Over the past few weeks, I have been the subject of many lies, half truths and innuendo fabricated by Dan Kent, head of Friends of the Abajo organization, and perpetuated by the vast network of Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), and then reported by Brent Israelsen in the Salt Lake Tribune, Jenny Brundin of public radio station KUER, the October Sports Guide of Mills Publishing Inc. of Salt Lake City and who knows how many other sources.
I will not live long enough to undo the personal damage caused by these self-appointed apostles of environmentalism, but I would like to report to my friends and all other persons who recognize truth, that I am not a criminal, vandal or culprit. I did not construct a trail in the Abajo Mountains, chopping down more than 10 miles of decades-old oak, maple, box elder, ponderosa and manzanita; nor did any persons who allegedly assisted me. I stand ready to reveal the truth of the incident to anyone who will report it honestly and completely.Joe F. Lyman
Blanding