Governor Rampton Issues correspondence, 1967-1976.

This series contains letters to Governor Rampton on issues, most of them controversial, that Utahns were concerned with from 1970 to 1976. The issues include concern or controversy over the building of the Trans-Escalante Highway, air pollution in the Salt Lake Valley (many Utahns sent in photographs of some of the worst examples of air pollution that they had seen), pornographic and "obscene" literature, the Equal Rights Amendment, the fate of wild horses and burros in Utah, the execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, and the proposed Kaiparowits Power Project. Also included in this series are "ballots for information of Governor" from 1967, comprised of questions issued by the National Federation of Independent Business and completed by Utah citizens. The ballot questions range from "Should the Utah State Legislature repeal the State inventory tax?" to "Should the Utah State Legislature forbid payment of unemployment benefits to those who are on strike?", and relate to the 1966and 1967 legislative sessions.

Rampton responded to many of the controversial issues with a form letter, through which his position on the issue is outlined or clarified. He preferred, for example, that the Trans-Escalante Highway be built in order to make the area available for more tourists. (This position is contained in box 1, folder 5 of this series.) In response to the complaints about the "flood" of pornographic literature in Utah, Rampton wrote that he will "continue to take an aggressive position against those who attempt to distribute obscene literature in our state", but that the "burden of enforcement" rests with Utah citizens, local law enforcement agencies, and the U.S. Post Office. (This position is contained in box 2, folder 1 of this series.) Rampton also shared concern with those worried about the fate of wild horses and burros in Utah, and stated that "Utah has been applying the standards established by the Wild Horse and Burro Act on the lands under ourjurisdiction, even though we were not lawfully required to do so". (This position is contained in box 2, folder 19 of this series.) An issue on which the letter-writers and Rampton disagreed, however, was the Equal Rights Amendment. Rampton, in apparent opposition to the majority of Utahns, believed that the "constitutional amendment would be beneficial", although he acknowledges that the "ratification of amendments to the federal constitution is a right and responsibility left solely to the Legislature". (This position is contained in box 2, folder 17 of this series.)

Although the majority of the correspondence in this series is in regard to Gary Gilmore and the death penalty, there is little response from Rampton regarding this issue, as well as the issue of the proposed Kaiparowits Power Project. Rampton stayed Gilmore's execution in the final months of 1976, but Gilmore ultimately was executed on January 17, 1977, just two weeks after Rampton left office. The Kaiparowits PowerProject was a more lengthy matter, with plans for the power plant beginning in 1965 and the abandonment of the idea more than a decade later. The 1976 correspondence contained in this series is mostly in response to an "Environmental Impact Statement" on the Project, issued by the Department of the Interior, as well as Rampton's appearance on "60 Minutes", during which he stated his continued support of the Project.

In regard to the types of materials in this series, all complaints about pornographic literature (with the exception of one letter from a Utah citizen) are "form" cards (i.e., containing the same content), distributed by an Ohio-based company called "Citizens for Decency through Law". For researchers, this does little more than offer the names and addresses of those concerned. Many of the letters expressing concern about pollution in the Salt Lake Valley include photographs.