County commissioners select official seal

Following a request for entries from county residents to design an official seal for Carbon County, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) have selected their official seal.

Bobbie Herman submitted the winning entry, which was selected on June 1 by the BOCCC. Herman, a rancher and artist from the Elk Mountain area, combined several elements of Carbon County's past and present into the seal. The seal will be professional reproduced and used in a variety of ways by the BOCCC for years to come.

"For the seal, I chose to use an old fashioned design because Carbon County is so rich in history," said Herman in a press release from the BOCCC. "The hand drawn lettering and use of stippling to shade represents that historic sense that you feel in this county."

An eagle at the top of the seal, holding a banner with the date December 16, 1868-the date Carbon County official, became a county-represents the freedom county residents fiercely believe in and enjoy according to Herman. Inside the county lines are images of a wind mill, a train, a rancher and elk and more. All of them, said Herman, represent both the count's livelihoods as well as its heritage and ways of life.

"The train tells the story of our past and our present. With it, Carbon County would not exist," Herman said. "From the building of it, to transporting cattle and coal, the railroad and trains have been the backbone of our county..

A coal bucket, pick and shovel represent the coal industry which had sustained Carbon County for decades.

"I chose to make it small because, unfortunately, it appears to be in our past," Herman said. "I hesitated on the wind turbine, to be honest. I don't like what they do to our view scape but I had to recognize the importance they play in our world right now."

Herman went on to say the images cross the boundaries within the county lines to represent how everything works together to create Carbon County.

"These images represent more than our industry. They represent people," said Herman. "We may have different jobs but who we are crosses those boundaries and creates a picture that works for us."