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SALT LAKE CITY — In April 2003, Aron Ralston accidentally pinned his arm under a boulder while hiking Bluejohn Canyon in Southern Utah and cut off his own arm to escape certain death. That harrowing tale led to a book, a movie and generally quite a bit of fame, which fame he is now using to fight for the very canyon he nearly died in.
Ralston addressed nearly 400 people Wednesday afternoon at Peery's Egyptian Theatre in Ogden during a fundraiser for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, where he urged President Barak Obama to designate 1.5 million acres of the Greater Canyonlands region a national monument. That region includes Bluejohn Canyon, where his now infamous ordeal took place, as well as White Canyon, Hatch Point and many other well-known scenic areas and ancient archeological sites.
Ralston has said that industry, especially oil and gas, are threatening the continued existence of land that is deeply important to him.
"I'm doing what I can to leverage my notoriety to get other people to take action," he told the Standard- Examiner. "There's a heavy influence from the industry side in politics when it comes to issues in the West in terms of water use and energy development."
Aron Ralston urged President Barak Obama to designate 1.5 million acres of the Greater Canyonlands region a national monument
SUWA also strongly advocates for the idea of a national monument in the area, which would protect it from commercial development such as mining tar sands. Ralston has been working with them on achieving that goal. He has extensive outdoor experience in Southen Utah, and said he loves the wilderness there, and doesn't want to see it developed.
During his presentation, which was also part of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance retailer's trade show, Ralston again recounted his desperate trial in the wilderness, from the thoughts of death and loss to the courage he found to break his own arm, cut through it with a dull knife and later his miraculous rescue by helicopter. The perspective he gained while trapped in Utah's wilderness has shaped the rest of his life, and he now makes a living as a public speaker, spreading his story of survival and advocating for the environment with groups like SUWA.
SUWA's proposal has seen strong criticism in the state, with lawmakers crying foul over what they perceive as a federal encroachment on states' rights to locally administer their own lands. They hope to avoid a repeat of then-President Bill Clinton's creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument in 1996, which generated enormous controversy and still leaves a bitter taste in some state officials' mouths. Environmentalists praised Clinton's choice, and generally support the idea of a new national monument in Canyonlands.
The idea of a national monument would also bring about a partial victory for environmentalists over the fate of some of Utah's rural roads and trails. Environmentalists advocate federal control over the roads in order to prevent overuse and further development, while lawmakers in Utah want control over the roads, both for use by the few residents near them, as well as the possibility of further economic benefit from new oil and gas development.
