Dispatch from San Juan County - No. 5

A year ago, Mark Meloy told me about his dream of starting an organization committed to the appreciation and preservation of Cedar Mesa.  It turns out that with Senator Bennett’s announcement of a process to resolve public lands issues—including Cedar Mesa—in San Juan County, Mark’s timing was perfect.

When I arrived at the Bluff Community Center on Saturday, I couldn’t help but sense the difference between the community feeling I had there, and the pressure that has accompanied the meetings we’ve been attending in Monticello as part of Senator Bennett’s process.  This was largely the result of Mark’s vision to focus the kickoff event on the passion local people have for this amazing place.  Over 100 people were crowded into the Bluff Community Center because they cared more about Cedar Mesa than they cared about the hike they might be missing or the hours not spent in their gardens on a beautiful, cool Saturday afternoon.

Check this new Cedar Mesa Friends website to get a sense of what happened on Saturday: http://www.cedarmesafriends.org/index.html. 

Here are some of my thoughts:

Vaughan Hadenfelt, backcountry guide and owner with his wife, Marcia of Far Out Expeditions in Bluff, began the event with a story and an array of slides of what he’s seen during his two decades of wandering Cedar Mesa’s deepest recesses.  Scenes of canyons, ruins, and artifacts he’s discovered had the audience in near constant ecstasy.  He ended with a sunset scene with a halo miraculously perched atop a distant butte.  His story of discovering ‘perfect kiva’ did what good stories are supposed to do: guide listeners deeper into their own reason and meaning.

Bill Lipe, the wise archeologist working with Crow Canyon in Colorado, presented a history of Cedar Mesa seen through the lens of his own extensive career working in this area.  Of all the ideas I brought home from the event, the most important may have been Bill’s thoughts about the people who lived on Cedar Mesa for thousands of years, how they “found meaning in their lives” and how we have the opportunity to find meaning in our lives by making direct connections with those living here before.

Bill touched on Cedar Mesa’s value to the entire world of archeology--something he and his Crow Canyon co-worker talked about at the most recent San Juan County process meeting.  They said that not only is this area one of the Seven Wonders of the Archeological World (which includes the Great Pyramids and Petra in Jordan) but perhaps the most valuable because the architecture was the first, the original in the area (apparently the Pyramids were built atop a number of earlier cultures), the dry climate has helped to preserve organic artifacts such as baskets and sandals, in addition to the stone tools and pottery, and those who created these cultures are the ancestors of people still living and practicing their ceremonies and rituals.  While there are many reasons to protect Cedar Mesa, we owe it to the rest of the world to preserve it for its archeological values.

A panel discussion took up the remainder of the afternoon.  Ted Wilson, former SUWA board member and now head of Governor Herbert’s Balanced Resource Council, was first.  He referred to Senator Bennett’s process and talked about his recent involvement.  A few of us expressed our concerns over the fact that all the stakeholders don’t seem to have played a role—the oil and gas people, for example.  We expressed our concern over the fact that to date, none of the promised field trips have been scheduled (Ted said that there will be field trips) and that the County has been reticent in not being specific about their priorities in the way that other participants have been.

Mark Maryboy, former San Juan County Commissioner was next.  He spoke eloquently about the needs of the Navajo people to gather medicinal plants and cut firewood.  And how Brad Shafer, Bennett’s aid, had visited different sites with Navajo elders.

I spoke next—generally about the process, but more about the future—a time when places that are quiet will be highly valued as our society gets louder and louder.  I talked about the possibility that early people were able to thrive on Cedar Mesa for thousands of years because they were able to “hear themselves think” –something that is becoming nearly impossible today.

“Rather than saving Cedar Mesa, we should talk about how it will die and how to reincarnate it.”  This was the somewhat gloomy but perhaps realistic message from Winston Hurst, the archeologist who grew up in Blanding.  A self-proclaimed “glass three-fourths empty kind of guy”, Hurst went on to explain how we need to be careful because in his experience most efforts to save a place end up doing more harm than good. He spoke of how the area has been changed simply by the numbers of people who now visit.

Brian Quigley from the BLM told a great story about his first experience in the canyons of Cedar Mesa.  He and his friend were backpacking and didn’t know where they were  or where they were going when they walked around a corner and stood facing Moonhouse Ruin.  Then he talked about visitor user days, overnight use versus day use, and the permit process.

Ronnie Egan of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness spoke about that fact that wilderness doesn’t mean locking an area up….that she and many of her aging friends love getting out in Cedar Mesa and that there are and will always be hundreds of miles of legal roads in the area that will always allow access.  She spoke about traditional uses, and their need to continue but in a sustainable way.

What are the values that Cedar Mesa needs to be managed for?  Bill Lipe asked this question, and pointed out the difficulty we all face with so many different values and stakeholders who are passionate about this place.

The audience asked many good questions, made important comments, and then it was time for the potluck dinner.  The people living in Bluff can really cook.  It was one of the best potlucks I’ve ever been to. There was a giant cake, great salads, and Joe Pachek brought stew he made from the heart of an elk he killed last fall.  We finished with a reception at the new Cloudwatcher Gallery where all the world’s problems were temporarily solved and for two hours, everything seemed just right.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Mark Meloy does with all the good energy that was created that day. We’ll keep you posted.

Brooke Williams
SUWA Field Advocate