A survey last summer of more than 500 visitors to Arches National Park found strong support for a reservations system to manage visitation at the highly popular park in southeastern Utah.
Utah's ATV Wars Put Greens and Gas Guzzlers on a Collision Course msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The National Park Service said in its final rule for the plans that ATVs within designated areas would provide a new experiences for visitors while protecting the land. The Department of Interior conducted an environmental impact statement in 2017, but the results were not definitive.
Some conservationists have argued there are plenty of existing locations for ATV riders and have pushed to have the Park Service’s plans reversed.
“The National Park Service is not living up to its stewardship responsibilities, giving us no other choice but to take the agency to court over its plan,” Pollard said.
The case is currently pending in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Rayzel: By day, visitors to Hovenweep National National Monument can marvel at structures still standing hundreds of years after Ancestral Pueblo people built them. But by night.
Pollard: (:13) It can be mind-blowing. Just the first time you see that Milky Way, shooting star. Just how incredibly dark those skies are.”
Erika Pollard is the associate director for the southwest region of the National Parks Conservation Association. She doesn’t just love dark skies, she wants to see them protected. Dark skies have many benefits, like for migrating wildlife, and their impairment also means a cultural loss for many people, including Native American tribes who continue to fight for dark sky preservation.