Bluff hosts public hearing on Lyman Family Farms’ request to disconnect from town

By Zak Podmore (Crossposted in the San Juan Record) Only a few months have passed since Bluff’s first town council was sworn into office and already the boundaries of the newly incorporated town may be redrawn. On Oct. 24, Lyman Family Farms Inc., a privately-owned company with real estate holdings across Utah, requested that 391 … Continue reading Bluff hosts public hearing on Lyman Family Farms’ request to disconnect from town

Statement of Intent

The Canyon Echo is from a place diverse in cultures and landscapes. Perhaps we are Diné, Anglo, or Ute. Whoever we are, we are here together. Where we live, water comes as sudden news to desert mesas and winds its way through arroyos and canyons, the neural network that informs and nourishes this country and … Continue reading Statement of Intent

Bluff could become home to county’s first Community Reinvestment Area

(This article first appeared in the May 1, 2018 issue of the San Juan Record) By Zak Podmore San Juan County is moving forward with a new economic development initiative, and a motel in Bluff could be the first to benefit. In December, the San Juan County Commission voted to create a Community Reinvestment Agency, … Continue reading Bluff could become home to county’s first Community Reinvestment Area

One Hundred Years In Bluff (1997)

Very little has changed in this part of Bluff's landscape, as shown by these two photos, 100 years apart. Bluff residents gathered on Cemetery Hill, with Locomotive Rock in the background, in February to re-photograph scenes depicted in some of the historical photographs. Although the cemetery has gained a few additions, efforts are underway to … Continue reading One Hundred Years In Bluff (1997)

Ancient Basketmaker Pit Houses Excavated on White Mesa (1997)

Highway construction reveals ancestral Puebloan site Roadwork on U.S. Highway 191 south of Blanding this summer uncovered an Anasazi site consisting of four pit houses, two east of the highway and two west, and one other structure in the middle of the road bed. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) had previously conducted surveys in … Continue reading Ancient Basketmaker Pit Houses Excavated on White Mesa (1997)

Searching for Common Ground on Wilderness: A Conversation with Scott Groene and Mark Maryboy (1997)

"Wilderness is a peculiarly western institution. The existence of the wilderness system is an elemental statement by this region of how it differs from other parts of the country, and of the world. Rough and open country matters here. Further, wilderness has a historical dimension... a stark reminder of the joys and barriers of a … Continue reading Searching for Common Ground on Wilderness: A Conversation with Scott Groene and Mark Maryboy (1997)

Bluff’s First Straw Bale Home (1997)

Straw Bale, Bluff Style "In communities throughout the country, Indian families are pioneering energy conservation and using renewable sources for energy--sun in the clear-skied southwest and wind in the blustery north. For Native people who have seen the earth and their own communities suffer from the exploitation of fossil fuels, it is deeply satisfying to … Continue reading Bluff’s First Straw Bale Home (1997)

‘Steamroller of Development’ (1995)

From the Editor's Desk By Phil Hall Bluff, Utah-- Once Bluff was alive. There were cattle here, and people were rich. But that was long ago. Bluff is dead, and well it knows it. The immense square stone houses, reeking of past wealth, stand now like ghosts, be only one or two to a block. … Continue reading ‘Steamroller of Development’ (1995)