Protestors during the Jeep Jamboree watch a Jeep travel trhough Arch Canyon's perennial stream - one of the most important elements for wildlife survival in the desert.

On the heels of a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decision to permit two commercial jeep events in 2007 in Arch Canyon, a group of some 15 protestors greeted 25 jeeps at the mouth of fragile, embattled Arch Canyon in San Juan County, Utah. The protestors came from Colorado and Utah. They held placards with often humorous slogans and were courteous and polite as the vehicles splashed across the tiny stream in one of some 57 crossings they would each encounter twice that day on the out-and-back trail.

Earlier this spring, Great Old Broads, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), Canyon Country Heritage Association of Bluff, several local outfitters and the Hopi and Navajo Tribes requested an interim closure of Arch Canyon to motorized traffic, pending completion of studies of potential impacts of such traffic on natural, cultural and aesthetic resources. Instead, former Monticello BLM manager Sandra Meyers issued a permit for the 2 events the day prior to the first event,

following a hasty 15-day public comment period. The Monticello BLM Field Office received over 24,000 comments during that time, thanks to e-mail alerts sent out by SUWA, Great Old Broads, Grand Canyon Trust and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The original proposal had been for 8 such events per year for 5 years, so the actual decision was at least a reduction of traffic.