Most of us are familiar with the Big Lie propaganda technique. If a lie is outrageous enough, and if it is told often enough, then people will begin to believe it.
This technique has usually been associated with the bankrupt political ideologies of failed tyrannical regimes. However, recent letters appearing in local newspapers supporting wilderness designation in Utah would indicate that it is still alive and well.Although wilderness designation is the most restrictive public land use category of all, one which effectively precludes all access other than hiking and horseback riding, letter after letter appears telling us about the multitude of activities that will be allowed. Ranchers can ranch, improve facilities and even drive vehicles in the wilderness. Just about everyone, except, of course, those nasty ORV users, will be able to carry on just as before. One would wonder then, if this is so, why aren't ranchers lining up in droves to promote additional wilderness designations? Maybe they're just not very smart.
If you want to know the truth about wilderness, go out and ask the rural Utahns whose families have lived for generations on or about these lands. Ask where the majority of Utah's radical Wayne Owens' major campaign funding is coming from. Ask why Owens is not welcome in most of our rural counties. If Owens succeeds in his massive land grab, all of us will have lost something of immeasurable value forever.
Rainer Huck
president, Utah Trail Machine Association