Public Lands

The Voices of Bears Ears videos win award

San Juan County is the focus of marketing efforts that recently won a prestigious award for the Utah Office of Tourism. The Voices of Bears Ears, a four-part video series, earned an Adrian Award for marketing excellence on January 21 from Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (...

Love is in the air this weekend at 22nd annual Bluff Balloon Festival

Love is in the air when 22 hot air balloons take flight at the 22nd annual International Bluff Balloon Festival. Flights take to the air on Friday through Sunday, January 17-19 in and around Bluff. Sponsored by the Business Owners of Bluff (BOB), this annual event attracts balloons, pilots, and...

Rep. Phil Lyman files $10 million suit against BLM

Former San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman has filed a $10 million civil lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its actions related to the 2014 protest in Recapture Canyon. Lyman, now serving in the Utah House of Representatives, filed the private action on November 8 in the U....

Mike Lee in Moab: All politicians want Utah to remain a ‘public lands state’

by Carter Pape The Times-Independent As protestors stood silently around the room with signs advocating to “keep public lands in public hands” and to “protect wild Utah,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, broke the fourth wall on Friday, October 25, during a roundtable discussion in Moab to say that “not a...

Bears Ears books authors at San Juan Record Bookstore on Oct. 17

The authors of two books focusing on the Bears Ears will visit the San Juan Record Bookstore on Thursday, October 17 at 7 p.m. The bookstore is located at 49 South Main Street in Monticello. Steven Strom and Rebecca Robinson will make a brief presentation and be available to visit and sign copies...

Monticello City Council considers policy changes

The Monticello City Council held two public hearings on September 17 and considered a number of changes to city policy and ordinances. The city is considering changes on how Loyds Lake is managed. In the past, the reservoir has been managed as if it were a city park. This has created some...

Judge rejects SUWA motion in public lands case

With a scathing rebuke, a federal judge rejected a motion by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) to become a full-party participant in a landmark public lands case. Judge Clark Waddoups ruled on September 5 that SUWA could participate in a massive case regarding RS-2477 road rights-of-way...

Commission opposes oil, gas lease sale

The San Juan County Commission voted to oppose an upcoming oil and gas lease sale on land maintained by the Bureau of Land Management near Hovenweep National Monument. The vote came at the September 3 Commission meeting. The resolution calls on the BLM to “defer the sale to prevent the degradation...

Forest Service crews work to reopen roads affected by fires in the Dark Canyon Wilderness Area

U.S. Forest Service fire crews are working diligently to reopen roads and trails affected by three fires in the Dark Canyon Wilderness Area of the Manti-La Sal National Forest before the bow hunting season begins this Saturday, August 17. As some crews continued monitoring and mopping up the...

Hundreds attend Bears Ears gathering

More than 800 people attended the the fifth annual Bears Ears Summer Gathering, which was held July 19-21 at the Kigalia Guard Station in Bears Ears National Monument. Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB) sponsors the annual event, designed to celebrate the Indigenous cultures of the Bears Ears region. In 2019...