In southern Utah, environmentalists are often looked upon with dread or loathing. But the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is telling Kane and Garfield county residents that they have much in common with them, at least when it comes to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

In a Oct. 2 letter addressed to residents of Kane and Garfield counties, SUWA executive director Larry Young criticized elected officials for recent actions that "lack common sense and may not be in your best interest."

The two-page letter accuses commissioners of threatening private property rights, wasting tax dollars on unsuccessful court cases and trying to eliminate local jobs.

Kane County Commissioner Mark Habbeshaw says the letters have stirred up an ant pile.

"I started getting calls from both Kane and Garfield county residents who were upset and offended," Habbeshaw said. "I think it's galvanizing the community in a way SUWA didn't anticipate. It's pulling people together."

Young expects that a faction of southern Utah residents will disagree with SUWA. But he also thinks many support the 1.9 million-acre monument.

"So often the rhetoric is so white-hot and angry on issues that have to do with public land management," Young said. "Things were getting to a place in terms of rhetoric about the national monument that it was important to reach out and comment where we are at. There's a perception that we take positions that are extreme and unreasonable, but in fact, there's a rational analysis."

Since 1996, when President Bill Clinton designated the huge expanse of southern Utah desert as a national monument, there have been skirmishes between elected officials and federal land managers over road access and livestock grazing.

Then in mid-August, Habbeshaw and Kane County Sheriff Lamont Smith pulled out road-closure signs erected by the monument, prompting a federal investigation into possible criminal charges. The signs were on roads where the county claims ownership under a 19th-century law known as "RS 2477."

SUWA called the action "childish," noting that the signs "did nothing but provide road numbers," and they accused Smith of using his position as sheriff to advance his personal interest as an ATV rider.

"We've offered to work with Gov. Leavitt to resolve issues that involve roads that are needed for transportation, and we believe there is little disagreement on these roads. On the other hand, we believe it is a mistake for the Kane and Garfield county commissioners to continue to waste tax dollars in a fruitless effort to open wildlife habitat and wilderness to uncontrolled ATV use," the SUWA letter states.

In an Aug. 25 letter to Sally Wisely, director of the Bureau of Land Management in Utah, commissioners asked for sweeping changes — including returning the management of the monument to local BLM authorities. County officials say that was in direct response to a BLM reorganization plan that would consolidate all BLM activities under one complex at the Kanab Visitors Center.

County officials even suggested that federal dollars for the monument be reduced.

But SUWA has told local residents, "The monument is here to stay. It would be better to take advantage of the monument to ensure that it economically benefits local counties without harm to southern Utah's wildlife and wilderness. It is a mistake to spurn federal dollars out of spite or anger."

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E-MAIL: donna@desnews.com