EVANSTON — Several Uinta County landowners sat through last week’s commission meeting, waiting for the last item on the agenda to express concerns about a proposed ATV trail system that would include county roads that travel through or near their properties.

Members of the group, called a citizens’ coalition, expressed concern about Southwest Wyoming Off-road Trails’ (SWOT) proposed resolution to have the commission allow off-road vehicles on county roads. The commission had tabled that resolution at a previous meeting.

Joe Hickey from Lonetree was the first to speak.

“We landowners formed a citizens’ coalition to encourage sound resource use,” Hickey said. “As president of our group, I am speaking for all. We are on the middle of the road on this issue, but we have questions we feel need to be answered.”

Hickey read a letter, which outlined the concerns of the ranchers. Their concerns included: disruption to landowners and livestock, interference with wildlife, road maintenance issues, fire and ambulance access and possible extra cost to law enforcement to patrol the roads. They asked about the cost to all entities involved and what revenues would pay for the extra signage, fire protection, road maintenance and other possible expenses. Hickey asked who would control the roads and enforce restrictions and what penalties would be enacted.

“County roads are not designed for this kind of use,” Hickey said. “They are not compatible for unleashed recreational use. They were put in place for cattle trucks, lumber trucks and the such.”

“Joe, in your introduction you said you were taking a middle of the road position. That doesn’t sound like a middle of the road position,” Commissioner Craig Welling said.

The coalition asked the commission to continue to table the resolution until further analysis. They would like the answers to their questions in writing and for their group to be involved in the decision.

Mark Tesoro, SWOT organizer and publisher of the Uinta County Herald, addressed the commission via speaker phone and said SWOT members had a good meeting with at least 30 landowners in September and will meet with others at a future meeting. Tesoro said he asked them at that meeting if they were already seeing ATVs on the county roads on their land and most responded in the affirmative. He said he then asked them if they had a plan on how to deal with the ATV riders. Hickey said the coalition does not have a plan, and Tesoro said the SWOT project will help make a plan.

Forrest Kamminga, program manager of the Trails Program with the Wyoming Division of State Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails then asked to speak.

“The state trails system was started in 2004, and the goal is to promote responsible recreational vehicle use,” Kamminga said. “When a county enrolls in the state trails system, we sign an MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the county and state. A blanket resolution from the commission to designate all county roads ATV accessible would allow us to get out the map and decide the best roads for SWOT. … Once those roads are enrolled in the state trails system, that would open up grants and funding. This would help to pay for signage, law enforcement and maintenance. This is a huge economic opportunity for Uinta County.”

Kamminga said a University of Wyoming study done in 2011-12 showed that the state trails system had added $244 million to the state economy. He said the initial cost to develop the trails may take several years to recover but then the benefit economically for all small communities along the trails will expand. As far as maintenance goes, these roads, Kamminga said, were designed originally for heavy log trucks so impact from off road vehicles (ORV) would be minimal.

“When I said these roads were not designed for ORVs, I didn’t mean the size or weight,” Hickey said. “I meant the traffic. It would create monumental traffic. We should pick these trails, not the state. If we designate all the county roads, it could be bad.”

Chris Floyd, manager of the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation, addressed the commission next. 

“SWOT is not working against landowners,” Floyd said. “The Governor’s Office asked us to meet with SWOT and see what the plans were, etc. SWOT did all their background research early and looked at all of the questions Joe brought up. People are already using the roads. So, enrolling the county roads in the state trails system will not open the floodgates. The state trails system will provide money and a way to manage the roads.”

Floyd said his office would work with all the entities involved and the roads would not be enrolled in the state system until they came up with an agreement that satisfied all. He said there will be lots of potential business opportunities that would come from the trails system, such as tour guides, fishing guides, history expeditions, ranch life tours and side businesses associated with recreational vehicles.

Tesoro said, “The reason behind the development of SWOT was to help the economy. We could capitalize on the influx of people in the area. SWOT wants to stimulate opportunity. The trails will lead into communities and to historic sites.”

Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, said the trails could bring in money to the county.

“This has been an interesting discussion,” she said. “This could be a revenue driver in a time when the state is making cuts to the budget. SWOT would create designated trails, which would be better than people just going everywhere. Designated trails would provide funding. I look at it as a way to help our economy. As a ranch girl, I understand landowners’ concerns. You have to have all the stakeholders involved.”

Floyd said the COVID virus has been an accelerant for tourism in Wyoming’s state parks, as the number of visitors has increased 200-300%, saying that trend will continue to increase. He said enrollment in the trails system will be important to capitalize on that increase in tourism.

Todd Jones with SWOT said the group is trying to promote diversity in economic development. He said he is very excited about SWOT and sees it as a vision of opportunity. Right now, Jones said, the county roads are a free for all and this would be a way to protect the land and create restrictions and penalties for abuses.

Last to speak was Carl Larson of Lyman, who was on the agenda to speak for the citizens’ coalition. He said the biggest problem for landowners is control. Larson said the landowners involved in the coalition would like to work with SWOT and the county commission to resolve the issues.

The commissioners agreed to continue to table the resolution on county roads and asked SWOT to answer the questions and concerns in writing and to work together to move forward.

Uinta County Public Health Nurse Manager Kim Proffit was first on the agenda of last week’s meeting. She asked commissioners to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Wyoming Department of Health for an amendment to the contract for the CARES Act Public Health Grant. 

“This amendment will allow us to use some of the funding to develop a contingency plan for when the vaccine becomes available,” Proffit said.

Commissioner Mark Anderson asked about a COVID-19 vaccine.

“There are five different companies working on a vaccine, but we have heard nothing definite from my leaders in public health,” Proffit said. “I heard on the news last night that Dr. Fauci said it could be as early as the end of November, but that was a cautious estimate.”

Proffit said she will be able to recoup costs going back to March if they are specifically associated with the pandemic and will provide the commission with a budgeted accounting. Any money left over will go back into the general fund, she said.

Commissioners approved Proffit’s request.

Kim West with Uinta County Emergency Management was next on the agenda, asking the Commission to approve the first “drawdown” of the SLIB/CARES Act grant funding. He said Uinta County was approved for $175,000 in August and one requirement of the grant is that the county pays for supplies associated with COVID and then applies for reimbursement from the grant. 

“I am requesting a reimbursement of $135,933.63, which covers the COVID vehicle we purchased in order to transport people without endangering the driver, UV kits and other necessary safety and sanitation expenses,” West said. His request was approved.