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Readers React: All Americans have a say in managing federal land

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To the editor: I have a hard time feeling sympathetic toward Garfield County, Utah, Sheriff James Perkins, who claims the U.S. Bureau of Land Management acts like a “belligerent occupying army.” (“BLM, local law enforcement tensions near breaking point in the West,” Aug. 4)

The grossly underfunded federal agency has few rangers to patrol some of the largest tracts of land in the West, including most of Utah and Nevada.

A more compelling explanation is that local residents in rural areas of Utah and other Western states feel they are entitled to a greater say in how those lands are managed.

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This runs contrary to our system of democracy, in which all citizens, regardless of where they live, have an equal voice in determining the future our last remaining wild areas.

Alan Coles, Long Beach

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To the editor: So Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) has sponsored a bill to take certain weapons away from BLM and other federal officers, while Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, backed by his militia, flagrantly disobeys federal laws?

This is exactly like taking the guns away from Los Angeles police officers while simultaneously encouraging the Crips and the Bloods to patrol their local neighborhoods and brandish high-powered weapons in full view of the public.

In other words, this is insane.

Crista Worthy, Boise

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