Writers on the Range: The revolution will be motorized

Growing threats of violence; increasing rage; calls to restore liberty by throwing off unjust and unconstitutional government rule. The voices of the angry are loud, and they're likely coming soon to a Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service office near you. The issue that inspires this fury is closing roads through public lands. It makes me ask: Does a Sunday drive merit all this outrage? Do we have so few problems in this recession-rattled, deeply divided country that access to roads is worth this war of words? In Moab, the Sagebrush Coalition recently formed to protect the motorized access that already exists on federal lands. They've held public meetings, met with BLM and Forest Service personnel and promoted their message in the newspaper. Their rallying cries at gatherings include, "We want our public lands open!" and "They're ours — take them back!" At issue is the federal government's authority to manage and, more specifically, accept or decommission roads. The matter is currently coming to a head across the West as numerous BLM field offices update their resource management plans and determine what routes remain open for travel. We desperately need updated management plans. Existing management documents were drafted 20 or more years ago — well before the current explosion in motorized recreation...more