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Friday, October 13, 2006Walla Walla Union-Bulletin A13Defiant off-roaders plan to topple barricade in UtahATV enthusiasts areangry about the closing of public lands to them three years ago.SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An off-road group plans to defy federal authorities Saturday by toppling a barricade and motoring along a southern Utah dirt road that was closed by the government three years ago.Go ahead and ticket us, say the all-terrain vehicle riders, who are angry over the closing of public lands, most recently around Factory Butte, a monolith that towers over the San Rafael desert and harbors pockets of protected cacti.They plan to shove aside a 10-foot barricade at the old Hidden Splendor uranium mine, where a mining road drops into spectacular Muddy River canyon.The Bureau of Land Management will be ready — even if rangers have to drive 2Vi hours to write tickets.Richard Beardall, president of Americans with Disabilities Access Alliance, is looking for a crowd of off-roaders to drive a few hundred yards to the river and back.They’ll move the buck-and-pole barricade back into place after the protest, then accept citations that could run $300 apiece, an event others plan to videotape.Beardall “wants a ticket to make his point and go to court on the issue. He’ll get a ticket,” BLM field manager Roger Bankert said.It’s a protest against rules adopted in 2003 that limited travel on the San Rafael Swell, not the neighboring Factory Butte district where the BLM just last month banned off-roading from a 222-square-mile area.But off-roaders are angry about that, too.ATV tracks cross the land leading to Factory Butte, in the distance, on July 12, northwest of Cainville, Utah_An off-road group plans to defy authorities a barricade and driving on the closed road around the butte. The road was closed by federal officials to ATV riders three years ago.“We’re preparing a lawsuit against it for federal court, and we already have Wayne County on board as a plaintiff,” said Michael Swenson, executive director of the UtahAP photoon Saturday by topplingShared Access Alliance.BLM officials say all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes stijl have a four-square-mile natural basin along State Route 24 called Swing Arm City, plus 220 miles of dirt roads and trails open to them. But it’s a token concession to off-roaders.“People not aware of that area might look at those numbers and say it’s a balanced plan, but it’s not so,” insisted Swenson, who said the rules defeat all-day tours, forcing riders into concentrated areas or corridors.“You might get an hour’s tour out of the whole thing,”he said.BLM officials say they had to impose the first restrictions in the badlands to protect rare species of cactus — the endangered Wright fishhook and the threatened Winkler — that are indigenous to south-central Utah.Environmentalists complained that motorized vehicles were crushing them.Swenson said the new rules will keep away off-roaders who came by the thousands each year to traverse the area’s lunar-like landscape.Noting the 120-mile indirect route from his office in Price, Bankert invited protesters to pick a closer spot Saturday —-like his BLM parking lot.“How am I going to get a citation for that to take to court?” Beardall replied.50567stop Chr^^'FTWRAPPINGToys for all ag^220 E. Main109 East Main0AC. Minimum $1,000 purchaseSHAKE. ROCK ROLL! LIKE A ONE EYED CAT PEEPING IN A SEAFOOD STORE, YOU CAN SEE THAT HOT POOP HAS THE MUSIC YOU LOVE, AT PRICES YOU CAN AFFORD!'f '■BAD COMPANYBAD RELIGIONJOHN COLTRANE
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Walla Walla Union Bulletin
Walla Walla, Washington, US
Fri, Oct 13, 2006
Page 13
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