(Utah) San Juan County commissioner leads ATV ride protesting BLM trail closure

[struggle4progress]

By Steven Law
For the Deseret News
Published: Thursday, May 8 2014 10:01 p.m. MDT
Updated: 1 hour ago

... San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman planned the protest for Saturday at 9a.m. The group of San Juan County residents plan to ride through Recapture Canyon to protest against what they call "improper jurisdiction by the Bureau of Land Management" and to force the BLM to decide who has jurisdiction within the canyon ...

According to BLM-Utah spokesperson, Megan Crandall, the BLM closed Recapture Canyon — located a few miles southeast of Blanding — to all motorized traffic in 2007 after ATV riders caused significant resource damage inside the canyon in 2005 and 2006 when they widened parts of the trail and added switchbacks to make the canyon accessible to ATV passage ...

“The Recapture Canyon area contains a rich archaeological record of the Ancestral Puebloans who once called it home,” said Juan Palma, BLM-Utah State Director. “To protect the cultural resources left by these prehistoric peoples, the BLM-Utah closed the Recapture Canyon trail to motorized access in 2007” ...

The illegally constructed road that ATVers constructed in 2005 and 2006 directly impacted 31 archaeological sites, according to Rose Chilcoat, Associate Director of Great Old Broads for Wilderness. Great Old Broads for Wilderness was established in Durango, Colorado and has been involved in protecting and preserving Recapture Canyon since 2005 ...

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865602747/San-Juan-County-commissioner-leads-ATV-ride-protesting-BLM-trail-closure.html?pg=all

[DreamGypsy]

1. Just one word...

... walk.

Your experience of nature does not require the use of motorized vehicles or the burning of fossil fuels.

Move slowly and you will see the past and the future appear before you.

[struggle4progress]

2. +

[Paladin]

3. How many of these protesters are going to be armed with assault rifles?

How many women and children are coming along for the express purpose of being gunfire shields, for PR purposes? I mean, we are talking about the BLM here, right?

[struggle4progress]

4. I can't prove it, but I suspect these folk, like the thugs who threatened the wrangler in Utah,

have recently been emboldened by the Bunkerville crazies: they're also standing up for a certain lawlessness in disregard of fragile and irreplaceable resources

[Paladin]

5. I'm afraid you may be right. (nt)