Introduction
entry 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Arches National Park As is the case with many of our parks, local residents played key roles in paving the way to protecting Arches. One was Loren “Bish” Taylor, who took over the Moab newspaper in 1911 when he was eighteen years old. Bish editorialized for years about the marvels of Moab. He explored the area with John “Doc” Williams, Moab’s first doctor. Alexander Ringhoffer, a prospector, wrote the Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1923 in an effort to publicize the area and gain support for creating a national park. Ringhoffer led railroad executives interested in attracting more rail passengers into the formations; they were impressed, and the campaign began. The government sent research teams to investigate and gather evidence. On April 12, 1929 President Herbert Hoover signed the legislation creating Arches National Monument, "to protect the arches, spires, balanced rocks, and other sandstone formations." On November 12, 1971 congress changed the status of Arches to a National Park. Today, Arches is one of the most visited parks in the National Parks System. For more information visit the National Park Service's Arches NP Website. Conservation: Like many others of those millions of visitors, I've had the privilege and have taken the time to visit Arches many times. The park is a tiny island that is still under threat of degradation not only by being loved to death by us visitors but it and other parks in the area are kept small by a few small cattle interests and the anti-conservation and anti-Federal Government mindset that predominates in the Southwest. The early visionaries are long gone. Today, it's the conservation organizations that are acting to secure protection for scenic places for future generations. Our grandchildren will need these places even more than we do—they are rapidly falling under what has been called 'the relentless plow of development' or in Utah's case, the relentless hooves of government-subsidized cattle. United States organizations worth joining and/or donating to are listed below. The list isn't meant to be exhaustive. I donate and am not a member of any of them. Canadian organizations:
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