San Juan County commissioner Phil Lyman is facing federal misdemeanor charges for organizing and participating in an illegal ATV ride into archaeologically rich Recapture Canyon, about 70 miles south of Moab, on May 10.
The ride was a protest against an “over-reaching federal government,” he said at a rally prior to the ride.
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney General’s (USAG) office in Utah on Wednesday, Sept. 17, Lyman and four others have been be charged with one count of conspiracy to operate off-road vehicles on public lands closed to off-road vehicles, and one count of operating an off-road vehicle on lands closed to off road vehicles.
The charges carry penalties of up to one year imprisonment and $100,000 in fines.
“We respect the fact that the citizens of this state have differing and deeply held views regarding the management and use of Recapture Canyon, and recognize that they have the right to express those opinions freely,” acting U.S. Attorney Carlie Christensen said in a prepared statement. “Nevertheless, those rights must be exercised in a lawful manner and when individuals choose to violate the law, rather than engage in lawful protest, we will seek to hold those individuals accountable under the law.”
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) closed Recapture Canyon to motorized vehicle traffic in 2007, when the agency determined that the canyon’s archaeological resources, including ancient burial grounds, and Puebloan ruins dating back almost 2,000 years, were being damaged by off-road vehicle use.
“Regrettably, a number of individuals organized and engaged in an illegal ATV ride through Recapture Canyon, an area rich in archaeological history” BLM Director Neil Kornze said in statement on the day of the USAG press release. “Today’s actions by the U.S. Attorney’s Office underscore the importance of protecting culturally significant areas and holding accountable those who broke the law.”
According to the press release, information on the case alleges that Lyman began promoting the ride on social media as early as April 2014, and that from about Feb. 27, “the defendants conspired among themselves, with each other, and with others known and unknown to operate off-road vehicles through land restricted to off-road vehicles and administered by the BLM.”
The information further alleges that, “the purpose of the conspiracy was to unlawfully operate off-road vehicles through the restricted area as a means of expressing opposition to the BLM and its management of Recapture Canyon.”
The protest attracted some 300 people including armed members of the Montana Militia, as well as Ryan Bundy, son of embattled Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who engaged in an armed standoff with the federal government in April over his refusal to pay fees for grazing his cattle on public land.
“The protest was not about ATV’s, and not specifically about the trail in Recapture,” Lyman said shortly after the event, “but the pattern of incremental closure of public land.”
San Juan County commission chairman Bruce Adams said that like Lyman, he is also frustrated with the BLM, but that he chose not to participate in the ride because of the legal ramifications.
“I have great respect for Phil,” Adams said. “He took individual responsibility for this.”
Adams did however, sign a county commission resolution in June to sue the BLM for their inaction on re-opening Recapture Canyon to ATV use, and he said that seven years is too long for them to take in making a decision.
Lyman said that San Juan County has been involved in talks with the BLM since 2005 to establish a trail through Recapture Canyon, and that in 2006, the county filed a Title V Right of Way (ROW) application with the BLM to gain the legal rights to an ATV trail through the canyon.
Later that year, the conservation group Great Old Broads for Wilderness (GOBW), alerted the BLM to illegal trail construction in the canyon. A damage assessment by the BLM showed that the illegally constructed route crossed multiple cultural sites and had damaged valuable archaeological resources. In 2007, the agency initiated an emergency closure.
Rose Chilcoat, associate director for GOBW said she was encouraged by the USAG’s actions.
“We are happy to see that the USAG is taking this issue seriously and are bringing those who have no respect for the law to justice,” she said. “The public lands belong to all Americans, not just those who live nearby. The irreplaceable resources found in Recapture Canyon require the federal government to enforce the laws in place.”
Liz Thomas, a Moab-based attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), said that SUWA is pleased that the U.S Attorney’s Office is pursuing charges “against those that disregarded federal laws enacted to protect our cultural heritage.”
Former Grand County commissioner and Moab resident Ray Tibbetts, who led a similar protest against the BLM in the late 1970s in what is now the Sand Flats Recreation Area, said that times have changed, but many of the issues haven’t.
Tibbetts said that though he didn’t know all the details of the case and that he couldn’t condone breaking the law, “it is sometimes necessary to take a stand.”
“I think Phil’s a real nice guy,” Tibbetts said. “I’m sure he had the best interests of the people of his county in mind.”
San Juan County commissioner, four others charged with with operating off-road vehicles on closed roads in Recapture Canyon
We respect the fact that the citizens of this State have differing and deeply held views regarding the management and use of Recapture Canyon, and recognize that they have the right to express those opinions freely. Nevertheless, those rights must be exercised in a lawful manner and when individuals choose to violate the law, rather than engage in lawful protest, we will seek to hold those individuals accountable under the law.
