3.6 Million Acres of Utah Proposed for Wilderness/Hunting. End to ATVs.

[YourRoyalHighness]

More Utah wilderness proposed
Protection sought for 3.6 million acres

By Travis Reed, Associated Press
February 24, 2005

SALT LAKE CITY - A coalition of environmental groups on Wednesday unveiled a proposal to designate as wilderness 3.6 million acres of sprawling canyons, blue-ribbon trout streams, twisting red rock formations, and popular hunting and hiking areas in the three national forests in southern Utah.

The coalition, consisting of 12 groups, first presented its plans to the U.S. Forest Service in the fall but did not publicly unveil them until now. They come as the Dixie, Fishlake and Manti-LaSal national forests are working on forest-management plans that could end up redrawing wilderness boundaries.


Wilderness designations within the forests would bar users from operating off-road vehicles in the area and prevent industry from logging or drilling for oil and gas. If the groups' recommendations were accepted, those restrictions would apply to 75 percent of the three forests' combined 4.8 million acres.

Kevin Walker, with the coalition group Red Rock Forests, said the plans were reasonable even for off-road vehicle advocates because half the areas of the forests would still be within a mile from a road.

"We often get characterized as wanting to kick all the motors off state parks. That's not true," he said.

Walker said wilderness protection was necessary to stem a flood of increased recreational-vehicle use in the areas, which damage the landscape and shatter nature's silence.

Management plans have been under way for several years on the three forests but could be caught up on new rules approved by the Bush administration affording national forests more discretion to approve logging and other commercial projects without lengthy environmental reviews.

Environmentalists have criticized the plan as a back-door effort to weaken standards for protecting endangered or threatened species.

 

[Ithaca 37]

URH, Sounds like Utah is getting the right idea. Those dingbats in Arizona oughta be paying attention.

What's Prince Phil think about the fox hunting ban? Bloody rotten, ain't it?

 

[Elkhunter]

Give me a plate of beans, and I can also shatter nature's silence, and without the use of an off road vehicle.

 

[MattK]

One more dagger in the atv world. More and more restrictions...oh, I mean more clarifications of not allowing atvs to be in an area...

 

[CAVETOMB]

This is a tough one. On one hand, I love the outdoors and "nature's silence". On the other, I love screaming like a banshee on the back of an atv..... Not sure how I feel about this one.

 

[BuzzH]

When in doubt, ban atv's and support more wilderness.

Really a no-brainer.

 

[SageGhost]

reply...

sad day in UTAH... no more drinking watered down beer and 1 deer hunts for me !!!

 

[ringer]

Dear "your royal hippie homo"-GOOD! Now you can move your commie ass up to Utah and get the hell out of Arizona while the gettin' is good. SUPPORT CANADIAN LYNX TRAPPING"

 

[ELKCHSR]

The pictures are a hoot Sage...
I would tell you the same thing I told MichaleR quite a while ago...
A picture says a thousand words, and those have been priceless...

 

[MattK]

Elkchsr- By priceless you mean they aren't worth a shit?

 

[ELKCHSR]

Take it as you see it Oak, there is nothing hidden here...

 

[Oak]

How did I get pulled into this topic?

Oak

 

[ELKCHSR]

I am sorry Oak... I appologize

I ment Matt....

 

[BuzzH]

Oak, as usual the cheese is confused, nothing out of the ordinary.

Take it easy on him, third grade is really a struggle...

 

[YourRoyalHighness]

Take it easy on Elkcheese. Making fun of the retarded is frowned upon at HuntTalk....

 

[1_pointer]

Sounds like a good deal to me. I do know that a Wilderness Proposal in No. UT was shot down recently due to restrictions it would place on fly-overs.

 

[ELKCHSR]

Take it easy on Elkcheese. Making fun of the retarded is frowned upon at HuntTalk....

the place was working good again, and now is back into the gutter