Today the war between self-appointed “militia” and the BLM continues with a protest of the closing (in 2007) of Recapture Canyon, Utah, to motorized vehicles. Today a bunch of spoiled brats with big senses of entitlement plan to ride around Recapture Canyon on ATVs in the name of “freedom.” The issue with the area is that it is full of archeological sites, including some nearly intact Pueblo dwellings, and the ATVs were smashing things, which is why the BLM made it off limits to ATVs. Here’s a video made in 2010 that shows what the area is like:
(Update: Saturday’s Illegal Cliven Bundy-Endorsed ATV Rally Runs Through Sacred American Indian Sites)
As soon as the BLM said people had to stop riding ATVs in Recapture Canyon, the Spoiled Brat Militia, also called the Little Boys With Big Toys, made riding ATVs in Recapture Canyon a Big Deal Cause. Never mind that Utah is this huge sparsely populated state with who knows how many trails to ride on; if they can’t ride through Recapture canyon and smash up artifacts at will they are being Oppressed.
A fellow who loves the canyon named Don Peacock wrote,
One immediate consequence of the illegal ATV event is the cancellation of a well-planned trip for veterans co-sponsored by the BLM and the Sierra Club. I was to be a partner in this invaluable veterans’ program and had intended to address the vets at Sand Island, 20 miles south of Blanding, on the day following the ATV trip. Many of the veterans are, like myself, disabled from combat, with service-related trauma both physical and psychic. Native American medicine men were to prepare sweat lodges, along with traditional healing ceremonies. Navaho war veterans, whose ancestors were forced off these lands and fought in great numbers in our country’s foreign battles, had planned to assist the veterans healing program. I was especially enthusiastic to participate in the vets program because of the Navajo and the quality of the leadership of both BLM and Sierra Club outreach personnel. One of them wrote this on April 24:
“Due to the potential risk of an illegal ATV ride on BLM lands conflicting with our Cedar Mesa trek, we are postponing the event until October of this year. While the spiritual side of the event could be affected by the ATV ride, there is also the potential safety risk to BLM staff and trip participants due to the recent hostile atmosphere in the West surrounding these events.”
This great healing event for veterans has been pushed aside by a few ATV advocates insistent on illegally riding their silly toys. What a missed opportunity.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports:
Fed up with federal control over lands their families have used for generations, about 30 people on ATVs on Saturday drove into Recapture Canyon, a nearby trove of prehistoric sites the Bureau of Land Management closed to motorized use seven years ago.
San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman, acting as a private citizen, organized the event, which started with a rally in Blanding’s Centennial Park, to protest what he and supporters call federal “overreach” into local jurisdiction. Prompting the protest is their anger with what they say is the BLM’s failure to process San Juan County’s applications for ATV rights-of-way in Recapture, which is filled with Native America prehistoric sites.
It’s federal land; there is no “local jurisdiction” and never has been. These guys are destroying things that belong to all of us.
… there was little sympathy from environmental, hunting and preservation groups, as well as tribal members, who claim an ancestral affiliation with the Native Americans who inhabited the canyon 1,000 years ago. Critics say ATV enthusiasts have themselves to blame for the closure by building an unauthorized trail over archaeological sites that harbors middens, kivas, farming plots and cooking areas.
Vehicle traffic accelerates erosion of intact deposits under the routes, which can help reveal how prehistoric people thrived in this arid landscape, but only if studied in proper scientific context, according to Jerry Spangler of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance.
“Damage to archaeological sites is permanent and the information about our collective past is then lost forever,” Spangler said. “It is sad that irreplaceable treasures of importance to all Americans would be sacrificed on the altar of anti-government fervor. It is worse that protesters would be so blinded to their own insensitivity as to what others consider to be sacred treasures of their past.”
They don’t care about anybody but themselves and their “right” to ride around in noisy, smelly vehicles and ruin things for everyone else. Little boys with big toys.
Modern Conservatism:
Adults, who never outgrew their “Terrible Two’s!’
I’ve always been against violence.
Either arrest these arrested-development adult “Terrible Two’s,” or be prepared to do battle with them.
With a Democratic “Blah” President, they’ve not only crossed the line, they’re now establishing ‘battle lines.’
Bring in the National Guard, show them what REAL weaponry looks like, and hope they surrender, and go home – in which case, they should be arrested, and then tried as traitors, for treason!
And if they don’t?
