Comments about ‘Utah national parks create jobs, make big money for local economies’

I was ding some polling yesterday to see is the economy has hurt Utah's tourism. I had no problem finding plenty of unbooked rooms over the Christmas Season at Utah resorts.

If your earning $2.15 an hour waiting tables in Utah in a tourist trap, this year will be slim pickings.

The name of the national monument is Grand Staircase - Escalante Canyon and not Grand Canyon Escalante National Monument.

Most of these jobs are very low paying. There's not a lot of money in cleaning toilets and flipping burgers.

Many Utahns ridicule these jobs and would just as soon see the parks closed down and have the land opened for mining and drilling and development.

Flipping burgers isn't a bad job if you get to eat them too.

Of course, many tourism-related jobs are low-paying. However, looking just at "jobs" ignores the opportunities for substantial income for business owners and entreprenuers--those willing to take the risks.

Look around at other tourism centers in the West and in Europe and you'll see big money is being made. But most southern Utah tourism spots have few choices for a nice place to stay and a good restaurant. Springdale does well for tourists, and Moab is getting there. The rest have a ways to go. There's a huge opportunity for enterprising tourism businesses.