This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I grew up in the small town of Tooele, where I hunted, hiked and rode motorcycles. Some of these areas are now subdivisions.
As the population grows, so do towns and the once rural areas are populated.
I like to fish in small streams. In the last 30 years I have seen places where I once fished are now either gone, changed or fenced off with "no trespassing" signs. It is naive to think that accessibility of these lands will always stay the same.
A national park monument or forest ensures that the land will be protected from corporations or private ownership that could cut off accessibility of the land.
People need to decide if they want to keep the land as it is or risk what a private owner could do.
Nothing stays the same unless it is protected.
For politicians to use public areas as political pawns is a disgrace.
The long run is what is at stake. The political gain or favor will be just as forgotten as the lands' beauty in the future.
Public land is for everyone. If we don't protect it, it will be gone.
Don't let our petty Utah politicians and the feds get political gain or profit from what is everyone's.
Craig G. Erickson
Tooele