Private use, public lands

At Utah’s 1.9-million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the issue du jour is who controls the remote dirt roads popular with hikers.

In August, a Kane County commissioner and the local sheriff pulled up 31 signs installed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that banned ATVs and motorcycles. Commissioner Mark Habbeshaw said too many BLM restrictions were being placed on residents. “We need to rely on public access,” he said. “Instead, we’re being treated like a national park.”

Marietta Eaton, a monument official, said all options are open, including legal. The private use versus public lands controversy is the latest in a series of battles since the landmark became a national monument in 1996.

-- J. Michael Kennedy