We Need Your Support of the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act

This week legislation was introduced in the United States Senate that would guarantee motorized access to our public lands for Americans with disabilities. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and John Curtis (R-UT) have just introduced the Outdoor Americans With Disabilities Act SB2968, aimed at ensuring that Americans with disabilities can meaningfully access and enjoy our public lands.

One of the most common complaints we receive when public lands are closed to motorized access is that those who rely on motorized access can no longer enjoy public lands that they used to enjoy. This bill would create strong new protections for recreation access, and UPLA and BlueRibbon have been working hard with these Congressional offices to have this bill re-introduced this Congress. We’re proud to have worked closely with Senators Lee, Curtis, and other allies to shape the bill’s language, advocate for its principles, and mobilize public support. BRC’s goal has always been to ensure that access to the outdoors is not a privilege for the able-bodied but a guaranteed right for all.

What Will the Outdoor Americans With Disabilities Act Do

Requires managers of multiple-use lands to maintain a density of roads accessible to motorized vehicles.
Require the Departments of Interior (BLM) and Agriculture (Forest Service) to prioritize updates to travel management plans and motor vehicle use maps to maintain and improve access.
Mandates local engagement and coordination
When roads are proposed for closure, ensure local stakeholder input (states, counties, Tribes, local governments) is part of the decision.
Prohibit closing roads if doing so would reduce accessibility below the threshold (except in narrow emergency cases), unless an alternative route is designated.
Make the process for route re-designations categorically exempt from NEPA review, to prevent long bureaucratic delays from standing in the way of access protection.
Prioritizes re-routing over closures to maintain access.

Areas excluded from the bill include:

National Wilderness System
Inventoried Roadless Area
Congressionally designated primitive area
National Park System
National Recreation Area

By tying road-access requirements directly to disability access, this legislation ensures that access is not an afterthought, it becomes a statutory priority. The goal is simple: no American should be shut out from public land experiences because they can’t hike many miles or traverse rugged terrain on foot.

Why This Bill Matters (and Why Now)

1. Addressing Disproportionate Impacts of Closures

When land agencies close roads to reduce motorized use, they often do not consider how many people rely on motor vehicles for access especially those with disabilities. BRC has fought several times in court to warn that blanket closures can be discriminatory in effect. The Outdoor ADA seeks to correct that imbalance and enshrine protections.

2. Avoiding Confusion Across Agencies

Without consistent federal policy, rules vary wildly across BLM, Forest Service, National Park, and local lands. Under this bill, route closure decisions would need to account for accessibility across jurisdictions. That reduces confusion and ensures fairness.

3. Legal Certainty and Efficiency

By making closures and re-designations categorically exempt from NEPA, the bill avoids decades of litigation and planning delay over route changes. Accessible lands cannot be held hostage by bureaucratic backlog.

4. Aligning Policy with a Growing Recreation Reality

As needs for motorized and e-assisted recreation grows, public lands must adapt. This legislation ensures that access modernization keeps pace with technology and demographics, so that recreation isn’t left behind by regulation.

What You Can Do to Help

Contact your Senators and Members of Congress and urge them to support the Outdoor Americans With Disabilities Act using BlueRibbon Coalition’s Tool.
Call your Congressional Representative. You can find them easily by entering your address here.
Share this article and post with the off-road community and other allies who care about inclusive access.
Stay engaged! BRC will continue to provide updates, action alerts, and deeper analysis as the bill progresses.

Our public lands belong to all Americans. The Outdoor ADA is more than legislation, it’s a reaffirmation that access should never be limited by mobility. UPLA and BRC will keep fighting so that every citizen can enjoy the beauty of America’s outdoors, regardless of ability.

This article was originally published by BlueRibbon Coalition

A New Year, A Lot of Miles Ahead

Many of you will get to know me from the trail, events, or the occasional meeting, but I wanted to take a moment to properly introduce myself and talk about where we’re headed together this year.

My name is Mike LaMar, and I have the privilege of serving as the Executive Director of the Utah Public Lands Alliance (UPLA). I’m a husband, father, long-time off-road enthusiast, retired Marine, and someone who believes deeply that access to our public lands only survives if the people who use them stay involved in protecting them.

Like most of you, my connection to off-roading didn’t start with policy, it started with experience. Early mornings, late nights, fixing things in the dirt, helping strangers, and realizing the off-road community is one of the most self-reliant and generous groups out there. Over time I also saw something else: access isn’t guaranteed. Trails don’t disappear all at once… they disappear one decision at a time, usually because we weren’t in the room when it mattered.

That’s what UPLA exists to change

What I’m Doing This Year

This year my priority is simple: getting out of the office and into the state.

UPLA works best when we’re physically present — with clubs, land managers, dealers, vendors, and riders. Relationships solve problems long before regulations do. So my focus for the coming year is boots-on-the-ground engagement across Utah.

You’ll see me at:

Club meetings and trail rides
Dealer and vendor visits
Land manager coordination meetings
Events around the state

Not just to talk, but to listen. Every area has different challenges. Moab is not the Wasatch Front. Southern Utah is not the Uintas. Statewide advocacy only works when we actually understand local realities.

What I’ve Learned So Far

From the visits I’ve already made, a few themes keep showing up:

Gaps in communication create conflict.
Most closures and restrictions don’t begin with hostility; they begin with assumptions. When landowners, managers, riders, and organizations talk early, outcomes improve dramatically for all parties involved.
Clubs are the backbone of access.
Through volunteerism, education, and trail stewardship — clubs quietly do more than almost anyone realizes. Supporting clubs means protecting trails.
Our Industry wants to help.
Dealers and manufacturers understand their future depends on sustainable recreation. They just need structured ways to participate.

One of UPLA’s roles is to connect those three groups before problems become policies.

Partnerships That Help Everyone

We’re expanding programs that benefit riders while supporting access.

Trail Hero — 10 for 10- Participants receive 10% off their trail registration, and Trail Hero contributes $10 to the Utah Public Lands Alliance. It’s a simple way to support stewardship while you’re already out enjoying the event. Just Use the Promo Code UPLA10 to take advantage of your discount and get a donation to UPLA. Registration Opens May 1 at …TheTrailHero.com

Rock Slide Engineering Partnership- When you use code UPLA10 at RockSlideEngineering.com you’ll receive 10% off your order. Rock Slide Engineering will also then donate 10% of their net profits from those sales back to UPLA annually.

If your company would like to enter into a partnership agreement with UPLA to gain customers and support keeping our roads open, please email Loren Campbell.

Moving Forward Together

UPLA is the voice of OHV user across the state of Utah. But a voice only matters if it represents real people.

That means showing up, working together, and making sure decision-makers hear from the people who actually use the land.
If I’m in your area, I’d like to meet your club.
If you’re hosting an event, invite me.
If there’s a problem brewing locally, let us know early.

The future of access won’t be decided in one big moment.

It will be decided in hundreds of small conversations all around our state.

Let’s make sure we’re part of them.

Mike LaMar
Executive Director
Utah Public Lands Alliance
mike@utahpla.com