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UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
DECISION RECORD
SAN RAFAEL DESERT TRAVEL
MANAGEMENT PLAN: RECONSIDERATION
OF ROUTES
AS REQUIRED BY THE
2022 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
DOI-BLM-UT-G020-2018-0004-EA
On August 21, 2020, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Price Field Office (PFO) released an Environmental Assessment (EA), Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), and Decision Record (DR) for the San Rafael Desert (SRD) Travel Management Area (TMA) Travel Management Plan (TMP). The 2020 SRD TMP DR designated 766.8 miles of routes as available to public off highway vehicle (OHV) use in the TMA. The 2020 SRD TMP DR was challenged in federal court, Case No. 2:21-cv-00091 (D. Utah), and on February 23, 2022, the BLM entered into a settlement agreement (2022 Settlement) resolving the litigation. The 2022 Settlement is included as Attachment A.
As detailed in Paragraph 3 of the 2022 Settlement, BLM committed to reconsider the OHV route designations for specific routes (which total approximately 195 miles) that the 2020 SRD TMP designated as available for public OHV use (the Settlement Routes). Under the 2022 Settlement, BLM retained sole discretion to determine the outcome of the reconsideration process, which pertains only to the Settlement Routes addressed in the February 2022 Settlement Agreement.
Posted 12 Jun 2023
10,000+ Project – Keep Utah Open
In 2008, the Bureau of Land Management issued Resource Management Plans that included travel management planning for 13 areas across the state of Utah. The affected planning areas cover over 6 million acres of BLM land in Utah and include some of Utah’s most spectacular areas for off-road adventure. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance sued the BLM, and In January of 2017, the Department of the Interior entered into a settlement agreement with SUWA to resolve their complaints with the plans. As a result, the BLM had to begin an expensive, time-consuming process to go through the planning process again – this after being required to pay SUWA $400,000 in attorney’s fees.
The image below shows the areas that are impacted by this process. As you can see, most of the popular riding areas in the state will at some point be impacted by the outcome of this settlement.
Posted 12 Jun 2023
Legal battle over Kane County roads leads to a new path forward without SUWA intervention
The “roads battle” in Kane County has been a long and strenuous process. This week, Kane County received a major victory in its battle over Revised Statute (RS) 2477 litigation. R.S. 2477 states that “the right of way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted”. In this case, the state of Utah and Kane County assert title to certain roads that cross federal land. The claim of title to roads has been held up in court by certain wilderness advocate groups’ ability to intervene in that process.
On Monday, June 6, Judge Clark Waddoups in the United States District Court for the District of Utah ruled to deny Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) motion to intervene in litigation.
Posted 26 Jun 2022
Opinion: Cutting through the noise
There’s no satisfaction in being right when you’re being ignored. For twenty years, Ride with Respect (RwR) has recommended vehicular sound limits that are effective elsewhere yet locally most haven’t been given a chance. It’s critical for locals to understand these limits and the pitfalls of other remedies, which RwR summarized in the “noise concerns” section of our 2021 Year in Review.
Posted 26 Jun 2022