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Lyman Family Farm Blocks Access To Section of Comb Ridge Near Bluff

Kevin Casper
/
Creative Commons

When a section of school trust land west of the tiny town of Bluff, Utah, was nominated for public auction early last year, critics said the action could mean a loss of public access to a popular area of scenic Comb Ridge. Now their fears appear to be coming true.

The new owner of the 390-acre parcel, a company called Lyman Family Farm, has reportedly put a locked gate across a road that crosses a small piece of their property before leading to public land. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the route is a Class D county road but the county – which has been highly critical of road closures by the federal government – has not yet taken action to reopen it. Bluff Service Area Manager Skip Meier tells KSJD the gate, which sits near a sandstone monument honoring pioneers, means locals can no longer drive to a favorite picnic spot. Lyman Family Farm has bought numerous such school-trust tracts across Utah without saying what it plans to do with them, and Meier says town officials are in the dark about this one. The original proposal to auction the section caused an uproar. Beyond loss of public access, one concern was that the sale would create a private inholding within the proposed Bears Ears National Monument. Now that concern has become reality.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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