Letter to the Editor: Battling motorized land issues

Dear Editor:
I am tired. I’m tired of fighting a battle that never seems to go away.
And I’m angry. I get so tired of being angry. And this anger is caused by elected officials with no guts to stand up for the right thing, and also different land managers who have special interests groups that they cater to.
I thought that the Nuck Woodward Road issue was resolved last year. I was under the impression that Carbon County had a memorandum of understanding with the forest service and Emery County to get that road upkeep taken care of from year to year. Am I wrong about that? This road has a Carbon County Number on it, #157. Carbon County has a Schedule A Claimer on it, that means they collect fees from the state to maintain it. It is the connector between the two counties, and a fire escape, fire has happened once and heaven forbid, it could happen again. Can the forest service really justify what they want to do?
I was deer hunting on that road when I was a little girl, with my dad and others. This qualifies this road as a RS-2477 claim, because that was in the 1960s, pre-FLPMA  (Federal Land Policy Management Act) 1976. I was married in 1975, and my husband and I have traveled that road, both before we were married and afterwards also. It is an important road in my world. Where’s the NEPA study, and the public comment period about this closure?
Recently, I was told by Bill Broadbear, in our Arapeen Trail Council meeting that Darrin Olsen can sign away that road if he wants to. There were five other people in the room to hear what was said. It was explained that there was a “trial experiment” that would be conducted this fall, by closing the road to the public and allowing a select group of “hunters” on horses that would be allowed to be in that area. Are you serious? These non-motorized people can ride anywhere they want to, but we need to close the only motorized road through the area to allow them to “hunt” exclusively? It is truly just one more step towards your attempt at making the area a roadless area. It’s already non-motorized on both sides of the road.
This latest development has led me to make a decision. A decision that doesn’t mean a thing to you, but it breaks my heart. I love the Manti Mountains. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have gone to meeting after meeting, volunteered day after day, year after year to help keep the mountain in great shape for all to use. I’m not exclusive, but some people are.
My decision is this. After being involved with the Arapeen Trail Council since its conception almost 20 years ago, I am quitting. Yes, quitting! Why? Because, while I am busy “working” on other areas of this mountain range, the Forest Service/Emery County are in cahoots about closing other areas on the mountain to motorized access. I can’t take the back-stabbing any longer. I’m sure that will make the non-motorized people who sit on Emery County Public Lands Council smile. But I will focus my efforts with Kristy Groves from the Ashley National Forest from now on. We (all the motorized folks) made good things happen on the Manti years ago, creating and maintaining the Arapeen System, and this is the thanks we get.
I had asked Bill if the Arapeen Trail Council still had any say-so, or carried any weight with decisions on the mountain. Of course he said yes, but I’ve come to believe that is not so. We have petitioned many times for Wagon Road Ridge, to make another loop connector no affirmative action has been done. I, personally, have asked for a connector from the Gentry Mountain area to the Nuck Woodward Road to make a loop connector and now I find that the non-motorized people seek to take out the Nuck Woodward road, altogether, although they already have First Water, Second Water, Corner Canyon, Bob Wright, Bull Pasture Trail, Candland Mountain Trail, Castle Valley Ridge Trail, East Mountain Trail, Gentry Hollow Trail, Horse Canyon Trail, Left Fork of Huntington Trail, Mill Canyon Trail, Mill Fork Canyon Trail, Pole Canyon Trail, Sawmill Canyon Trail, Scad Valley Trail, Seeley Canyon Trail, Short Canyon Trail, Wild Cattle Hollow Trail, etc. They can ride/hike anywhere they want over who knows how many miles/acres. To try and compare miles of motorized to miles of non-motorized is ludicrous. Why is it that these non-motorized people put their desires on the table and you jump at their requests. I also want the Trough Spring area to be taken off the roadless area so Carbon County can take care of the watershed area the way they (Carbon County) see fit. We could use a connector trail from Clear Creek to Huntington Canyon in that area also. Did this ever get a responsible consideration? Heck no.
But, let a certain selective, exclusive group of hunters put something out on the table and the Forest Service/ Emery County are all over it.
So, we are going through a Forest Service Plan Revision. This is just a bunch of hype. Why don’t they just say it like it is? They are seeking to lock up more land from users such as myself by looking for, and creating by obliterating roads and creating roadless areas. Well, wilderness is lands of no use And I am a user. Only there are certain people do not want to acknowledge that I, and others like me are legitimate users. They told us that motorized recreation wouldn’t be “on the table” until the first phase of the Forest Plan Revision was done. What a lie.
You cannot move forward without considering transportation as part of the plan. Unless the plan is totally, completely, to wipe out motorized recreation in areas that are viable for motorized recreation.
The non-motorized community doesn’t want that to be considered. They (the Forest Service) is seeking to lock up more land from users such as myself by looking for, and creating roadless areas, therefore creating the potential for wilderness. When do we stop looking for wilderness. As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t be trying to create wilderness, but seek only for areas that truly qualify for wilderness. And in today’s world, I would think that’s next to impossible, really and truly.
I have maps, one is a 1964 Forest Service map. It is the easiest to read. The second one is a 2006 printing of a Forest Service map, and the third is a 2009 Forest Service Map. 1964…….hmmmm, that’s over 50 years old. I am 61 years old and was going up there before 1964. Well my form of recreation, and whether non-motorized users choose to call it recreation or not, is important to me. But I’m tired of the bull and I am done working with biased people.
I have been paying, out of my own pocket, $10 per year, every year, for the past at least 18 years to Utah State to keep the Arapeen Trail Council as a exempt entity, so that the council could, and has, apply/applied for grants.
I better never learn that OHV money gets spent on non-motorized trails, (after all the money I spend in registration fees for my own machines) especially in our areas (Carbon/Emery/Sanpete Counties).
We no longer live in America, Land of the Free. We live in socialism, which is measured by degrees to communism. We allow certain land managers to be selective and exclusive instead of standing up for all Americans. This is “a degree” of socialism. I am discouraged, disappointed and disgusted. Just when I think I’m doing a good thing, and being a part of a good thing by helping out on the mountain, I learn there is nonsense going on, in other places on the mountain.
You folks just go on catering, cowering, and caving to the non-motorized community. I hope it opens the largest can of worms with a stink like you’ve never had to deal with before. You deserve it.
Joan Powell
Wellington