By Trevor Hughes | USATODAY
BLANDING, Utah — More than 200 people rode ATVs through a long-off-limits canyon in southern Utah on Saturday to protest the ongoing federal closure and demand more local control over land-use decisions.
The ride drew promises of potential prosecution.
Although the federal Bureau of Land Management’s plainclothes rangers documented the ride through Recapture Canyon, they deliberately avoided any confrontation. Many of the ATV riders were armed and invoked the cause of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy in violating the canyon’s closure. Bundy’s son attended a pre-ride rally, lending his family’s support to the protest.
Just after 10 a.m., protesters began rumbling through the canyon, often stopping to photograph Indian cliff dwellings. The land is controlled by the BLM, which last month got into an armed confrontation with Bundy over his use of federal land.
