Reader comments
How will oil-shale development affect Utah's parks and recreation areas?

This reads like the reporter naively thinks oil and gas development is a new phenomenon in Utah. Trucks have been moving men and equipment in energy areas for decades. And while EnShale is a bit player in oil shale development (and probably not the best industry source if a reporter is only going to use one source), he is correct that much of the areas with accessible shale are not prime tourist destinations. Oh and by the way Stephen, natural resource extraction brings tens of millions more in economic development than tourism jobs. Just ask local officials.

And just how are the tourists going to get here? Drive a plug-in 40 miles, plug it in and wait 8 hours to charge, and so on?

"Franson said they may actually leave the area better than they found it"

I'd suggest that sentiment be written into the contract.

Why talk about "Bryce, Zion, Arches and Canyonlands national parks," which are 200 to 375 miles from Vernal, in the context of shale exploitation? I can see potential impacts to Dinosaur National Monument and Flaming Gorge being major considerations, but they are not explicitly mentioned in the article.

NO ONE is talking about getting oil from Bryce, Zion, Arches and Canyonlands national parks or other such places. The US government is the number one land owner in Utah. Time to take back some of what is ours as a state. Oil revenues would be a great way to pay for roads, education and state infrastructure, as well as reduce taxes. Nevada has casinos. We have oil. Let's get it going now. Throw out the bums in Washington. including our own, if they don't step up. There is no shortage of the stuff, and we also have plenty of parks and forests for hiking, biking and camping. Environmentalists are standing in the way of my family's prosperity for absolutely ludicrous reasons. I'm sick and tired of the whining stupidity of a tiny minority.

Articles like this are the same as those of a century ago that complained about those noisy horseless carriages putting around town. What would Utah have been like without the Kennecott Copper Mine. It is now a tourist attraction.

Writers like this think they would like to go back to the 19th century, but if they really understood I don't think they would like to live there. Dinosaur National Park is probably the closest park to the oil shale areas, but you would never see the shale operations from there.

This article is really nothing more than an oblique attack on the fossil fuel industry and the automobile. In our language this is called "guile." (duplicitous) Perhaps a new term "environmental guile" would fit this article.

The thing that goes up and down is called a PUMPING JACK, not a derrick. That is the tall structure that holds all the cables, tools, pipe and equipment for drilling the well, then casing the well, placing a wellhead and otherwise preparing it for oil production. The pumping jack pumps the oil out of the ground to be stored in tanks. Then tanker trucks come and fill their tanks and pups with the oil to be taken to a refinery. Just wanted to clarify the terminology a bit. After the derrick/drilling rig leaves a location, other than the pumping jack and storage tanks, which take little space, you would never know a drilling rig had been there. Oil is used for many products: road building and maintenance (tar, asphalt, etc.), medical uses, plastics, synthetic materials and fabrics, tires, cleaning supplies--the list is endless. Many people using heating oil to heat their homes, as well as propane and natural gas. We are a long way from independence from oil. The petroleum was provided for us to be used wisely. Responsible extraction of petroleum is necessary and should be supported. It provides a lot of jobs for people, too.

I'm a newcomer to the area discussed in the article but I've been a city planner for the last 12 years along the Wasatch Front. As a planner I'm frequently asked about development and the resulting impact to the community and envirnoment. I was also inadequately educated about oil-shale development, however, I asked (and listened) to more than one person involved in one division of the process of oil extraction and what condition the land was left in after it was no longer used. I've found that the different levels of government have imposed about every rule (applicable or not) to this industry and I can state with great confidence that every measure is being taken and met by all of the companies I've had the pleasure to get to know. I have to admit that I'm covering the solar panels on my car and turning up the AC.