WE HAVE A PROBLEM

Earth to Kane County

By Bill Schneider, 10-18-05

Unless you live in south central Utah, you have probably not heard of Kane County. But if you go to the Kane County Travel Council website, you’ll know why it’s so important to outdoor recreationists. Kane County is sort of like the guy in my high school who had it all—tall, good looking, smart, rich, nice wheels, quarterback of the football team, and the most beautiful girl in school hanging on his arm. It’s just not fair, right?

Well, that’s what counties throughout the New West must feel like when the find out about Kane County, Utah. It’s just not fair.

On or within its boundaries, Kane County has Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks; the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park; Grand Staircase-Escalante, Cedar Breaks, and Pipe Spring National Monuments; and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which encompasses the sprawling Lake Powell, as well as two big state parks (Kodochrome Basin and Coral Pink Sand Dunes), the Dixie National Forest, and many, many thousands of acres of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

You get the picture. If counties could get emotional, most of them would be insanely jealous. So what does the Kane County Commission do about it? Instead of flaunting their stuff, they open up all this world-famous scenery to rock crawlers and ATVs, which will through time destroy it. And, of course, they got sued for it.

In a case with broad ramifications for western public lands, conservation groups filed suit this week against Kane County, Utah, for enacting an ordinance that would illegally allow destructive off-road vehicle use on protected public lands, including national parks, monuments, and national recreation area. The suit also challenges a similar move by county officials to replace Bureau of Land Management signs restricting off-road travel in the Grand Staircase-Escalante with their own signs allowing it.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and The Wilderness Society, charges that Kane County has violated the U.S Constitution’s Supremacy Clause by opening up scores of routes within the national parks and monuments to off-road travel after federal agencies closed the routes to protect the environment and cultural artifacts.

“We’re filing this lawsuit because Kane County is attempting to seize control of the management of some of America’s most spectacular public lands,� said Ted Zukoski of Earthjustice, one of the attorneys representing conservation groups, in a press release. “The Constitution and federal law require that these lands be managed for all Americans, not by local counties for the benefit of a few ORV enthusiasts. Kane County's bluster and bullying don't give it the right to trash national parks and other lands by turning them into dirt bike and ATV playgrounds.�

In August 2005, the county adopted an ordinance that opened to off-road vehicle use scores of trails on lands where such use is prohibited under federal rules, including hiking trails and stream beds inside Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks, routes within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and trails and stream beds closed to off-road vehicle use in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

“We had to step in before some of America’s most unique and popular parks and wild areas were seriously damaged,� said Kristen Brengel of The Wilderness Society in the release. “Kane County is pushing the envelope with outlandish actions that pose threats to the region’s streams, wildlife, canyons, and archaeological treasures.�

Kane County asserts that the routes in question are actually county “highways� under an 1866 federal statute known as R.S. 2477, although the county has not attempted to substantiate any of its claims.

“There are reasonable solutions to the R.S. 2477 problem, but taking the law into your own hands is not one of them,� said Heidi McIntosh of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “These vast, natural landscapes are some of the most spectacular in the nation. They belong to all Americans who want to see them protected, not turned into ATV playgrounds and road networks.�

“Kane County officials are now carrying out their stealthy plans as though they have the full support of the community,� added Kane County resident Ron Smith. “They do not. We love and want to protect these places in our backyard. These actions undermine our desire to protect these places that make our area so special.�

Some specific hot button areas threatened by the Kane County ordinance are: parts of the Paria River Canyon and Coyote Canyon (Grand Staircase-Escalante), Riggs Spring and Under-the-Rim trails (Bryce Canyon), and the East Rim Trail (Zion).

“The county and state deny that their campaign is about removing public lands from protection, but their actions certainly tell a different story,� said SUWA’s McIntosh. “They are trying to eliminate existing or potential protection for thousands if not millions of acres of southern Utah's public lands. Ironically, these are the very same places that give southern Utah’s Canyon County its national identity and economic stability.�

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.