Legitimizing an illegal ATV trail would be “disastrous”

“If the Bureau of Land Management allows San Juan County to legitimize an illegal all-terrain-vehicle trail in Recapture Canyon, it might as well give up even a pretense of enforcing protections for scenic and archaeological treasures in other remote areas.

Making this trail that leads to ancient Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings and relics a federally accepted trail would do irreversible damage to the environment in two ways. It would allow ATV users easy access to these particular ruins and put the artifacts at risk. And it would send an unmistakable message to other renegade ATVers: Hack an illegal trail on public land and there’s a good chance that trail will get the blessing of the BLM.”  Editorial – The Salt Lake Tribune

Public lands are owned by all citizens of the United States

“As citizens, you and I, as well as those from New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Oregon and all our states and territories, own a share or piece of our public land treasures in these United States – Yellowstone, Zion, Cape Cod National Seashore, Allegheny National Forest, Dixie National Forest, Gettysburg National Military Park, The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, High Uintas Wilderness Area and hundreds of other public land areas in our nation. For our state legislators, such as Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, to propose state legislation that would require federal land managers to get state approval to carry out their mandates is stupid and at best is a complete lack of understanding of how public lands are managed and how citizens of this great nation have asked our elected leaders to shape and use our public lands.”  Op-ed – The Spectrum