America 
 
 County In Utah Threatens Takeover Of National Park Areas 
 
 i i itoggle caption Wanda Gayle/NPR Wanda Gayle/NPR 
 
 San Juan County has become the fifth county in Utah to declare a state of emergency in response to the closure of National Park areas. 
 
 But the San Juan County Commission has also decided to storm National Park Service barricades, take control of some parks, and reopen them to the public. 
 
 "This is civil disobedience," says Phil Lyman, a CPA and county commissioner from Monticello, Utah, in the southeastern corner of the state. "What's happening to us is wrong." 
 
 The commissioners had decided to take down the barricades at Natural Bridges National Monument as early as Thursday morning but put off that move to give Utah Governor Gary Herbert time to discuss the issue with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. 
 
 "The decision has been made," Lyman adds. "But decisions change." 
 
 San Juan County also includes Hovenweep and Rainbow Bridge National Monuments, the Island in the Sky and Needles Districts of Canyonlands National Park and the Hite Marina inside the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. 
 
 In an emergency meeting Wednesday, the commissioners decided to mobilize Sheriff's deputies, search and rescue volunteers, firefighters, EMT's, portable toilets, garbage trucks and three mobile command centers. 
 
 At least 60 people would be involved, according to Rick Bailey, the county fire marshal. Bailey said the costs of the operation haven't been calculated but he said they're necessary. 
 
 "How do we let local businesses starve to death?" he asked. 
 
 The commissioners indicated in their Wednesday meeting that they are seeking financial assistance from the state of Utah. 
 
 Bailey says 70 percent of the county's businesses depend on visitors to the region's National Parks, Monuments and Recreation Areas, as well as public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. 
 
 Ninety-one percent of the county is state, federal or Indian reservation land and the county has a history of protesting and resisting federal land management policies. 
 
 The county is also as big as Connecticut and Delaware combined and the National Park areas involved in the planned takeover are hundreds of miles apart. 
 
 Kate Cannon, the regional superintendant of the National Park Service, has been kept informed, the commissioners said in their meeting Wednesday. 
 
 "We have been advised by the Park Service...that it is against the law," Bailey says of the county's plans. "They have not indicated that they would make arrests or stop people." 
 
 Trespassing in a National Park can trigger a citation that is then adjudicated by a Federal Magistrate, who can levy fines of up to $500 and jail terms of up to six months. 
 
 A spokesman for the National Park Service says the agency plans to issue a statement soon. 
 
 "We don't want to threaten or intimidate federal employees," an unidentified commissioner said during a recorded conference call. "We're not strong-arming anybody. We're just getting people into these places." 
 
 This weekend and early next week are usually very busy for federal and state lands in the state because universities and public schools have fall break. 
 
 In their Wednesday meeting, the commissioners said they were prepared to provide or clean toilets, collect garbage, conduct search and rescue operations, staff park entrances and provide law enforcement. They also discussed maximizing media attention and staging photo opportunities. 
 
 They agreed that they would explain their actions by saying "we as a county are trying to do what is in the best interests of the public." 
 
 Gov. Herbert told reporters Wednesday he's also prepared to marshal funding and workers to open other National Park areas in the state. He's asked President Obama to immediately authorize state funding and/or staffing. 
 
 "This is just...common sense," Herbert said. "And frankly we ought to be finding solutions to keep them open rather than saying why they have to be closed." ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video 
 
 SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah — It was a case of being at the right place at the right time for a Unified Fire crew who helped to save a woman being strangled in an underpass along Interstate 80 near Parley’s Canyon Friday night. 
 
 "I would say it's pretty heroic even though we don't like to use those terms, these guys stepped in when they didn't have to, and made a massive impact on someone's life," said Eric Holmes, spokesman for Unified Fire Authority. 
 
 The Unified Fire crew just happened to be driving underneath the 1-80 eastbound overpass, at exit 131, returning from a grass fire, when they saw a car sitting in the middle of the tunnel. A man was outside the vehicle, assaulting a woman with a rope. 
 
 "Fire authorities saw the female with the rope wrapped around her neck and he was in the process of trying to hoist her up and strangle her,” said Sgt. Randy Riches, of the Utah Department of Public Safety. 
 
 When the suspect, 22-year-old Juan Echevesta, saw the firefighters he tried to force the woman into the passenger seat. The four firefighters knew they didn't have time to call police. 
 
 "They felt if they were to allow the vehicle to travel down the road with her in it that her life would come to an end very shortly,” Riches said. 
 
 So the first responders did what they do best, they responded. 
 
 "Firefighters were in fear that her life was in danger so they quickly rushed the car and restrained the male driver,” Riches said. 
 
 The Department of Public Safety says the firefighters acted on instinct and that was enough to save this woman's life. 
 
 "Not something they are trained to do, it's not something they practice in, but they have that instinct in them because they are first responders and they sign up for the job for a reason,” Riches said. 
 
 Echevesta is facing charges of attempted murder and aggravated kidnapping. The Department of Public Safety said that the victim and suspect know each other but they wouldn't go into detail regarding the nature of that relationship. 
 
 Echeveste faces a first-degree felony charge of attempted murder and a first-degree felony charge of aggravated kidnapping.
– A southern Utah county isn't taking the government shutdown lying down: It's threatening to reopen its national parks to breathe life back into the area's struggling economy, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. With help from firefighters, EMTs, and search and rescue volunteers, San Juan County—where 70% of businesses rely on visitors to parks, monuments, and public lands—says it will remove barricades, bring in staff, public toilets, and other resources to operate. "How do we let local businesses starve to death?" the fire marshal asked. One wrinkle: The move is against the law. It will be "civil disobedience" done peacefully, the county commissioner says. "We’re watching one of our prime months fade away from us," he says. "It’s really painful. What's happening to us is wrong." Though the costs of the operation haven't been tallied up, the county, the fifth in Utah to declare a state of emergency due to closures, has appealed to the state for funding, NPR reports, adding that barricades could be down as early as today. It's not clear how the feds will respond, but these trespassers at national parks are now headed to court.