Recent actions by Grand County and Rep. Jim Matheson may help boost efforts by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to raise $2.5 million funds to repair the Mineral Bottom Road.
On Sept. 10, the Grand County Council passed a resolution declaring Mineral Bottom Road a state of emergency for economic and safety reasons. Last Friday, Sept. 24, Matheson asked the Federal Highway Administration to support the BLM’s request for funds through the Emergency Relief Funding for Federally Owned Roads program to help pay for repairs to Mineral Bottom Road.
Only federal agencies are eligible for funds through the Emergency Relief Funding for Federally Owned roads program, according to BLM’s Moab Resource Area Director Rock Smith.
Several sections of the road were completely washed out by heavy rains on Aug. 19, and Grand County and BLM officials have said repairs will not be possible until sometime in 2011.
The road is closed about 12 miles from the turnoff on state Route 313, just before the road’s well-known switchbacks begin, county officials said in the news release.
Several switchback sections were completely washed out by the force of water and falling debris, and material that fell near the switchbacks is unstable, county officials said. After the August storm, 29 people had to be rescued from the area, and county officials said some vehicles are still trapped below the washed-out areas.
The road, which ends near an area called Horsethief Point, provides boat access to the Green River and access north to the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park.
Some local outfitters said this week that they have found alternatives to using the road for the rest of this year’s tourist season, but they said failure to get the road back in service for next season could result in serious economic repercussions.
Bob Jones of Tag-A-Long Expeditions and Darren Vaughan of Tex’s Riverways said the assumption that people will go elsewhere next year, if easy access to the Green River and the White Rim Trail is not restored, is probably valid. Both companies provide river rafting trips and shuttles for canoeists who want to float the calm waters of the Green, either to Mineral Bottom from the town of Green River, or from Mineral Bottom to the Green’s confluence with the Colorado River.
“Our canoeists are looking for a quiet trip with no jet boats,” Jones said.
For that reason Tag-A-Long Expeditions now accesses the Green River via the Spring Canyon Road, located not far from Mineral Bottom, because of the noise from jet boats and the difficulty of finding camping spaces on the Colorado River, Jones said.
But the more rugged Spring Canyon Road is hard on vehicles and much riskier, Jones said. He charges an extra $10 per person to help cover vehicle wear and tear, and special training needed for drivers.
“We didn’t feel Spring Canyon was a good option,” Vaughan said, because it is a “lousy, unsafe” road. This season, his company was able to convert most of their reservations for the Green River to the Colorado River, he said. Reservations were canceled for those customers who chose not to make the change, he said.
But next season Vaughan said his company will use the Spring Canyon Road if the Mineral Bottom Road is not repaired by then – regardless of the difficulties involved – because his clientele want a quiet Green River experience.
An economic impact study conducted by the BLM estimated that the road closure will cause county businesses $4.9 million in direct and indirect sales and could result in the loss of 87 jobs per year.
The study concludes that $1.9 million of income will be lost because of the foregone sales and jobs. And $319,000 in state and local tax receipts will be lost every year the road is closed.
The BLM study notes the community’s reliance on tourism is 3.5 times the state average. The study finds that 30 commercial outfitters rely “all or in part on access to [the White Rim Trail via Mineral Bottom] for their businesses” assuming that visitors unable to access Mineral Bottom will go elsewhere rather than choose a different activity in the Moab area.
Although the Mineral Bottom Road belongs to Grand County, the BLM is working in partnership with the county to resolve the issue because the road is located on federal land and its closure greatly affects Canyonlands National Park, Smith said.
ByBy Craig Bigler
contributing writer
