Most of Gold Butte doesn’t need federal protection

Stanley W. Paher hit the nail on the head in his Sunday commentary opposing the national monument designation for Gold Butte. It was a great article.

I have been trucking, jeeping, ATVing and hiking the Gold Butte area since the mid ’70s. There are only a small handful of areas accessible to the average street-legal vehicle. Protection is not needed for 90 percent of Gold Butte because it is inaccessible and there is little that needs protecting. I have pulled ill-prepared people out of the sand and mud, provided water to parched souls, and ferried people back to civilization.

Sure there are sensitive areas that need our protection — Whitney Pockets, Devil’s Throat, Little Finland, Falling Man, 21 Bighorn, newspaper rock and lands within the Lake Mead Recreational Area. But all these areas (excepting Lake Mead recreational land) are in a the same general small acreage, not far off the main road. So protect them, fence them off, hire BLM officers to patrol them, and build decent roads so the average citizen may enjoy them. Just leave the rest of Gold Butte alone. It will take care of itself.