Kane County, doing things the hard way

"It is somewhat puzzling that Kane County would sue just months after the Interior Department agreed to cede control of five roads to the county without the county having to resort to legal action. Those five include the route from U.S. Highway 89 to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

But the county wants more. Forty-nine more, including an unpaved route popular with tourists that leads across Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument from State Highway 12 to Hole-in-the-Rock, the site of a Mormon pioneer trek down a sheer cliff face."  Editorial – The Salt Lake Tribune

Republicans plan big changes for House Natural Resources Committee

"Fresh off their Election Day tidal wave, and energized by it, U.S. Reps. Doc Hastings, R-Washington, and Rob Bishop, R-Utah, envision big changes for public lands in the West, changes that could greatly impact national parks.

While the Democratic Party's slim majority in the Senate could stand in the way of those plans, expect plenty of effort in the coming two years to be spent by some members of the House to rewrite the rules when it comes to public lands. Two congressmen who might be found at the front of the line when it comes to redrafting environmental regs and policy could be Mr. Hastings and Mr. Bishop, two Republicans whose legislative records and public comments show a disdain for federal ownership of Western lands."  Read more – National Parks Traveler