More than 300 ATV riders protest BLM plan

More than 300 off-highway enthusiasts rallied against a plan that could keep them from riding on a popular trail. Protest organizer Shawna Cox said,"We don't mind people sharing the land, but we don't want them to take it away either." The area in question is the Paria corridor in Grand Staircase-Escalante National monument. It's closed to motorized vehicles, but people ride there anyway because no one enforces the law. That may soon change. Last month, a federal appeals court ruled against Kane and Garfield counties' attempts to assert ownership over some of those roads; that means the Bureau of Land Management could start enforcing the law. Bill McIllwain, president of the Piute Chamber County of Commerce, said, "There's passion here, not only for ATVers, but hikers, ranchers, miners, a lot of people that feel they have the right to the public lands without them being taken away by the federal government." After Saturday's protest, the group went on a drive up the trail as a show of defiance...KSL-TV