September 4, 2014 Wayne & Garfield County Insider

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THE

Wayne & Garfield County

INSIDER

Panguitch • Panguitch Lake • Hatch • Bryce • Tropic • Antimony • Henrieville • Cannonville • Escalante • Boulder • Fremont • Loa • Lyman Bicknell • Teasdale • Torrey • Grover • Fruita • Caineville • Hanksville

Thursday, September 4, 2014 • Issue # 1064

Panelists Discuss Management of Soil Crusts During Recent BLM Science Forum by Mariella Minton, Contributing Writer

Hyde's Wall, by Philip Hyde.

Escalante, Slickrock and Philip Hyde by David Leland Hyde David Leland Hyde will serve as this year's keynote speaker at the Escalante Canyons Art Festival on Friday, September 26 at 7:30 pm at the Escalante High School auditorium. His topic will be, "Nature Photographer Philip Hyde and His Family Ramble the Southwest." As far back as I remember, up until a few years before his passing in 2006, my father, landscape photographer Philip Hyde, had posted in his studio giant wall-sized topographic contour maps of the canyons of the Southwest. Drawn on the maps in various pen colors, he recorded nearly 60 years of travels between tripod tracks. Upon seeing the maps and after urging by my Dad, John Mitchell, the editor of Sierra Club Books in the early 1970s,

decided to develop a large format book project—which became the now classic Slickrock—just as Edward Abbey signed on to write the book's text. Mitchell, in the introduction to Slickrock, tells the story of how Abbey and Hyde first met. Abbey had hiked with a friend into a remote area of Canyonlands. Abbey’s friend scrambled ahead of him up to the rim where he ran into a photographer with a large format camera on a tripod, poised

on the sandstone:

“Cameraman explains he is doing a book. Funny, Friend says, so is my buddy. Cameraman asks identity of buddy. Ed Abbey, says Friend. Funny, says Cameraman, same book. Friend hollers down canyon: Hey, Ed. Guy up here says you’re collaborators. Abbey scrambles up. Ed Abbey, says Friend, meet ‘Doctor’ Hyde.”

Such a chance crossing of paths, deep in the heart of The Maze—which was then roadless—was fitting for these two desert wanderers and their collaboration. The two creative personalities differed in their approach to social pastimes:

Americana Band Sweet Loretta to Perform at Robbers Roost, September 6

Get on down to see Sweet Loretta at Robbers Roost on September 6 in their sole Torrey performance of the year. TORREY - In their only Torrey appearance this year, Sweet Loretta will appear on the outdoor stage at Robbers Roost on Saturday, September 6 at 4:00 p.m. “We’re always glad to be back on our adopted home ground!” enthused J.S. “Shawn” Foster, who plays fiddle, mandolin, spoons and whistle with the group. “The last time we were here, we had such a great time that we have

been hankering to get back. We can hardly wait to hit that note!” Sweet Loretta plays a rootsy mixture of folk and rock commonly known as Americana, explained lead vocalist and guitarist Diana Cannon. “We all like the narrative storytelling of folk, but with the vocal harmonies and lead guitar more commonly associated with loud rock music,” she recounted. Cannon said

REGIONAL Weather forecast for some but not all regions represented in our newspaper coverage area

Thurs. SEPT. 4 - wed. SEPT. 10 SUNNY, CLOUDY, SUNNY, CLOUDY is how the forecast looks, starting with partly cloudy Thursday with a high around 80, sunny to mostly sunny Friday through Sunday, still hovering around 80 degrees, possibly isolated T-storms on Monday and partly cloudy Tuesday, and sunny again on Wednesday. Temperatures dropping 10 degrees or so over the course of week to low 70s by Wednesday.

that Sweet Loretta’s common influences including Hank Williams, Sr., Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and Gillian Welch, among others. Founding member Debora Threedy, who is on leave from the band while she writes a play, will not be appearing at this performance. Instead, Cannon said, the band’s newest member, singer-guitarist Jordan Jones will make his debut with the group. “We’re overjoyed with the energy and enthusiasm he projects, not to mention his contribution to our vocal blend,” Cannon said. The other members of the band include bassist-singer Kay “K.C.” Cameron and guitarist and dobro player Barry Scholl. The band will debut several new songs in this special afternoon appearance. At the same time, Robbers Roost will host its weekly farmer’s market, with fresh produce, baked goods, and a variety of local handmade goods. Admission to the farmer’s market and the performance is free. —Barry Scholl

