Fears Grow Over 300-Mile Wilderness Race : Environment: Critics believe marathon in southern Utah will harm fragile landscapes. A decision is expected soon from federal land agency.

Deep in the wild recesses of southern Utah’s canyon country, home to bighorn sheep and peregrine falcons, several hundred athletes, support staff and network TV crews plan to gather this spring for a 300-mile cross-country marathon that critics fear will be harder on nature than on the racers.

Called Eco-Challenge, the eight-day race through one of America’s most beautiful but fragile landscapes will require running, mountain bicycling, horseback riding, rock climbing, swimming, rafting and canoeing as well as wilderness navigation skills.

Traversing remote portions of two national parks and three proposed wilderness areas, the event will place 250 competitors, as well as a small army of handlers and onlookers, in places that are supposed to be protected from the impact of people.

Faced with the delicate task of promoting the race while downplaying its effects on the land, the man behind it, former swap meet operator Mark Burnett, refers to the race alternately as “a Ben-Hur type of production” and as a “low-impact, spiritual experience with the power of nature.”

The planned race is modeled after the 5-year-old Raid Gauloises, which has been run in Borneo, Costa Rica, Oman and New Zealand. A three-time Raid competitor, Burnett hopes to parlay the American version into an annual event in a new location every year.

Two networks are planning coverage of the 1995 race, and one of them, MTV, is a sponsor of the event, providing the Los Angeles based Eco-Challenge with offices in Universal City.

But before Eco-Challenge can become a staple of Saturday afternoon adventure sport shows, its promoters must persuade officials here that the race and accompanying publicity will not chew up the land, terrorize wildlife or help turn the canyon country into a sandbox for millions of outdoor thrill seekers.

“It’s going to be a circus in the backcountry,” said Bill Hedden, a county commissioner in Utah’s Grand County, where much of the race will take place. “They will be going into areas that have never had this level of human contact before.”

Hedden worries that even if the racers do not damage the landscape, TV coverage of the race will advertise the region as a playground for outdoor adventurers.

“They’ll be sending out the message that this is a generic place to come and play,” he said.

Grand County is a thinly populated rural region that already plays host each year to millions of tourists who come to see the eight nearby national parks and monuments. The visitors have been drawn to the breathtaking red rock country by movies and commercials set in the area and as a result of promotional efforts by the county that many residents, including Hedden, have come to regret.

The wear and tear on the landscape, along with the costs of caring for and cleaning up after the throngs of tourists, have provoked something of a backlash. Even local businesses who stand to profit from the onslaught have written letters opposing Eco-Challenge or asking its promoters to move the racecourse onto less remote and less sensitive terrain.

“The race is certainly going to attract the kind of visitors we depend on,” said Moab bicycle shop owner Anthony Quinitile. “But we don’t need the business so badly that we don’t care if people go out and wreck what’s left of the wild and remote places.”

Quintile is one of about 400 letter writers who have objected to the race, according to an official of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which has jurisdiction over much of the area where the race is to be run. The BLM is expected to decide by the end of January whether to grant a permit.

The race is receiving influential support from members of the state’s congressional delegation and from officials in San Juan County, which lies at the end of the 300-mile course. The race will begin near Price, Utah, and end at Bullfrog Marina on Lake Powell, although the exact course remains a secret.

“We love the country around here as much as anyone else, and we love for people to see it,” San Juan County Commissioner Bill Redd said. “Besides it’s free advertising, and you can’t beat that.”

Kate Kitchell, the BLM district manager who will decide whether to allow the race, said she is concerned that it will lead to “a substantial increase in use of areas where we are already poorly equipped to manage.” But she added that views of people such as Redd and Republican Utah Rep. James V. Hansen, who has urged approval of the race, “will carry a great deal of weight” in the decision-making process.

In his letter to the BLM, Hansen wrote that besides demonstrating environmental sensitivity, “the Eco-Challenge embodies the expressed desire of the Congress to encourage recreation on public lands.”

Much of the area that would be used by racers is included in a 5.7-million-acre wilderness bill before Congress that Hansen opposes.

Hansen’s letter supports Burnett’s assertions that he has done everything necessary to ensure that the race leaves little trace of human presence on the land.

Burnett has pointed out that more than 90% of the race will be run on dirt roads or washes where there is little chance of harming fragile soil or uprooting native grasses. He says that competitors will be required to carry out all trash and waste and that a cleanup crew will ensure that nothing is left behind.

“We hired an archeologist to make sure we wouldn’t disturb any of the ancient Native American sites that are out there,” Burnett said. “We altered the course to avoid contact with bighorn sheep lambing grounds or falcon nesting areas. We’ve paid for an environmental assessment. Altogether, we’ve spent $150,000 on environmental issues.”

As for the message conveyed to television viewers of the event, he said, coverage would highlight the landscape but would not pinpoint the locations of the competitors.

“We are going to say a lot less than the Sierra Club does in its calendars and literature about how to find this or that canyon,” Burnett said, referring to one of several environmental groups opposing the race.

“Certainly, we are going to emphasize the magic of the place and of the experience of being in it,” he said. “One of the main messages is to show people how you must respect the land or risk being swallowed up by it.”