SALT LAKE CITY — Some of the same armed protesters who seized an Oregon wildlife refuge took part in an illegal ATV ride in southeastern Utah to protest federal land management practices in 2014.

The ride that San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman led in Recapture Canyon came on the heels of rancher Cliven Bundy's confrontation with the Bureau of Land Management in Bunkerville, Nevada. Bundy's son, Ryan Bundy, was among those who showed up at the canyon protest.

"It was very close to becoming one of these more troubling encounters and confrontations between law enforcement and armed extremists," U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber said Monday.

He said it would be too strong to say organizers of the ATV ride invited or solicited the Bundy supporters' participation, but not an overstatement that they were welcomed.

"Some of the same characters you see in Burns, Oregon, and in Bunkerville, Nevada, were right here in southeastern Utah at the Recapture Canyon ride," Huber said on KSL Newsradio's "The Doug Wright Show." "These situations are very delicate and very unpredictable."

Lyman said a handful of "militia folks" told him they were there to "help" during the 2014 ride, but he disagrees that the situation came close to turning violent.

"I said, 'We have it covered. The sheriff is on top of this. I appreciate your interest. I appreciate you showing up, but we do not need to turn this into anything more than just a peaceful insistence on following the law,'" he told the Deseret News Monday. "I never got the feeling it was about to get out of control."

The BLM closed parts of Recapture Canyon to off-road vehicle use in 2007, citing damage to cultural artifacts in the area, but it let other authorized uses continue on some sections, such as use by the San Juan County Water Conservancy District. Many locals objected to the closure, asserting it was arbitrary and unnecessary, and thwarted a review process mandated by federal law.

A jury convicted Lyman of misdemeanor conspiracy and trespassing charges for the illegal ATV ride. A federal judge sentenced him to 10 days in jail and 36 months of probation. He and co-defendant Monte Wells were also hit with a $96,000 bill to repair archaeological damage. Lyman said he anticipates appealing his conviction this week.

Growing hostility

Though the San Juan County protest didn't become as heated as the Nevada and Oregon showdowns, it shows the growing hostility some Westerners have over federal land management practices.

In Oregon, father-and-son ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond were due to report to a federal prison Monday after being convicted in 2012 of arson for lighting public land on fire adjacent to their ranch south of Burns. They were imprisoned once and must return after federal appellate judges said they were improperly sentenced the first time.

The armed group doesn't want that to happen, claiming the imprisonment is unconstitutional. Cliven Bundy family members latched onto the Hammonds as their latest cause against the federal government.

According to the Oregonian newspaper, the Hammonds initially accepted the group's offer of help to avoid prison, Ammon Bundy said. But the Hammonds changed their minds after being warned by federal prosecutors to stop communicating with the militia, Bundy wrote in a blog post.

Lyman said people approached him promising to "take care of you" if he skipped his sentencing hearing in federal court last month. He said he declined.

"This idea of protection didn't ring true with me," he said. "Protection to me is my job, my family, the reputation, things like that. Showing up with guns and saying, 'I'm not going to show up for my appointment with the federal judge,' that wouldn't be very smart in my opinion."

Frustration over public lands

The Oregon showdown epitomizes the frustration that dominates public landscapes in the West, especially when it comes to a federal tightening of grazing allotments, a persistent wild horse overpopulation problem and invasive weed control that ranchers and other critics say is not sufficient.

In 2014, a coalition of rural county representatives from Utah urged the National Association of Counties to endorse its proposal to let states take over the management of wild horses and also traveled to Washington, D.C., to air complaints over BLM tactics.

Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, ran legislation to try to curb federal law enforcement authority when it comes to public land matters, and Utah Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, has introduced legislation at the federal level to "demilitarize" certain federal agencies.

Too much federal land ownership, government critics say, lies at the crux of the problem.

In Utah, nearly 70 percent of the land is within federal ownership, and in some counties — like those playing host to the Oregon showdown — the majority of the land is under federal control.

Ranchers, in particular, say they are feeling the brunt of punitive federal policies. The frustration reached such a level in 2014 for some Nevada and Utah ranchers that they organized a cross-country horseback ride to deliver petitions to the White House demanding change.

Utah Farm Bureau officials say that between the BLM and U.S. Forest Service, the cuts in grazing allotments have been about 63 percent.

Cliven Bundy's feud with the BLM over more than $1 million in back grazing fees turned into an armed showdown in Bunkerville that led to fisticuffs between his supporters and federal agents.

Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox got involved in the situation, traveling to Nevada with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to ask the BLM to reconsider plans to ship seized cattle from Bundy's ranch for auction in Utah.

"My job was to make sure that didn't come into the state of Utah," Cox said of the confrontation.

Cox: Oregon situation is tragic

Cox called the situation in Oregon tragic, and other than the anger over federal land management policies, he said he doesn't see any parallels between the Nevada and Utah protests.

"It's not the way we do things. It's not the way they should be done. Their concerns may be legitimate, but we believe in the rule of law and that kind of extremism is not acceptable," he said Monday.

Cox said he "sincerely" hopes these armed anti-federalists don't stage a protest for Lyman and against the federal government like they've done in Oregon.

"I think Commissioner Lyman would be the first to tell you that he does not want any of that. That's not why he did what he did, and that's not what he expects," said Cox, who contributed to a fund to help cover legal costs for Lyman's appeal.

Lyman said he's "disappointing a lot of people" by not pushing that agenda.

"I'm very local. My interest really is Blanding, Utah, and San Juan County and the people that live here," he said.

Rep. Ken Ivory sponsored legislation in 2012 demanding the federal government cede title to certain lands in Utah. As president of the American Lands Council, Ivory — an attorney — is largely seen as the architect of a West-wide movement chaffing at federal government control.

On Monday, however, he made it clear he disagrees with the tactics of the armed occupiers in eastern Oregon.

"There is a tremendous problem with federal bureaucrats who put policy over people. It creates an extreme frustration all over the West, and it will continue to do so, but this is absolutely not the way to solve that problem," he said.

The occupation of the federal wildlife refuge ignores the system of law in place and redress through elected political leaders, he added.

"You look at the way Utah is approaching this," he said. "We are going through legal analysis, we have the top constitutional scholars in the nation."

Ivory said the argument against too much federal control will be won through education, legislation and litigation, if necessary — not armed conflict. "If we can't do that, what have we become?"

He predicted the dissidence and frustration will continue, however, until the federal government cedes control.

"When the state director of the Bureau of Land Management governs more territory than the Legislature and governor of Utah, that is akin to the oppression that founded our nation."

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