On the day after Thanksgiving, my son and I were able take a 12-mile day hike into Saddle Horse Canyon, on the northwest corner of the vast San Rafael Swell region. Even though there was an inch of snow on the ground, as well as dense fog at 7 a.m. when we started, by noon temperatures were in the high 40s, causing most of the snow and fog to disappear.
We were then privileged to experience an abundance of steep sandstone walls, a 200-foot spire, several petroglyphs, a large, unnamed arch and numerous bighorn sheep footprints.
As the San Rafael area is the closest redrock country to the populous Wasatch Front (rivaling the popular national parks to the south), it’s a shame that the current version of Sen. Orrin Hatch’s and Rep. John Curtis’ Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018 comes up way short, protecting only a third of the 1.5 million acres of wilderness-quality lands that the San Rafael Swell area offers. Worse, the bill rolls back protection for over 17,000 acres of current wilderness study areas.
In short, the existing bill hardly does anything for conservation, but instead hands thousands of acres over to development interests.
James Thompson, Salt Lake City