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Show Editorial . . . The Frog Isn't About To Get Cooked The adage of how to boil a frog , without him knowing it is one which ; seems to apply to President Carter's : "rumored" intention to further restrict the use of off-road vehicles on public lands. Everyone knows that one doesn't throw the frog in the boiling water or he jumps out. But by placing him in cool water and gradually heating it up, the frog is cooked before he knows it. Over the years, more and more federal restrictions have been placed on the use of federal lands, both for recreation and for commercial use. But with the hail of protest already stirred up just by the rumor that more restrictions are being considered, the frog just might jump out of the pot before he is completely cooked anyway. So far there has been no real reason given for this possibility. To date, federal land management ; agencies including Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, have moved toward implementing Pres. Nixon's 1973 order regulating off-road vehicles on federal lands. And to some extent, we agree this i was good, because there are delicate areas in which even horses and perhaps hikers, could cause damage. : But for the most part, the federal recreation lands are such that they can and should be used for that purpose: recreation. One only has to drive on any street or road in this area to know the popularity of off-road vehicles, whether it be four-wheel drive trucks, motorcycles, snowmobiles or even bicycles. A breakdown of figures from the Utah Tax Commission shows nearly 50,000 motorcycles registered for on-highway use, with another 8,110 motorcycles for exclusive off-road use. In addition, there were 15,231 snowmobiles registered as of last June. By adding the motorcycles and snowmobiles, we find some 74,000 such vehicles. But in southern Utah, the registration of four-wheel drive vehicles, especially pickup trucks would probably outnumber the total motorcycles and snowmobiles many times. And while they are registered as on-road vehicles, their owners spend a good deal of time "off-roading" with them. Many such vehicles are purchased with that idea in mind. But regardless of whether one has a snowmobile, motorcycle, four-wheel drive vehicle or just a passenger car, the question arises, "Why more restrictions in the use of recreational areas?" It is obvious that we live here because of the proximity to national parks, forest areas, mountain lakes and streams and generally what is left of wilderness. Most communities are within a few miles of one of these areas and that's why we remain, so these areas can be used for recreation. We agree that restrictions and regulations are necessary on forest and BLM lands, just as rules and regulations are needed for on-highway use. But to continue to restrict and deprive Americans of the use of their recreation lands by tighter controls which will obviously be impossible to enforce, is one which westerners just won't live with. Until the official word is given, we can only guess at how far the new administration wants to go in further choking the public's rights to their own lands. But we can be certain that if the restrictions are anything significantly greater than those now existing, there will be a lot of frogs jump out of that hot water and join in a protest which this president hasn't dreamed of. |