Mark Meloy - November 4, 2004
by Isaac Cunningham

     Mark Meloy works as a Forest Service ranger on the San Juan River in southern Utah. After moving south from Montana in 1989, Mark worked on the Green river also in Utah before moving to Bluff with his wife Ellen.

     As a ranger, Mark enforces permitees and monitors boaters on river throughout the busy summer season.

     Semester in the West was lucky to view a slide show presentation by Mark of many wonderful photos narrating years of river trips.

     The San Juan river is dam released and maintains a minimum flow of 600 cfs. The river is the northwestern border of the Navajo reservation. In the presentation were pictures of ancient ruins left by the native peoples. Some of the ruins lie on the Navajo reservation and can only be accessed by invitation from a Navajo guide.

     Mark's photos document the 8 year drought Utah is facing. One picture showed a popular cliff jumping area with a deep pool. The post drought photo had only a tiny puddle surrounded by mud.

     The most spectacular pictures were from the Goosenecks State Park which the Westies had the opportunity of viewing form the rim a week earlier. Mark's pictures gave us a different perspective gazing upwards at the 1,000 ft canyon walls. The Goosenecks is a section of the San Juan with 12 miles of river in only 3 miles of linear distance.

     As a raft guide myself, Mark's stories and pictures made me jealous, and I wished to be on the river instead of on the road.