Friends of Cedar Mesa relies on volunteers to help safeguard the amazing archaeology and beautiful landscapes of the Greater Cedar Mesa Area. Please join us to stay informed and help when you can. 

May 19th: Spring Gathering & Highway Clean Up

Friends of Cedar Mesa announces its spring extravaganza and trash pickup on two miles of Route 261 (top of the Moki Dugway), the highway crossing that profoundly beautiful (yet minimally protected) cultural masterpiece of southeast Utah. 

As a part of the activities we will engage with Kane Gulch rangers and get their “state of the Mesa report”.

Bring clothes and shoes to weather the elements, lunch and libation. We will meet at 11:00 am on May 19th, at a pullout suitable to the size of the group, nearest mile marker 10. The State of Utah has agreed to honor FCM as the official Adopt-a-highway organization and, as the reward of our efforts, FCM signs will later be posted on either end of this stretch of road. 

As though we ever need one, this is an excellent excuse to go camping. Bring your buddies. For further information or to RSVP call Mark at 435-419-0116 or e-mail us.

Latest Blog Post:
Cedar Mesa, A Place of Paradox

I’m in Bluff thinking about the state of Cedar Mesa and how Friends of Cedar Mesa fits into future management and preservation. I’m trying to think positively, but it’s a brown-out day. The air is gusting thick brown clouds of dust from Monument Valley. The snowfields in the La Plata Mountains of Colorado take on the red hues of desert sand in the aftermath of days like today. We’re lucky to have had only two such events so far this spring and this lousy dust storm confines me to my desk where I am finding it difficult to think positive thoughts.

Our Utah politicians come to mind. Seems like everything I’m for they’re against. Federal Land, the Antiquities Act, even the very idea of a National Conservation Area for Cedar Mesa seems to be dismissed without much chance for discussion. The word paradox comes to mind, as I think about it. These politicians don’t want the president to use his power to designate a national monument because it short circuits the local political processes. Yet the local politicians make it quite clear from the outset that they won’t support any further designations. What good are local political processes if the decision-makers have already made up their minds?

Read the rest of the post.