PANGUITCH — The Garfield County Commission has voted against adding President Donald Trump’s name to a local scenic highway.
Earlier this month, Garfield County Commission Chairman Leland F. Pollock proposed renaming the Burr Trail Scenic Byway as “The Donald J. Trump Presidential Burr Trail Highway.”
The proposal was shot down Monday during a public meeting when the commission voted “no.”
Commonly known as one of Utah’s most scenic roads, the Burr Trail is a 67-mile path that begins in Boulder, in southcentral Utah and ends near Bullfrog Marina on Lake Powell. It winds through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Pollock told KSL-TV his proposal aims to recognize the Trump administration’s policies in the county during his first term, including a 2017 proclamation to downsize Grand-Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments.
“This is just a sign of appreciation. This guy right here was good to Garfield County, and he was good to all of the Western public land counties,” Pollock stated.
The Burr Trail was originally named after John Atlantic Burr, a pioneer and rancher who settled in the area and carved out the trail for his cattle.
Many Garfield County residents spoke out about the name change, including Stacy Davis who said it was not for political reasons but to preserve Burr’s legacy.
“I think the important issue here is not a political one,” Davis said. “If it was Abraham Lincoln, I would feel the same way. That’s a landmark that was literally created by the ancestors of people who still live in the area.”
Jacqueline Grant, executive director of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, issued a statement opposing the proposal.
“The monument withstood President Trump’s attempt to downsize it in 2017, which means that it would be counterintuitive to name one of its major routes after him,” Grant said, adding that scenic byways are traditionally named after local archeological, cultural, natural or scenic values that make them special and unique.
This isn’t the first time a proposal was made to rename a Utah road after the president.
In 2018, Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, introduced a bill that would rename the Utah National Parks Highway — a route winding through some of the state’s most spectacular scenery — to the “Donald J. Trump Utah National Parks Highway.” The bill died just days later when Noel chose to drop it after receiving personal attacks.
This story will be updated.
Contributing: Garna Mejia and Alex Cabrero