Federal land managers are seeking public comment on a California company's plan to stage a 300-mile endurance race through southeastern Utah.
Eco-Challenge Inc., based in Universal City, Calif., proposes sending as many as 50 seven-person teams through the desert and canyons, starting near Huntington, Emery County, and ending at Bullfrog Marina on Lake Powell.The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has amended the proposal, taking the course out of some ecologically sensitive areas and limiting the use of helicopters.
An environmental assessment by the BLM concludes that the amended route would have few significant impacts on soil, archeological and wildlife resources.
Environmentalists are not consoled.
"They're still going through (proposed) wilderness areas; there's still going to be too many people," said Scott Groene, staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. And the whole idea of "promoting southern Utah as a red-rock fun house" is a bad one, he added.
At a cost of $2,500 per team, the racers would begin on horseback at Huntington on April 25, riding 24 miles toward the San Rafael River. Teams would then hike through the Black Box and turn abruptly south and west toward the San Rafael Swell, eventually rappelling down Chute Canyon.
Racers then would go through Goblin Valley and ride mountain bikes to Horseshoe Canyon. After hiking down the canyon to the Green River, the teams would board rafts (piloted by professional outfitters) and go 50 miles down the Green and Colorado rivers, exiting at Sheep Canyon in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Teams would hike a few miles before entering canoes and racing 44 miles down Lake Powell to the finish line at Bullfrog Marina.
The course is expected to take eight to 10 days to complete, with less than half of the teams expected to finish. Film crews would document the contest for an "extreme adventure television" program to air on MTV or ESPN, event sponsors say.
In all, about 375 people - participants, press and staff - are expected to be on the course, and another 125 to be at checkpoints along the course.
Eco-Challenge principals Mark Burnett and Brian Terkelsen insist the contest would be performed with an emphasis on safety and environmental protection. Teams would have to perform an environmental service project before the race and would be eliminated for littering, improperly disposing of human waste or stepping on cryptobiotic soils, which are crucial to the desert ecosystem.
State economic-development officials believe the race would be a positive promotion for southern Utah's back country, attracting people who care about the environment.
Groene dismisses that logic, arguing the back country is already popular enough. "The last thing we need is additional publicity and (hundreds of) people to see how fast they can get across southern Utah," he said. "People are going to get run over by this circus."
If the local BLM district office approves the race, environmental groups, including SUWA, the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society, would likely appeal the decision administratively, Groene said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Public comments sought
The public is invited to send written comments on the proposed Eco-Challenge race to the BLM, 900 N. 700 East, Price, UT 84501. Comments are due Jan. 13.