Monticello • Roughly 100 people gathered at the Bureau of Land Management’s Monticello field office parking lot on Saturday morning, ostensibly to protest the potential banning of motorized recreation in Arch Canyon.
They heard quite a bit about government overreach and the need to fight for access to public lands, but they also enthusiastically listened to campaign speeches from gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman and Lynn Jackson, a Moab resident who hopes to fill Lyman’s District 69 seat in the Utah House of Representatives in this year’s election.
Arch Canyon is a long box canyon located inside Bears Ears National Monument north of Highway 95. The BLM manages much of the canyon and the U.S. Forest Service manages the top few miles. There is a push by nonprofit groups to close a portion of the canyon to motorized travel. There were a few signs protesting the perceived lack of motorized access to public lands among those in attendance. Jackson said the federal government will continue to prohibit access to the public for grazing and target shooting. He said plans to reduce grazing allotments would lead to fewer animal unit months, or AUMs, meaning fewer head of cattle will be allowed on the allotments.
He also warned the BLM would ban target shooting. “They can’t take your guns, so the new thing is to keep you from shooting them,” he said, referring to federal agencies as “our overlords.”
He urged the audience to band together regardless of the user group they’re in — livestock owners or motorized recreators, for example — warning them: “You’re going up against a monster.”
Jackson, who retired from the BLM after decades with the bureau, said if users don’t comment on the BLM’s land use decisions, then the BLM will say, “We got 10,000 comments and none were against this monument … you have to fight back. You have to have the stomach to fight back.”
No room for compromise
Jackson said he’s learned “that you can’t compromise. We’ve been compromising for 30 years … and we are backed into a corner. All of us grew up here with access to this land. We brought our kids and our grandkids.”
Repeating a common argument proffered by Lyman, Jackson said the federal government was never supposed to own land “and the Antiquities Act was never intended for this.” The act, officially called the Preservation of American Antiquities Act, became law in 1906. It was the first law in the U.S. designed to protect cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific interest on federal lands. Republicans argue democratic presidents have abused the act.
Counties must provide services to visitors
Longtime San Juan County Commissioner Bruce Adams said federal agencies never identify a funding source to provide services like law enforcement or emergency medical services.
“San Juan County has always been responsible for services,” said Adams, noting that only 8% of the land in his county can be taxed. “A lot of that is [agriculture] land valued [much lower] at greenbelt status, so that leaves it to homeowners to pay the bills.”
Adams said it’s not fair to taxpayers. “The roadblock is at the federal level,” he said.
Revisiting Recapture Canyon
“It’s a sad day when citizens have to justify why they want to keep access to their land,” said Lyman. He recounted when he was a new San Juan County commissioner in 2011 and a protest was held in that same parking lot. “It was the first time I really stood in front of an audience and really felt the spirit of the people who live here,” he said.
Acknowledging that Saturday’s rally was in support of continued motorized recreation in Arch Canyon, Lyman spoke of Recapture Canyon outside of Blanding. In 2014, he and others defied road closures there and drove OHVs into Recapture. He was convicted of trespassing and former President Donald Trump granted him clemency in December of 2020.
Lyman said the BLM didn’t close the remote area of Recapture, but rather the area closest to Blanding. “They wanted to take that from us,” he said.
Lyman said federal agencies have turned into a proxy for environmental groups and that “collusion” is huge at the federal level. “If you control the land you control the people,” he said. “You know that and they know that.”
Lyman became emotional when sharing a tale about the fictional Rip Van Winkle, who walked past a picture of King George before he fell asleep for 20 years. When he woke up he saw the King George picture had been replaced with one of George Washington. “I missed the whole revolution,” Van Winkle said. “That’s what I fear more than anything else,” said Lyman. “We’re all accountable for what we do and what we don’t do. I don’t want to miss it.”
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