Five local men have entered a plea of not guilty to federal charges related to the Recapture Canyon protest on May 10, 2014. The men were involved in an October 17 hearing at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City.

A two-day trial has been scheduled beginning on December 22, 2014.

The misdemeanor charges allege that San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman, Monte Wells, Shane Marian, Trent Holliday and Jay Redd conspired to break the law by organizing the protest and then broke the law at the protest.

They each face two misdemeanor charges with possible penalties of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine for each charge.

Several of the defendants were assigned a public defender.

Several hundred people participated in the protest against the 2007 Bureau of Land Mangement (BLM) closure of portions of Recapture Canyon. The temporary closure of the canyon to ATV traffic remains in effect seven years later.