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- The Garfield County Commission voted 2-1 against renaming a scenic highway after President Donald Trump.
- Commission Chairman Leland F. Pollock proposed the change to honor Trump's policies.
- Residents and family of the original trail namesake opposed the renaming for historical reasons.
PANGUITCH — The Garfield County Commission has voted against adding President Donald Trump's name to a local scenic highway.
Earlier this month, Garfield County Commission Chairman Leland F. Pollock proposed renaming the Burr Trail Scenic Byway as "The Donald J. Trump Presidential Burr Trail Highway."
The proposal was shot down Monday during a public meeting when the commission voted 2 to 1 against adding Trump's name to either the Burr Trail or to John's Valley Road.
Commonly known as one of Utah's most scenic roads, the Burr Trail is a 67-mile path that begins in Boulder, in southcentral Utah and ends near Bullfrog Marina on Lake Powell. It winds through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Pollock told KSL-TV his proposal aims to recognize the Trump administration's policies in the county during his first term, including a 2017 proclamation to downsize Grand-Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments.
"This is just a sign of appreciation. This guy right here was good to Garfield County, and he was good to all of the Western public land counties," Pollock stated earlier this month.
The commission held the public hearing at the fairgrounds building instead of the usual county building due to an anticipated large crowd.
Pollock said he thought renaming the roads was a way to show gratitude to a president he believes supports rural counties like Garfield. "Trump was like a miracle worker for any public land federal county," he said.
The Burr Trail was originally named after John Atlantic Burr, a pioneer and rancher who settled in the area and carved out the trail for his cattle. Several family members of Burr spoke against the name change at Monday's meeting.
"Pioneers should never be canceled out by any politician," Burr's great-granddaughter Brenda Baird said at the meeting.
Some residents, however, thought the proposal was a good idea.
"I don't see anything wrong with naming it the Trump Highway," Garfield County resident Stanton Gleave said.
After the commission voted against the proposal, Baird said, "I'm really happy right now."
All three commissioners agreed they want to honor the president in some way and plan to come back with new ideas at a future meeting.
This isn't the first time a proposal was made to rename a Utah road after the president.
In 2018, Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, introduced a bill that would rename the Utah National Parks Highway — a route winding through some of the state's most spectacular scenery — to the "Donald J. Trump Utah National Parks Highway." The bill died just days later when Noel chose to drop it after receiving personal attacks.
Contributing: Garna Mejia
