Whether the popular Salt Creek Canyon road in Canyonlands National Park will reopen to vehicles is part of a management plan under consideration by the National Park Service.

Park officials are holding a series of open houses to solicit input. The following meetings will be held from 4-8 p.m.:

April 3, Sheraton Airport Hotel, 307 N. Admiral Byrd Road, Salt Lake City.

April 5, La Plata County Fairgrounds, La Plata Room, 2500 Main St., Durango, Colo.

April 23, Grand County Civic Center, 450 E. 100 North, Moab.

April 24, San Juan County Courthouse, county commission room, 117 S. Main, Monticello.

Vehicles were permitted in upper Salt Creek Canyon until June 1998, when U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball ruled that the creek was being ruined by Jeep use.

Off-highway users appealed the decision. Last August, the 10th Circuit Court remanded it to Kimball for further review.

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Many ORV users hoped the appellate decision would reopen the canyon, but Canyonlands Superintendent Jerry Banta opted to keep it closed for another year to study recovery efforts.

"This is a scoping phase where we are gathering ideas and information," Banta said. "It's not the decisionmaking phase."

Comments also may be mailed to Canyonlands National Park, Attention, Salt Creek EA, 2282 S. West Resource Boulevard, Moab, UT 84532, or e-mailed to canysaltck@nps.gov .

The deadline for comments is May 1.

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