A Utah legislator can keep paying $100 each month to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for damage done when he led a ride on closed public land, a federal judge ruled Monday, denying a government effort to increase the payment fivefold.
U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer denied Monday a motion by federal prosecutors against Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, over how quickly he should pay off $95,955.61 in damages. Lyman, a former San Juan County commissioner who has long railed against federal management of public lands, was convicted in 2015 of a misdemeanor for leading a protest ride into Recapture Canyon, a BLM-managed area near Blanding that was closed to protect ancient American Indian dwellings.