PAUL FOY Associated Press Writer | Posted: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 12:00 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - When an influential lobbyist got a retired congressman to push for funding to buy a private Utah ranch, they expected the land to be thrown open for public hunting and recreation.
But since the discovery that the land was filled with the ruins of an ancient civilization, the plan to open the ranch to unrestricted public access has taken a turn.
State officials confirmed Tuesday that Utah's park agency is taking over management of Range Creek canyon, grabbing control from a pro-hunting wildlife division of the same department.
The switch appears designed to satisfy archaeologists worried about looting in a canyon largely untouched since Native Americans left stone pit houses, granaries and rock art there more than 800 years ago.
The change also appears intended to mollify Utah's American Indian tribes, who lashed out at state officials Tuesday for keeping the discovery of Range Creek and human remains secret until news report began to surface about the find in June.
"I feel a trust has been violated," Lora Tom, chairwoman of Utah's Pauite Indian tribe, told state officials on an advisory committee dealing with repatriation of Indian artifacts and remains.
Forrest Cuch, the panel's chairman and director of Utah's Division of Indian Affairs, said Utah tribes lost land and members to war and conflict after Mormon pioneers settled Utah in 1847.
"We still hurt deep in our soul," Cuch said.
Don Peay, who made Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife a 15,000-member lobby with unusual clout, said he got his first glimpse of Range Creek canyon in 1994 while flying with state biologists relocating bighorn sheep to the area.
Peay said he recognized the value of a strategically placed private ranch that controlled access to large swaths of surrounding public land. He called up retired Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah.
"How much do you need?" asked Hansen. Peay said he replied, "A couple of million dollars."
"Let me see what we can do," Hansen reportedly said.
Not only did Congress buy the ranch for Utah, it scrapped a plan to split the costs 50-50 with the state. The federal government paid $2 million and Utah kicked in another $500,000.
Peay, who said he helped write the language of the acquisition, said it was specifically bought to be managed for public access, hunting and recreation.
But state officials are re-examining those priorities. A management plan expected to be released next month will restrict hunting, prohibit camping and require visitors on foot or horseback to get permits and guides, said Bob Morgan, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
"I'm not anxious to have these people shoot up the rock art, like they have in Nine Mile Canyon," said Morgan, referring to a nearby Utah canyon that's been called the world's longest art gallery.
The thinking about public access at Range Creek changed after Gov. Olene Walker paid an Aug. 10 visit there. The governor was in Mexico on a trade mission Tuesday and couldn't be reached for comment.
Morgan said his Division of Wildlife Resources will keep title to the 4,200-acre ranch, but the Division of Parks and Recreation would manage the ranch lands in cooperation with the University of Utah Museum of Natural History.
The parks agency has more experience than the wildlife division in managing cultural sites, Morgan said. He said the ranch will protected like surrounding wilderness study areas controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Lynn Ward, Walker's deputy chief of staff, confirmed that Walker wanted the parks agency to take over the ranch. "That seems to be the way to go," Ward said Tuesday.
Peay said he was resigned to some restrictions at Range Creek, but "I just hope the public process doesn't get this land so restricted it's goofed up." He thinks some camping should be allowed in the canyon for "quality" big-game hunting excursions.
"I knew it was a special place. I've crawled around a lot of deserts, and I knew it was special. But I'm always looking for animals and tracks, not pottery shards and arrowheads," he said.
AP-WS-08-24-04 2039EDT