ATVs at Coral Pink Dunes churning up legal battle

KANAB — At the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, enthusiasts driving dune buggies can roar into a wilderness study area from an adjacent state park without even knowing it. That has given rise to a U.S. Supreme Court case underscoring the battle over millions of acres of potential wilderness preserves.

The state all-terrain vehicle park is bordered on three sides by the wilderness study area, and conservationists say the Bureau of Land Management isn't doing enough to protect the fragile dunes and their ancient stands of ponderosa pine.

The nation's highest court hears arguments Monday on whether citizen groups can sue the BLM to force it to better protect public lands awaiting a decision on wilderness designation. The clash of competing interests is most pronounced here, about 250 miles south of Salt Lake City, where the border defining Coral Pink's most delicate dunes from ATV traffic is little more than an imaginary line in the sand.

"You need a map to figure it all out," said Al Hall, a retired construction worker who runs a $2,500 dune buggy built with parts from two cars. While most off-roaders respect the boundaries, he said, "there are no trail markings per se."

The BLM has recommended against wilderness designation for this forested high desert land, and it has turned down suggestions from wilderness advocates that the 14,830-acre Moquith Mountain wilderness study area be fenced to keep out illicit ATV traffic, saying it would not be practical or economical. ATVs are allowed to travel inside the protected zone on a loop road and two side trails.

A final decision on wilderness protection is up to Congress, but land managers are supposed to preserve study areas in pristine condition in case Congress decides they should be formally protected. Once roads are cut in wilderness study areas, preservationists say, the backcountry no longer meets the standard of wilderness.

So the Southern Utah Wilderness Association sued BLM, seeking to force land managers to be more aggressive in protecting the dunes and other Utah wilderness study areas.

A federal judge threw out SUWA's case, but the group prevailed at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which ruled BLM could be sued for allowing damage to the lands.

The Justice Department is appealing that decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that citizens groups would gum up government if they are allowed to challenge every land management decision.