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Should a tour company be able to land its helicopters near Utah’s Canyonlands National Park?

Operator wants to fly to remote state trust lands near Horseshoe Canyon, raising concerns over impact on nearby public lands managed as wilderness.

(File photo courtesy of Sam Gregory) Members of Boy Scout troop on a tour through Bluejohn Canyon in 2005, nearly two years after Aron Ralston was trapped in the same canyon for 5-1/2 days and amputated his right arm to escape from being pinned by a boulder. A Moab helicopter tour operator has asked the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration for permission to land on state trust lands near Bluejohn Canyon and drop off clients who would explore the canyon. The proposal is raising concerns over its potential effects on nearby public lands and Canyonlands National Park.