Advisory Group Recommends Multiple-use for Cedar Fields

A federal advisory group recommended Thursday that rock climbing and other recreational uses should continue to be allowed at Cedar Fields, a popular Power County public land site. The recommendation comes at the end of a long debate between recreationists fighting to maintain access to an area considered sacred to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will make the final decision next spring but the agency’s Resource Advisory Council is urging officials to maintain multiple-use. The group — members of the public recruited to advise on BLM decisions — is suggesting that the BLM enforce maintenance work once a year to help mitigate erosion. Recommendations include requiring rock climbers to camouflage all bolts within the next three years and planting perennial native species within one year in areas vegetation has eroded. In January, BLM archaeologists warned the advisory group that the site was showing signs of erosion due to increase foot traffic and recreational use. The site is given a historical preservation status because of its archaeological significance. However, that status can be stripped if the area becomes damaged and eroded from recreational use like fire pits, graffiti and foot traffic. For the past nine months, tribal members have voiced continual opposition to recreational use at Cedar Fields. Yvette Tuell, RAC member and American Indian representative, said that the tribal members were disap-pointed that the advisory group decided to allow multiple-use on the Cedar Fields site. “Just because you can have multiple-use on public lands, doesn’t mean you should have multiple-use,” she said...more