Just saw 'visit Utah' ad. All kinds of rugged, beautiful terrain was featured. Hypocrits.

[Panich52]

Utah has been aggressively lobbying to take back from BLM lands such as those in the ad so they can lease them out to extraction industries. If I want my scenery filled w/ big trucks, roads, drill rigs, mines, etc I'll go home to WV.

[LuvNewcastle]

1. It's a very beautiful state.

I went through there once, about 20 years ago. I was startled by the scenery. It was so unusually gorgeous. I'd really like to go back and explore some more.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Sounds like they just want to make money, and they really don't care how they do it.

And I agree about their hypocrisy. Bastards.

[flygal]

3. Many Montanans want the same - coal, fracking....

and yet they love their hunting - good luck finding land to hunt on when it's all leased out to Haliburton.

[duhneece]

4. And New Mexicans...oil, natural gas, mining, logging, grazing

...on what is now public lands.

[nomorenomore08]

5. While it would take them quite a while to cover all that "rugged, beautiful terrain" with oil fields

and such, I do see your point. Plenty of states these days are taking way too cavalier an attitude toward their own natural resources - "Don't know what you've got till it's gone," I guess you could say.

[Omnith]

6. You have a lot to learn.

If I had more time I would teach you.

[NuclearDem]

7. A backpacker's dream. Zion National Park.

Angels Landing, the Grand Staircase, the Virgin River Gorge, and Red Cave.

[Codeine]

8. Zion is easily the most breathtaking place I've ever had the good fortune to see. nt

[NuclearDem]

9. Indeed. It's one of the places I hope to backpack through before I die.

A few more pictures:

[randr]

10. I live just over the Colorado border from Utah

We consider the Moab area our back yard. Tremendous rivers and hiking cover an enormous area. The Excalante/Grand Staircase, which you allude to, is one of the gems and we are all working hard to keep it classified as roadless. You can find many organizations on line to contribute to in order to help with this fight, that is if you want your scenery pristine.
The numbers of visitors to the area increase the chances that the State of Utah will not open these areas back up to exploitation as tourist dollars are far more welcome than the problems that come with the extraction industry.
Come on out and see for yourself, help us preserve this land, or see it before it is gone.

[n2doc]

11. Maybe they should add "before it's too late" n/t