Bundy son leads 300 activists in armed protest for right to ATV in Utah’s sacred ‘Recapture Canyon’

[IDemo]

Hundreds of activists seeking to directly challenge federal control of swathes of territory in the U.S. West on Saturday drove dozens of all-terrain vehicles into protected land in Utah that is home to Native American artifacts and where such journeys are banned.

The ride into Recapture Canyon, which comes amid heightened political tensions, is a protest against indecision by federal land managers on whether to reopen canyon trails to recreational vehicle use after more than seven years of study.

About 300 people rallied at a nearby park before dozens of people, some of them armed with guns, set off in about 60 ATVs down a closed-off trail, which winds through red rock desert. The local sheriff had armed officers on horseback monitoring the protest.

The dispute is the latest squabble between conservative states’ rights advocates in Utah and across the West, who want to take back millions of acres of public land over which federal agencies have authority. More than 60 percent of Utah’s land is under federal control.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/10/bundy-son-leads-300-activists-in-armed-protest-for-right-to-atv-in-utahs-sacred-recapture-canyon/

[KittyWampus]

1. I'm all for allowing hiking and maybe horses and trail bikes. That's it.

[struggle4progress]

3. Hiking and horse travel are still allowed there. I think dirt bikes are forbidden.

[KittyWampus]

17. BTW, I meant pedal power bikes, not motors :-)

I am an avid hiker and dislike sharing space with people using motorized vehicles.

We should be allowed space in nature that isn't intruded upon by the few lazy bastards who need to ride on top of landscape rather than being within it.

[mulsh]

30. I have fond memories of a group of Hell's Angels camping next to us

lecturing some kids with dirt bikes on "why you shouldn't ought to ride them things here" in King's Canyon National Park. They were very persuasive. The kids went elsewhere.

[Travis_0004]

27. Horses do far more damage to a trail than an ATV.

[rudolph the red]

2. This has been an ongoing dispute

I am not anti government at all, but the BLM has mismanaged Southern Utah for quite some time. The locals are and have been pissed. I have spent years and a lot of money trying help settle this.
I am very unhappy that the militia types are getting involved.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. You support opening protected lands which hold Indian relics to

ATV enthusiasts?

[rudolph the red]

7. Did i say that?

I did not. But, I spend a lot of time in that area, and I know how the BLM is seen there. I would much rather have the court make a decision, than to get some phony militia involved. I've been dealing with this in the courts for 15 years now.

Hell, in my opinion, nobody should go there unless they can hike it. The nearest parking ought to be at the highway turnout. I'm in Blanding right now BTW, heading out for Moqui canyon tomorrow.

[rudolph the red]

12. The BLM has made bad decision after bad decision

for years. The people that actually live there are fucking fed up. Read this http://www.suwa.org/2014/04/18/more-orv-trails-in-san-juan-county/

[likesmountains 52]

13. Thanks for the link.

I live across the line in Colorado and SE Utah is my playground.

[rudolph the red]

16. I grew up in Durango, my sister and my nephews

Still live there. Southern Utah speaks to me and it will always be my home.

[likesmountains 52]

19. Maybe we're nieighbors....Durango here too.

[rudolph the red]

20. I used to be all about the mountains, i spent a lot of time in the

Weminuche wilderness range, I just love the canyonlands and SW Utah so much.

[likesmountains 52]

24. I just love having both..

[Marrah_G]

4. They are itching to try and start a civil war

[rudolph the red]

14. That's what I'm afraid of

We have been trying to work these issues legally, I'm afraid that these idiots are going to set us years back.

[Arkansas Granny]

5. These "activists" are going to keep this up until someone actually fired a round

and then there will be complete pandemonium. They, of course, will blame the government and they'll have that martyr they want.

[Jake Stern]

8. How's that backey downey thing working fer ya?

Nooooooooo, they're not thugs emboldened by our government's tail tucking extravaganza. They're tourists looking to have a good time!

[spanone]

9. in days of old, they would have called these assholes outlaws.

send in the calvary

[Matariki]

10. Hundreds of armed activsts challenge government rules against drinking from their septic tank

and pooping in the local reservoir.

[meanit]

11. "Conservative state's rights advocates" =

paid Koch brothers instigators, trying get protected land into the hands of state GOP politicians so they can sell it off to the Koch's business interests.

Is there oil or mining prospects on that land by any chance?


Connect these fuckers to the Koch's and the rest of their corporate / GOP backers, then go in after them. If they start shooting, shoot back - a lot more.

Enough of this shit.

[BlindTiresias]

15. Anyone recall what I said earlier?

The plan is to get into staring contests with the feds to see who blinks first. Undefended authority is lost authority.

[pansypoo53219]

18. fuck the ATV crowd.

[Triana]

21. Not only "conservative state's rights activists", but also ALEC & Koch Bros.

are stirring this shit up (Bundy was their clown) - they want the oil, gas, and minerals in that land. The idea is to have it given to the states and then the states hand it over to the Kochs et al. - or at least the rights to whatever resources they want.

MORE info: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/57836973-90/utah-lands-lawmakers-federal.html.csp

and:

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/04/12451/congressman-grijalva-requests-investigation-alecs-role-nv-range-fight

[freshwest]

25. Thanks! That is the linkage needed to use against the Koch. n/t

[Crunchy Frog]

22. How long is this going to be allowed to continue?

The longer this goes on, the more these people are going to know that the only need to brandish their guns, and then our country's laws don't apply to them.

[NuclearDem]

23. Selfish pricks.

I highly doubt they're of the "Tread Lightly" mindset either.

[struggle4progress]

26. I found it rather yummy that County Commissioner Lyman, main promoter of the ride in recent weeks,

seems ultimately to have been too chickenshizz to get onto the trail and thereby risk prosecution himself:

... “I believe this is the protest here, and I think we’ve sent a strong message,” Lyman said at the rally. “I have no moral problem with crossing that (closure) line. But I believe it’ll cause more harm than good to cross that line today.” Ryan Bundy challenged Lyman and the crowd to take action, to show that the land is the people of San Juan County’s, not the BLM’s. He brought with him small pamphlets of the U.S. Constitution to hand out. “I’m glad to be here,” Bundy said. “I’m here to support (Lyman), and I’m here to open a trail. If we’re not opening a trail, I’m going to get in my truck and go home” ...

Utah ATV protest peaceful
But BLM says it documented illegal use
By John Peel
Herald staff writer
Saturday, May 10, 2014 8:47pm

[eppur_se_muova]

28. You forgot to put "right" in quotes. nt

[suffragette]

29. "Western resentment of federal oversight tends to surge during Democratic administrations"

Western resentment of federal oversight tends to surge during Democratic administrations, says Bob Keiter, a law professor who directs the University of Utah’s Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment.

The Sagebrush Rebellion arose during the Carter administration. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration faced the Wise Use Movement.

--------
Amid the bickering, oil and gas developers, environmentalists, recreational businesses and county leaders have been quietly taking field trips together and identifying Utah federal lands they agree should be preserved or developed, whether for energy, timber, livestock or ATV trails.

The "grand bargain" initiative is driven primarily by Utah’s Rep. Rob Bishop, a pro-development Republican.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile/57876473-68/blm-horses-county-says.html.csp

I saw this while I was looking for more info on the connection of these 'protests' to the push behind these to get more state control of federal land by ALEC/Koch for oil and gas.

Very coincidental that the two previous 'rebellions' came during Democratic administrations and apparently died down during Republican ones.

So, if they can't legislate, they generate, push and put media focus behind the astro turf campaigns.