“Gee, kids! LET’S PUT ON A SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The Bundy clan’s chest-thumping ‘call to arms‘ amounts to Whiskey Rebellion redux … i.e., lawlessness and self-serving grandstanding under the guise of a patriotic fight against “tyranny”.
Sorry, but your title is incorrect.
It should read: “Little Boys with Littler Manhoods”.
Please correct ASAP.
http://news.yahoo.com/dozens-protesters-ride-off-limits-canyon-215140976.html
More of the usual nutjobs and accoutrements.. Gadsden flags, AR-15’s, pocket sized copies of the Constitution, camouflaged outfits, and an abundance of stupidity.
I will repeat what I predicted when I saw the video of the Bundy militia. They are trying to provoke a confrontation with the feds BLM or whoever and blow the incident into a rally to bring ALL the troops to one spot and force violence they will claim victimhood over. The goal is a war that will require troops to bring it down. That’s the plan, and they are confident that the troops will defect to their side rather than fire on ‘real’ Americans.
The can’t be given that confrontation. A civil war will degenerate into guerrilla war on American soil with civilian casualties. Domestic terrorism potentially on a large scale. They need their ‘Bunker Hill’ or ‘Boston Massacre’ to touch things off. If the feds can sent a plague of locusts or it’s natural equivalent to the Bundy crowd, fine. But don’t give them a macho confrontation.
As I’ve seen posted elsewhere, this is simply white privilege. They get away with it because of that. If they weren’t white Fox news would be wanting to call in the army.
Reminds me of the Taliban blowing up those sculptures in Afghanistan, somehow.
Doug…I would join our Military forces against these seditionists to lend popular legitimacy to our Government, not that they would need it…there wouldn’t much of a rebellion, nor insurgency here…Normal people would help our government to do the right thing…patience is a virtue, but I am running low on virtue…as well…
Lynne — that is a very good comparison. The destruction of cultural and historical artifacts is a crime. It also shows a disrespect of Native societies.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there.
How ’bout us MUTHAH’S?
First, a few things that I think people should think about when they’re criticizing this insane insistence on riding through Recapture Canyon:
1. ATVs are fun to ride; I’d rather ride a dirt bike myself, but they’re fun. Nothing wrong with that.
2. ATVs can be a useful way to ride into hunting and fishing areas that would be very difficult, or expensive, to reach otherwise. Nothing wrong with that either.
3. I’ve seen some people talk about the danger of riding on an ATV with a firearm. In this case it just increases the insanity, but in fact ATVs are often equipped with secure carriers for firearms.
But besides the potential destruction of valuable cultural artifacts in Recapture Canyon, the simple fact is that there is lots of federal land available to ATVers. The Manti-La Sal National Forest just a few miles from Blandings has lots of ATV trails. I count 65 ATV trails there; over 350 miles of available trails. Trails, mind you, which are built and maintained with our tax dollars for the benefit of anyone who wants to ride there. There is no sensible reason for these people to ride through Recapture Canyon; other (tax-dollar-supported) recreation areas are plentiful nearby.
I think the argument against these whiny nutcases is made stronger by not throwing in statements which are either wrong or denigrate the pastime. That doesn’t mean you can’t fling insults toward these particular individuals (as this comments does); just that lumping in everyone who likes ATVing and does it responsibly is a bad idea (besides being unfair).
Here in NC there is some argument re: driving on sea turtle nesting areas, but sea turtles are pretty popular, so there is not much room for resistance.
They don’t care about anybody but themselves and their “right†to ride around in noisy, smelly vehicles and ruin things for everyone else.
And carrying their AR15’s at the ready… That one clown riding around with his weapon like a big badass should see himself through my eyes. What a joke! If he has one enemy round come in on his ass like you could expect in a real combat situation he’d shit in his pants and be crying that he really doesn’t want to be a patriot any more.
“Here in NC there is some argument re: driving on sea turtle nesting areas, but sea turtles are pretty popular, so there is not much room for resistance.”
The sea turtles will all be dead in a few years. The idiot governor in Raleigh, Mr Coal Ash, is intent on wrecking tourist and the environment with off shore drilling, and the shorelines by pumping out waste fracking water from inland drill sites (unless SELC or somebody can put a leash around his neck with injunctions).
Reminds me of the Taliban blowing up those sculptures in Afghanistan, somehow.
Yes! “Because we can.”