This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When some 16 recreationists didn't want to follow the required permitting procedures to hike into the environmentally sensitive Fiery Furnace, they told Arches National Park staffers they were friends of Rep. Mia Love and would call her to complain.
Love, in turn, called national park officials and, voila, the group got to take the hike.
"We were able to get them on a ranger-led tour the next day," said Kate Cannon, superintendent of Arches and Canyonlands national parks.
Cannon did not want to talk about Love's involvement, other than to say she was not the person who received the call. But commercial hiking guides overheard park employees complaining about it Tuesday at the Arches visitor center.
Richard Piatt, Love's communications director, said the first-year congresswoman received a call from one of the hikers and turned it over to her constituent-services aides, who phoned park officials.
Piatt said the congressional office regularly fields requests from constituents visiting Washington, D.C., for tours of, say, the Capitol or the White House. Visiting a national park is an extension of that service, he said. If there had not been room on the ranger-led tour, he added, the group would not have been allowed to join it. There just happened to be enough vacancies.
There are three ways to gain authorization to hike into Fiery Furnace, a special management area in Arches.
Hikers can apply for their own permit, usually online, then reserve a time. That usually requires applying in advance because of the limited spots allowed per day. A private group can be as large as 50 hikers.
Hikers also can apply for a ranger-led tour. That, too, usually must be reserved in advance because those groups are capped at 25 and the park can be short-staffed this time of the year.
The third way: Hire a commercial hiking guide for a group limited to 25.
All three methods require the viewing of an orientation film at the visitor center.
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Onward Christian soldier • To the anonymous idiot who left the note on my windshield in Old Farm on Wednesday morning: Get back on your meds and take remedial reading lessons.
"I can see you proudly show your athiest [sic] liscence [sic] plate," said the note. "I hope you didn't miss your holiday. The Bible Psalms 53:1. Ya, that's talking about you. Your holiday is Fools Day."
My vanity license plate says 4THEST8. It stands for the Fourth Estate, a term that refers to the press. I ordered that plate because I'm proud to be a journalist.
At least the Bible quoter didn't slash my tires, like vandals did to gay activist Eric Ethington's car in 2011, when he was parked on the Brigham Young University campus to meet with a group of students to discuss efforts to get nondiscrimination ordinances passed in Provo. His car bore "Equal Rights Campaign" and "Equality Utah" bumper stickers.
I suggested at the time that Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, could file a bill exempting vandals from prosecution if they are able to show religious conviction motivated their vandalism.
Based on Christensen's failed religious-liberties bill this year, I may have been prophetic.
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Second Amendment news • A news release from Rocky Mountain Gun Owners announced its third annual concealed-carry certification class for teachers, which took place March 28 in Loveland, Colo.
Not sure if they used toilet seats for target practice.