County wants to pave Nine Mile Canyon road
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
Carbon County officials are looking for state funding to pave 34 miles of roadway through Nine Mile Canyon, home to ancient Fremont rock art and an industrial conduit serving a now-dormant drilling complex.
While Carbon and Duchesne counties say the project is needed to serve natural gas operations on the West Tavaputs Plateau, preservationists believe the real goal is to open a new route for hauling Uinta Basin oil to a proposed refinery near Green River.
Utah’s Community Impact Fund Board on Thursday advanced a $5 million funding request for the project’s first 11-mile phase to its priority list for consideration in October.
The county road, which leaves U.S. Highway 6 at Wellington, passes through an area rich in cultural resources and ancient rock art, which earns Nine Mile Canyon the nickname of "World’s Longest Art Gallery."
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/56583319-90/mile-road-nine-canyon.html.csp
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First and foremost is the potential damage to the cultural resources by the construction and resulting increased traffic.
Secondly is the propensity of industrial traffic to take over and own the road in remote areas, thereby endangering the safety of visitors to one of our national treasures.
Kudos on the Joni Mitchell reference! 
unfortunately, I'm pessimistic about the future of almost all our natural treasures located out west. Hope I'm proven wrong.