On the surface, a Moab river guide, published author and political activist known for his passionate battle against noise pollution from all-terrain vehicles would appear to be an unlikely candidate to amass assault-type rifles, make violent threats and traffic in vandalism and illegal drugs.
But those are the allegations Moab police have leveled against Christian Langdon Wright. On Feb. 27, the 39-year-old Moab resident was charged in 7th District Court with drug manufacturing, drug possession with intent to distribute and criminal mischief, all second-degree felonies.
He was also charged with seven third-degree felony counts of illegal possession of firearms, three misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and one misdemeanor count of drug paraphernalia.
The charges stem from a search Moab police conducted on Wright’s home on Feb. 17, during which they say they found five AR-15 style rifles, one hunting rifle, one shotgun, a handgun and .223-caliber ammunition. They say they also found marijuana gummies, Adderall pills, psilocybin mushrooms and evidence of an illegal mushroom grow operation, according to the probable cause affidavit that accompanied Wright’s arrest.
People in possession of illegal drugs are not allowed to possess firearms, Moab police noted.
In addition, investigators say they found hundreds of stickers with anti-ATV messages, which they allege Wright affixed to signs and light posts all over Moab and Grand County during a vandalism spree that lasted several months and cost $15,000 to repair.
In a second case, which is supported by the same probable cause statement, Wright was charged in 7th District Court on Feb. 28 with making a terrorist threat and with criminal solicitation, second- and third-degree felonies, respectively; and with threatening violence and a lesser count of criminal solicitation, both misdemeanors.
News about Wright’s arrest stunned Tom Martin, founder of River Runners for Wilderness, an Arizona nonprofit dedicated to preserving the wilderness resources of the Colorado River watershed.
“This doesn’t sound like the Christian I know,” said Martin, who did a river trip down Cataract Canyon with Wright several years ago and characterizes his friend as a “deep thinker” and a talented writer and historian.
Making waves in Moab
In an interview with Utah Stories magazine in 2020, Wright talked about developing his love of rivers as a boy while going on outings with his father, an Atlanta attorney and boating enthusiast. After graduating college, Wright eventually settled in Moab.
Once in Utah, according to Utah Stories, Wright earned a master’s degree and worked for the National Park Service before “hanging up his ranger hat in 2018″ and becoming a full-time river guide. He also talked about buying a home in Moab from friends, who sold it at below-market value.
Besides putting down roots, Wright took up a number of other avocations in addition to his river duties. An environmental and labor historian, he wrote a number of articles on local and regional issues and penned the book “Carbon County, USA: Miners for Democracy in Utah and the West,” which The University of Utah Press published in 2020.
He also was a DJ and a frequent guest on KZMU community radio in Moab, wrote op-eds for local papers, appeared on podcasts, and was outspoken about politics, the environment and social justice issues.
Increasing noise and rising anger
When Moab neighborhoods started being overrun by ATVs several years ago, people who know Wright said his mood took a turn for the worse. In 2020, the county was inundated with complaints from residents who said the din from off-road vehicles was deafening.
After Moab and Grand County passed noise ordinances and enacted regulations to curb the noise, the Blue Ribbon Coalition and Moab ATV businesses responded last September by filing a lawsuit against both government entities, claiming $1 million in damages.
Former Grand County Attorney Christina Sloan, who lost her reelection bid in November to Stephen Stocks, remembers Wright’s first appearance before the Grand County Commission in April 2021 to talk about the noise problem.
“He was smart, respectful, spoke to personal experience, and articulately countered the pro-ATV conservative talking points hailing the supremacy of the American dollar above all else,” she told The Salt Lake Tribune in an email.
But Sloan and several of Wright’s acquaintances say he became more combative when Epic 4×4, a Moab ATV tour business, opened up adjacent to his home. Pete Gross, who met Wright years ago during a trip they did together on the Yampa River, remembers talking to him about the noise on several occasions.
Gross also recalls stopping by to visit Wright, looking over the backyard fence with his friend at the ATV business behind the home.
“I know the noise was driving him crazy,” Gross said. “He claimed he was spending tens of thousands of dollars to soundproof his basement so he could sleep and was working to soundproof every room in the house … so he could tolerate living in his own home.”
Wright’s anger also spilled out on social media. Sloan said she noticed “that noise was a big trigger for Christian,” but not the only one. She said it was clear from his social media posts that he was also upset about the National Park Service, national politics, gun violence and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Accused of crossing the line
Last June, in the middle of the night, Sloan said, Wright sent her a Facebook Messenger post in which he said he had developed PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I will personally murder the owners of Epic 4×4 with an ax in their homes in front of their families if they do not move their predatory abusive business away from my home by the end of the summer,” Wright told Sloan, according to the police report. “I have PTSD and I have a legally justifiable avenue for murder. I do not care if I am executed in retaliation for this.”
Sloan informed police of the threat and asked officers to do a wellness check. She said she also tried to persuade Wright to get help, sending him information about mental health resources and links and encouraging him to look at new housing.
That incident triggered an eight-month investigation of Wright.
(Moab Police Department) The police say they found several firearms inside the activist's home.
In August 2022, a resident gave officers some papers she said Wright had entrusted to her out of concerns something might happen to him; they included fliers with depictions of assault rifles and slogans such as “Abusive tourists & politicians take note [sic] Moab is not your whore” and “Dead tourists don’t rent UTVs,” according to the affidavit.
That same month, police say, Wright wrote to his mother, informing her he should murder his father for being a “terrible parent” and “burn their lonely, sad, multiple houses to the ground.” Wright also allegedly began harassing National Park Service officials, accusing them of murdering one of their own employees who was trying to expose a cover-up, the police report said.
A month later, one of Wright’s longtime friends became alarmed and told police Wright was buying and hiding weapons, stashing mushrooms and illegal drugs and threatening to climb a treehouse and point a rifle at a noisy neighbor who was a Trump supporter.
He also told the friend, according to the police report, that he was planning to do a “self-immolation” in front of the Moab city offices and threatened to kill people he believed were bullying or harassing him. He allegedly tried to enlist the woman to help him commit terrorist acts against Epic 4×4, the report said.
Wright’s arrest on Feb. 17 came after a witness identified him from surveillance footage that showed a man placing “UTV Noise is Child Abuse” stickers on traffic light posts in Moab, according to the affidavit. Police say they subsequently obtained a warrant and searched the activist’s home, finding the illegal drugs, weapons and hundreds of anti-ATV stickers.
Gross said Wright and other river guides recently tried to rescue a woman on a river trip who was swept downstream. When they caught up to her, he added, she wasn’t breathing and a protracted attempt to revive her with CPR was unsuccessful.
“He was traumatized, and he talked about that pretty openly on Facebook,” Gross said.
For her part, Sloan said she has doubts Wright would ever hurt anyone and said she is “super bummed” some in the Moab community are willing to vilify him.
“Everyone I know [who is] involved in this case wants Christian to get mental health treatment and recover fully,” she said. “Christian is very smart and articulate. I hope he can figure out how to engage on these important issues in a healthy, productive manner.”
