A road that runs through Grand Staircase-Escalante could soon be renamed after the president who minimized the national monument eight years ago — and could do so again.
The Garfield County Commission will meet Monday to consider renaming one of two roads in the county — the Burr Trail Scenic Backway or John’s Valley Road — after President Donald Trump. The vast majority — nearly 79% — of people in Garfield County voted for Trump in November.
“It would just give us a way to tell the president that we really felt like he helped us,” said Commissioner Leland Pollock, referring to when Trump reduced Grand Staircase-Escalante by millions of acres in 2017.
“We had been praying for that,” Pollock added. The majority of land in Garfield County is owned by the federal government, he said, and Trump’s first term restored access and local management on public lands.
But the proposal to change the name of the Burr Trail immediately received pushback.
The original notice for the public hearing, posted Jan. 13, said the county commission would only consider renaming the Burr Trail. The county revised the notice on Jan. 15 to include changing the name of John’s Valley Road as an alternative option.
The Burr Trail Scenic Backway starts in Boulder and twists through parts of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
The road was named after John Atlantic Burr, a pioneer and rancher who built it in the mid-19th century to run his cattle. But the Garfield County Commission could soon rename it the “Donald J. Trump Presidential Burr Trail Backway.”
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
As of Tuesday afternoon, an online petition titled “Preserve the Historic Name of the ‘Burr Trail Scenic Backway’” had garnered over 1,200 signatures — more than four times the population of Boulder.
Devaki Murch, a Boulder resident who lives on the Burr Trail, started the petition. “It’s really inspiring to see the collective number of people who believe in the history and preserving the history of the road,” she said. “Everything else aside, they find value in the historical road name.”
“Boulder is a town steeped in tradition,” reads an online comment from Daniel, who signed the petition. “Don’t make it political. Trump doesn’t have anything to do with the area other than taking away many acres of land from the [Grand Staircase-Escalante] national monument.”
Ali, another petitioner, wrote: “My family has deep roots here. My kids are being raised here. It’s extremely upsetting to see how our commissioners are using their time and our tax dollars. It’s simple; these roads have history, no matter who the president is. It’s not funny and it’s not cute that this is even up for a discussion.”
Pollock said he has spoken with a few of Burr’s descendants still living in the area who are passionate about preserving the road’s current name. “I can say, for me, I prefer leaving the Burr Trail just the way it is,” Pollock said.
That would mean instead changing the name of John’s Valley Road, which connects Antimony to Highway 12 near Bryce Canyon City, to the “Donald J. Trump Presidential Highway.”
David Tebbs, another Garfield County commissioner, said he has also heard from constituents that they want to keep the Burr Trail name as is, “which I understand,” he said. “I agree with them, actually, on that.”
“But we want to pursue something to recognize how great a president that President Trump has been to rural Utah,” Tebbs said. He added that he has received several emails from people who don’t live in Garfield County, “but I’m not really worried about their comments at all.”
Garfield County Commissioner Jerry Taylor declined to comment.
The public hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 27 at the Garfield County Fair Building, located at 740 North Main Street in Panguitch. There will be no electronic participation.
The three-member Garfield County Commission will vote immediately after the public hearing. One of the two road renaming options must get a two-thirds vote to pass.