Abbey was a wild party lover and Hyde was a subdued teetotaler. Yet they both had an unsurpassed love of deserts— sandstone, sage and open sky—and they each had an unparalleled gift for expressing this love and similar feelings about preserving wild places for future generations. To that end, Dad was one of the first to photograph areas of Canyonlands, the Escalante wilderness and locations along the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. Even Dad’s photograph of Dead Horse Point was the first published in color—the same view that the Utah State Parks’ Web site says is one of the most photographed in the world. In addition to the list Philip Hyde

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GRAND STAIRCASEESCALANTE N.M. - The Bureau of Land Management has hosted a number of public forums as part of their Livestock Grazing Monument Management Plan Amendment and Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which is scheduled to be implemented in the fall of 2016. As part of the process of developing the new grazing management plan, the BLM hosted a Biological Soil Crusts Science Forum. The public forum, attended by more the 30 people in Kanab on August 6th, consisted of five panelists: Dr. Fee Busby, professor at Utah State University's Quinney College of Natural Resources, Dr. Kim Anderson of the U.S. Forest Service, Dr. Jayne Belnap from the U.S. Geological Survey at the Canyonlands Research Station, Dr. Matthew Bowker, assistant professor at Northern Arizona University's School of Forestry, and Dr. Janis Boettinger, professor at Utah State University's College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. Biological soil crust is a complex mosaic of living organisms--algae, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), bacteria, lichens, mosses, liverworts, and fungi--that grow on or just below the soil surface. Crusts are common worldwide in arid and semi-arid shrub lands, grasslands, and woodlands. Most people who live in arid and semi-arid places, like the low-lying areas of Kane, Garfield and Wayne counties, would probably recognize various types of crusts, such as green and orange lichens and the black, bumpy cryptobiotic soil that covers patches of sand in the desert. But what might

not be so obvious are the huge benefits the crusts have on the landscape. Dr. Belnap, who has a PhD in botany and range management from Brigham Young University, stressed that considering soil crusts in land management is just one part of managing for the health of the overall ecosystem. “We need to use the crusts for the services they provide,” she said. Panelists explained that soil crusts are crucial in desert regions because of their ability to stabilize soil against wind and water erosion. When high winds pick up, the crusts hold loose sandy soil in place. When pounding rains fall, the crusts take the beating so the soil doesn’t have to. And when floods come through, the crusts keep the soil from washing away. "If we lose the soil, we lose everything," said Dr. Belnap. It takes thousands of years to build a shallow layer of soil over bare rock, she said, and in places like GSENM with a dry environment, little to no ground cover and high winds, all that work can be lost in no time. It's not just the soil itself that’s in danger of being lost, said Dr. Belnap. Maintaining the fertility of the soil is vital to the health of the ecosystem. Grasses and forbs—the plants livestock need most—depend on good, nitrogen rich soil to grow in. Cyanobacteria help create and trap nitrogen in the sandy soils of the desert, therefore giving all the plants, shrubs and grasses alike, a better chance at survival. It’s a cycle. If the soil crust is healthy, the soil can stay put and grow rich in nutrients, allowing more plants Soil Crusts

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Wayne Countians Make Mad Dash Winning First Place in Fish Lake Relay FISH LAKE N.F. - The fourth annual Fish Lake Relay took place on Saturday August 23rd, with 22 teams competing in the run. The Mad Dashers, a team consisting of Weston Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Hannah Ellett, Maggie Ellett, Carlie Ellett, and Porter Ellett (pictured above), took first place. The race was 64.1 miles, running through Fish Lake National Forest and Sevier County. Along the route, teams of 6 runners run in twelve stages through Fish Lake, Seven Mile Canyon, Nioche Divide, Sheep Creek, Gooseberry Canyon, I-70 frontage road, Salina, Sigurd, and then to the finish line located at the Richfield City Park. Each competitor was required to complete two different stages. On the course, they encountered rain, hail, and muddy mountainous roads which made the race even more challenging. —Mary Ellett

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out. —Alfred Hitchcock (1899 - 1980)

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