Fremont County is large, diverse, and filled with opinions, or “talk in the 10.” “Talk in the 10” is an opportunity for you, our readers, to articulate and share your thoughts about what is happening in the community with the community. Letters may have been edited for clarity and length, but generally have been published exactly as received. The views expressed in the following are solely those of the author. Send your letters to our editors by emailing opi[email protected]
If it weren’t for the constant sound of wind blowing in your ears, the Red Desert would be absolutely silent. If you close your eyes and breathe in deeply, the earthy smell of sagebrush and fresh air fills your lungs. The exhalation from that breath feels serenely calm, rich with the feeling of being in a special—almost secret—place. When you open up your eyes again the scale is almost overwhelming. You can see over one-hundred miles away to the snow capped Uintahs, yet the rugged textures and colors of the Honeycomb Buttes and the Wind River Range loom nearby. Fresh elk tracks are all around, and a lone moose plods along just across from the Oregon Trail. What does the Red Desert taste like? Well, for my family, mostly like chocolatey Halloween candy.
We recently spent a Saturday morning on Oregon Buttes in the Red Desert—an adventurous hike for my 8 and 11-year olds. I’ve spent many hours running and hiking throughout the Red Desert and I was curious to see what my kiddos’ senses of the place would be. Apparently they think it is a spectacularly special place too.
The BLM, Rock Springs, Resource Management Plan was recently released, and I am encouraged that the draft plan includes designating 1.6 million acres as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. Protecting priceless landscapes that we can all enjoy, like the Red Desert-Hoback mule deer migration corridor, the South Pass historic landscape, and the Cedar and White Mountain Petroglyphs, makes sense for all of us who enjoy recreating outside. Whether you enjoy pursuing elk through a sea of sagebrush, or eating too much Halloween candy on top of Oregon Buttes, I hope we can all see that preserving the wilderness characteristics and cultural history of our state is a top priority.
Gabe Joyes
Lander