Tuesday, September 23, 2014

UTAH - Public Lands and Extreme Sports

"Should public lands be a natural setting for extreme sports?" PBS NewsHour 9/19/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Now to the second in our two-part look at land disputes in the American West.

Last night, Jeffrey Brown looked at a fight between local residents and the federal government over closing down a canyon rich in archaeological treasures to motorized vehicles.

Tonight, Jeff has the story of a very different split over how to enjoy and experience the natural beauty.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  Stretch a high-tech nylon line some 400 feet above a canyon near Moab, Utah.

HAYLEY ASHBURN:  Do you want to tighten it before we walk?

SCOTT ROGERS:  It’s really tight, actually.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Strap on a harness.

SCOTT ROGERS:  I’m going to go barefoot.  I like feeling the line between my toes.

JEFFREY BROWN:  And step out into the air.

HAYLEY ASHBURN:  Whew!

JEFFREY BROWN:  It’s called highlining, done on public lands, a perfectly legal activity that most of us, including your correspondent, who stayed far back from cliff’s edge, would never dream of undertaking.

HAYLEY ASHBURN:  I’m always a little bit nervous no matter how many I do.

JEFFREY BROWN:  But Hayley Ashburn and Scott Rogers, members of a group called the Moab Monkeys, do this sort of thing several times a week.

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