The Factory Butte area is a barren moonscape region that is void of plants, vegetation and animals, but that is filled with spectacular challenges for motorcycle riding and other motorized recreation uses. If ever there was a place perfectly made for cross-country travel, this is it: flat expanses interspersed with 40-degree hillslopes with knife-edge ridges for challenging riding.
No wonder Utah families love to camp and ride here.
In 1999 environmentalists attempted to force the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to close the Factory Butte area to motorized use by filing a lawsuit that ultimately failed before the United States Supreme Court. (I was one of the attorneys involved.)
In that litigation BLM's expert geologist, Andrew Godfrey, testified that off-highway vehicles (OHVs) have little effect on the "mass-movement" erosion that already naturally occurs at Factory Butte during storm events. Godfrey, who had studied erosion of the Mancos shale at Factory Butte for nearly 35 years, advised the court, "OHV traffic over Mancos Shale . . . breaks up the natural crust and leaves tracks from one to several inches deep. However, these effects are short-lived. The crust will re-form after one wetting and drying cycle, which can be as short as two days."
Godfrey stated that storm erosion of ridgelines completely eliminates tire impressions. (Godfrey's report is available at http://www.usa-all.com News/Articles.)
This scientific reality debunks Ramsley's absurd claims that motorized vehicles cause "as much as 50 tons of landscape" to blow or wash away and that motorized impacts are "shocking and irreversible." In fact, the same amount of slippery-wet Mancos shale is going to mass-move down slopes regardless of motor vehicle use.
And storm events continuously reverse evidence of flatland tracks as the soils dramatically expand from moisture and contract with drying.
Also contrary to Ramsley's claims, motorized use of the area strongly enhances tourism. The Factory Butte area is a magnet for motorized recreationists across the west and is considered the "Matterhorn" of motorcycle riding by many expert riders.
Thus, we are left to attempt to explain Ramsley's radically altered perceptions of motorized use of the Factory Butte area. In the August-September 2004 issue of the Canyon Country Zephyr, Ramsley describes himself as a child of the 1960s, referring to himself as a "hippie," as a participant in the "back to the land movement" and an "organic gardener."
Apparently, Ramsley, like other environmental elitists, cannot stand the idea of families using public lands for human enjoyment. However, this attitude will not draw customers to Ramsley's market.
Everybody agrees that demand for motorized recreation is constantly and dramatically increasing. At the same time cross-country riding is being systematically eliminated from most areas of public lands. It is vital to preserve open areas such as Factory Butte that are perfect for unrestricted motorized recreation. Each closure of such an area simply pushes riders into other areas that may not be as suitable.
As BLM revises its land use plans, it is critical for the public to distinguish fantasy from fact. Godfrey's report supports the tradition of open management of the Factory Butte area that is so important to local economies and to family recreation.
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Paul W. Mortensen is an attorney who represents motorized recreation groups in state and federal courts.
