Trent Nelson / AP
ATV riders cross into a restricted area of Recapture Canyon, north of Blanding, Utah, on Saturday, May 10, 2014, in a protest against what demonstrators call the federal government’s overreaching control of public lands. The area has been closed to motorized use since 2007 when an illegal trail was found that cuts through Ancestral Puebloan ruins. The canyon is open to hikers and horseback riders.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015 | 10:01 a.m.
SALT LAKE CITY — Prosecutors implored a jury Wednesday to find four Utah men guilty of crossing the line and knowingly breaking the law during an ATV protest ride last year in an idyllic southern Utah canyon.
Defense attorneys countered that the ride was a lawful and political protest and that the men believed they had a right to be in a canyon their families had enjoyed and used for decades.
The May 2014 protest ride came shortly after Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy had a confrontation with Bureau of Land Management over similar issues, illustrating the simmering tension between the federal government and some residents in the West over land use.
About 50 people rode their ATVs on a trail off-limits to vehicles in a canyon that cuts through ruins that are nearly 2,000 years old and is home to dwellings, artifacts and burials left behind by Ancestral Puebloans hundreds of years ago before they disappeared.
During opening arguments in the trial, prosecutor Lake Dishman told 12 jurors in a federal courtroom in Salt Lake City that the men planned the ride and invited others. He said there was no confusion or miscommunication about a trail that had been closed to ATVs since 2007 to protect the artifacts.
"Each of these four defendants crossed the line," said Dishman, an attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah. "This was an act of defiance against the BLM."
The defendants are San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman, Monticello blogger Monte Wells and alleged participants Shane Marian and Franklin "Trent" Holliday. They have pleaded not guilty to illegal use of ATVs and conspiracy.
Lyman's attorney Jared Stubbs, said during opening arguments countered that Lyman and the other men believed they had a right to be in the canyon. Lyman and other residents in the area have grown frustrated with not having access to a canyon that their families have been visiting their entire lives.
"However, despite their frustrations, they agreed to work with BLM," Stubbs said. "But year after year, the BLM would not lift the temporary closure."
Stubbs said Lyman organized a rally at a public park in the nearby town of Blanding on May 10, 2014, to voice their displeasure with the BLM, before some of them chose to ride in the canyon.
His client, Lyman, and three others have pleaded not guilty to illegal use of ATVs and conspiracy.
The area, Recapture Canyon, is open to hikers and horseback riders. It is located about 300 miles southeast of Salt Lake City near the junction of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado known as the Four Corners.
Dishman said prosecutors will bring several federal employees to the stand to talk about how Lyman and the others concocted the plan, worked together to hash out details and that they knew they would be breaking the law.
They images were caught on cameras taken by trail cameras placed by BLM employees prior to the ride. In pictures shown in court, Wells and Lyman are seen saluting the camera as they rode by.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy