The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed an environmental group to intervene in San Juan County's lawsuit against the Interior Department over its claim to a dirt road that runs through a portion of Canyonlands National Park. The county had opposed the intervention of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, claiming that the organization lacked standing and had no ownership interest in the complaint. A district court judge agreed. But the 10th circuit overturned that ruling, noting that SUWA had "a direct interest" in the outcome of the suit because of its past involvement in debates over the status of the Salt Creek road, and because SUWA members had a clear "user interest" in terms of recreating in the area. That, "has always been sufficient to support intervention," the appeals court ruled. Earlier this year, the state joined San Juan County in the lawsuit. - Joe Baird