Where is the governor on land use?

About a month ago, Governor Huntsman was cited in a Salt Lake Tribune article saying that ATV abuse was "offensive and an embarrassment". Now I read the Tribune cover to cover almost every day, and it is no surprise to me that the article was a spin job. The Tribune has lost site of where the editorial page ends and the news begins. I have seen very biased reporting on many issues particularly environmental issues as far forward as the front page.

That being said, if you read the story the first time, it sounded like the governor was condemning the impact of ATVs, not the abuse. If you read it very carefully a second time, you will get the point that it is abuse by OHVs the governor was talking about. Of course, it does not help the motorized community's perception that the Governor made his first major land policy statement from a private tour he was taking with the most radical of environmental groups: the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA).

In my way of thinking, my words as an official had been spun with that much bias, I would have taken some measure to clarify the official record to make my position clear. I thought certainly the governor would do that, with a press release, a comment at a public event, or even in a regular broadcast to the public. In the days following the story, I heard from literally hundreds of viewers and associates enraged over both the secret tour with SUWA, and the comments. I told them all to be patient and give the governor a chance to clear it up. I know from first hand experience it is to get a contrasting point of view about a misstatement made by the Trib to press. So I, along with countless others waited....... and waited...... nothing.

The net result of the subsequent silence by the Governor's office about the issue, especially in light of the fact the he has received e-mails and letters from people ( I have received copies) , would tend to indicate that he was not uncomfortable with the spin of the Tribune. (tacit approval). This has led to the infamous quote about abomination and embarrassments festering into a life of its own. It has become the by-line of a string of internet chatter among the groups and clubs who originally were impressed with the governor's interest in dirt bikes. To this group, that now seems like the stuff of a photo-op.

It has become such a topic of conversation, and requests to our show that we address the issue, the we felt obliged to bring it up in the context of the entire battle motorized recreationists have felt at the hand of the extremely well funded, out of state supported SUWA. Thier court noted meddling in government agencies, and direct input on public land policy, has violated the clear need to separate government function from direct advocate manipulation. SUWA should not have a desk inside the Moab Field Office of the BLM!

This was the genesis of my decision to write the editorial. It was not to make accusations about the governor, for truly he has said so little about land policy, that I don't think many if any people outside his inner circle have a real notion of where he stands. My purpose was to paint a picture from the perspective of the vast majority of motorized recreationists and the trials they have endured, the losses they have taken, and the malignment of their image into an ill-tempered mob of inbred illiterates with more horsepower in their hands than brains. While there are some who will fit that description, by and large the group are family people who love the outdoors and exploring. They respect the land, they are as far and diverse a group as the general electorate. They are Democrat and Republican, they are male and female, they are old and young. From 12 year olds with their first dirt bike, to Bob Welti, former weatherman, who at age 82 purchased his first Yamaha Rino last year. This group of recreationist is made up of dentists, architects, attorneys, BYU professors, fish and game officers, contractors, and district forest rangers for the U.S. Forest Service.

So we set out to tape an editorial segment. We completed it on Thursday, and as a courtesy, I delivered a copy to the governor's press secretary, so that they could have an advance look at what I was going to say. When I presented the copy to Lisa Rosekelly she scolded my like a nun with a ruler would take to a first grader!. She said " I can't believe that you would create (an editorial) without contacting us first". She was incredulous that someone would publicly express and opinion about the governor without checking with her first! (well that is a newspaper reporter for you). So after a polite but, full on drubbing for being a "moronic atv rider", in my unprofessional approach, I excused myself and invited her to review the editorial and that I would take any suggestions about the piece into account to make sure that we were correct in our assumptions.

Within the hour, she was on my cell phone as I was arriving to make a scheduled appearance in north Ogden at Big Boys Toys. She again intoned to me that I must have been out of my mind thinking that the governor would not take offense at the editorial. She then went on a shopping list of all the things that I had said that were incorrect. The list was long and had many details. To be sure, I had made some mistakes in my editorial comments, most glaring was that Governor Huntsman started as a poor kid in Fillmore. Am I crazy or was that the buzz when the Governor wanted to hold that state of the state address in Filmore at the old Territorial Capital, the town of his childhood roots. I recalled reading articles about shop owners and restaurant operators recalling the Governor. But I was informed, and subsequently found out that the Governor was born in Palo Alto California. I am now confused.

