Washington Park Research Paper
Protecting a Safe Haven
Take a deep breath and picture this. You’re standing in the middle of a desert landscape. The sun is beating down on your back, and the only sound is that of a gentle breeze blowing from the North keeping you cool. The wind has a fascinating mineral smell that seems to calm the vast surroundings. You begin to look around at the scenery made from a strange red clay and dotted with small green bushes. The red soil rises into hills and far off in the distance there are elegant snow-capped mountains. As you are enjoying the peaceful view you see something from the corner of your eye. It’s a Mojave Desert Tortoise moseying along at his slow pace. In this small paradise, time seems to stand still. It brings a unique sense …show more content…
The showdown consists of two opinions: those for the construction of the Washington Parkway and those against it. Those that wish to see the road’s construction believe that the new corridor will help to alleviate some of the traffic from the ever expanding city of St. George. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Washington county’s population has severely increased, see figure 2. Starting with 13,669 citizens in 1970 to 151,948 in 2014. Utah itself has a growth rate of 1.7% and if it continues to grow it will become the 30th most populous state in the U. S., with most of this growth occurring in the Wasatch Front and in Washington County. (Perlich,2014). Those that oppose this idea believe that a new road will put up a division in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, isolating and possibly further endangering the already threatened Mojave Desert Tortoise, among other issues. That is what makes this game so complicated, because Red Cliffs is managed by the BLM, that means it is technically managed by the people. Thus, making it a decision that should be made by the people. However, it isn’t that simple. The BLM are sworn to ‘Preserve, Protect, and Enhance’ the area they are assigned to (Wright,2016). Thereby, making this a debate over who really has jurisdiction over the
Take a deep breath and picture this. You’re standing in the middle of a desert landscape. The sun is beating down on your back, and the only sound is that of a gentle breeze blowing from the North keeping you cool. The wind has a fascinating mineral smell that seems to calm the vast surroundings. You begin to look around at the scenery made from a strange red clay and dotted with small green bushes. The red soil rises into hills and far off in the distance there are elegant snow-capped mountains. As you are enjoying the peaceful view you see something from the corner of your eye. It’s a Mojave Desert Tortoise moseying along at his slow pace. In this small paradise, time seems to stand still. It brings a unique sense …show more content…
The showdown consists of two opinions: those for the construction of the Washington Parkway and those against it. Those that wish to see the road’s construction believe that the new corridor will help to alleviate some of the traffic from the ever expanding city of St. George. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Washington county’s population has severely increased, see figure 2. Starting with 13,669 citizens in 1970 to 151,948 in 2014. Utah itself has a growth rate of 1.7% and if it continues to grow it will become the 30th most populous state in the U. S., with most of this growth occurring in the Wasatch Front and in Washington County. (Perlich,2014). Those that oppose this idea believe that a new road will put up a division in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, isolating and possibly further endangering the already threatened Mojave Desert Tortoise, among other issues. That is what makes this game so complicated, because Red Cliffs is managed by the BLM, that means it is technically managed by the people. Thus, making it a decision that should be made by the people. However, it isn’t that simple. The BLM are sworn to ‘Preserve, Protect, and Enhance’ the area they are assigned to (Wright,2016). Thereby, making this a debate over who really has jurisdiction over the