all the money and we get all the impact," complains Vince Salbato, who until recently owned a fly-fishing shop and lodge on the Sevier River south of Panguitch.

Salbato also doubts the operation would bring many jobs to Garfield County. Instead, he worries it would drive away current workers.

"You may create five jobs here, but lose 100."

mhavnes@sltrib.com