Frustrated off-road enthusiasts say they have been left out of plans to make room for the tiger beetle at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park near Kanab.
A proposed conservation agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Utah divisions of Parks and Recreation and Wildlife Resources, Kane County commission and the Bureau of Land Management would preserve some of the dunes for the beetle.About 600 acres of the 3,000-acre park would be restricted to non-motorized uses, said Chas Van Genderen, research consultant for the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation.
Dave Little, a lifetime Kanab resident and off-roader at the dunes for the past 30 years was involved in the process, but he doesn't feel enough off-road enthusiasts were represented.
"There have not been many people contacted as far as the users concerned about the agreement," he said.
Off-road vehicle drivers were scheduled to discuss their concerns Tuesday night with representatives from Gov. Mike Leavitt, Sen. Orrin Hatch, Rep. Bill Orton and county commissioners.
Land managers were to meet Wednesday to discuss the boundaries and other fine points of the agreement, which is not yet in draft form.
Van Genderen said there will be a series of public meetings and input opportunities once a draft conservation agreement is completed.
One of the sticking points in the agreement is a corridor from the south end of the dunes through the restricted area to give off-roaders access to the north end of the park and adjacent dunes on BLM lands.
Little is concerned about the safety of those, including children, who may be forced to use a one-lane corridor over hills.
Ron Bolander, a threatened and endangered species coordinator for the BLM, said Fish and Wildlife officials are looking over the corridor issue.
But Bolander said the "science is there" to warrant protection of the beetle, which is thought to reside only in the sand dunes of the park. The numbers have fluctuated from about 2,600 adult beetles, when biologists began studying about five years ago, to 1,600 during wet conditions in 1995 and back to more than 2,500 this year, he said.