Lest I digress too far from the point. i asked Ms. Roskelly to e-mail to me a summary of things I had missed or gotten wrong and that I would fix them on Friday before we aired he piece. We left that conversation with her promising it would happen........ I waited at my desk until midnight... the e-mail never came. (sound familiar?) So recalling as best I could the statements she had made, I set out to go to the sources available to me, to check them out. It turned out to be one of the busiest 12 hours of my life.

Her major concerns, as I recall them from our phone conversation were these:

1. Governor Huntsman was not from Fillmore.
2. Governor Huntsman has taken many trips with groups prior to SUWA and has been in touch with officials in every county in the state researching land use problems.
3. Our editorial unfairly linked the governor to the positions of SUWA, with whom he does not agree with catagorically.
4. Governor Huntsman has made several land policy statements over the past couple of years.
5. He had already scheduled a planned a meeting with an OHV organization to discuss staying on the trails and other similar issues.

So I set out to check my sources to make sure I had it correct. Here is what I found:

1. Governor Huntsman was not from Fillmore, he was born in Palo Alto California, then moved to Salt Lake (my bad)
2. I contacted county commissioners Dan Hulet and Mark Habbeshaw of Kane County (as these are the only current county commissioners I have easy access to. They said the Governor's Office has never been in contact with them inquiring about land use issues. When I reached them they were at the Utah Association of Counties meeting and had just been discussing land use and the Governor's Office and that they were writing a group letter asking him to amend part of his report to the Bureau of Land Management regarding the six Resource management plans. They had grave concerns about his new land designation creating the opportunity to turn state lands into de-facto wilderness lands, resulting in the closure of many critical routes. It appears that Kane County is not the only one who missed the Governor's tour to the counties.
3. I reviewed the first editorial. and fair to say, it was not the most clear in separating the governor's position from our concerns about the state of land access. Hence my decision to re-shoot the story. I still don't think it was a bad editorial, so I have posted it here along with the one we aired. Knowing the Governor's office concerns about it, you can look at it and decide for yourself. I would love to hear and post your comments on it.
4. I checked with John Borg, he is a fellow up in the Logan area who has been the motorized community's sentinel regarding pending land actions in the federal register, and notifier of land issue articles in the Utah newspapers. John, like me could not recall any significant statements or policies regarding land access by the Governor in the last couple of years. Borg, by the way, is a guy we should all thank. He spends countless hours formulating ideas and checking what is in play in the back field regarding all public land access. If you are ever introduced to him, shake his hand, bow, and thank him for his tireless work, He and Curt Kennedy are two of the hardest working men in the state on land issues. Neither one gets paid, neither one gets any where near the praise they should!
5. Now here is where it gets dicey. I didn't know how to reach the OHV group The Governor's Office said they were meeting with. I had heard of them, but did not know who they really were, other than they were a group of dedicated and environmentally conscientious dirt bike riders who had worked with the state to build a trail system somewhere. So I couldn't check out that source. Well as providence would have it, I heard from them Friday Morning. It appears that the Governors office had just contacted them to set up a meeting that they had been seeking for three years. It was to take place next month. They knew we were producing the editorial, and wanted to let us know that the meeting had just been scheduled and asked that I include it in the editorial. i was glad to oblige.

I am sure the Governors office had some reason for not sending us the summary, but we probably got better information and indeed got the ball rolling on OHV policy from the governor's office. I think that this is a very important time to speak up and contact the governor about your feelings on motorized recreation whether you are for or against. As a result of this letter, you can bet that SUWA and their followers will get plenty of editorial time in the Tribune, and write many letters. If you love outdoor recreation on wheels or tracks, you better speak up now. If you post to this site, we will make sure they are forwarded to the Governor.

I still think he is an all around good guy. But I think he is real sensitive to the pulse of the community. Whoever speaks loudest and longest will get his attention. You better start talking. I suspect that there will be angry responses coming to the TV stations as well regarding this editorial. Not so much from the Governor, but from SUWA. My concern with the governor office is that they will take link Mayor Cullimore and Cottonwood Heights into this. That would be absurd. The mayor had no idea that we were putting this editorial in the show. We didn't plan it, it just happened. We also never expected that the governor's office would be so sensitive to the editorial. It was and is not intended to point a finger... only to point out what the motorized community feels. I would love to hear from all of you regarding this.

Here is the original version of the story:



And here is the final version of the story as it aired: