What Does UPLA Actually Do to Protect Your OHV Access?

What Does UPLA Actually Do to Protect Your OHV Access?

People often see Utah Public Lands Alliance asking for support, sharing an alert about a proposed land-management decision, or encouraging OHV users to submit comments. But those public-facing efforts are only part of what UPLA does every day to protect responsible motorized access to Utah’s public lands.

Protecting our access doesn’t happen in just one place. It happens in meetings with local OHV clubs. It happens across the table from land managers. It happens at the Utah State Capitol, in Washington, D.C., during federal public-comment periods, and sometimes in a courtroom.

Here are some of the ways your support makes that work possible.

Taking Our Case Directly to Federal Land Managers
Our most recent effort demonstrates just how much work can go into influencing federal public-land policy. On August 14, UPLA submitted three extensive policy-review comments to the Bureau of Land Management addressing BLM Manuals 6320, 6330 and 6340. These aren’t comments about a single trail, they address federal policies that will influence the management of millions of acres of public land and affect motorized recreation opportunities for years to come.

Our Manual 6320 comments address how BLM considers Lands with Wilderness Characteristics in its land-use planning process. UPLA argues that wilderness-character inventories should not become a backdoor mechanism for converting ordinary multiple-use public lands into de facto Wilderness. We also advocate for continued motorized access, stronger socioeconomic analysis, meaningful consideration of accessibility, mitigation before closure, protection of county roads and R.S. 2477 rights-of-way, and greater public participation.

Our Manual 6330 comments address Wilderness Study Areas, including the millions of acres that have remained in supposedly temporary WSA status for decades. Among other recommendations, UPLA advocates for maintaining lawful public access, transportation routes and infrastructure; improving wildfire resilience and public safety; considering impacts on rural economies; and resolving the status of remaining WSAs rather than allowing temporary study status to become permanent administrative Wilderness.

Our Manual 6340 comments address the management of congressionally designated Wilderness. UPLA supports protecting designated Wilderness while also insisting that Wilderness restrictions remain within the boundaries established by Congress. Our recommendations address administrative buffer zones, cherry-stemmed roads and access corridors, valid existing rights, public safety, emergency response, modern land-management practices, and protecting motorized recreation and multiple use on adjoining lands.

That distinction is important. UPLA supports responsible conservation and stewardship. What we oppose is using administrative policy to create restrictions that Congress never authorized. These three comment letters alone total more than 200 pages of analysis and recommendations.That is what serious participation in federal land policy looks like. We know that there will be a host of other updates we have been working on, and we will stay engaged on everyone of them.

Working Across Utah
Not every access issue begins in Washington. UPLA’s Executive Director Mike Lamar travels throughout Utah meeting with OHV clubs, land managers, community leaders and elected officials. Those conversations aren’t simply about fighting closures. They’re also about asking a much more productive question:

What can we do together to improve motorized recreation?
Sometimes the answer is improving or maintaining a trail. Sometimes it’s working with a land manager on a project. Sometimes it’s helping a club better understand the public-comment process or encouraging local users to become more involved before a land-management decision becomes final.

And sometimes it’s education. Responsible OHV recreation and good stewardship go hand in hand. UPLA encourages our constituents to respect public lands, stay on designated routes where required, participate in stewardship projects, and demonstrate that motorized recreationists can be some of the strongest partners our public-land managers have.

Our goal isn’t simply to protect the opportunities we have today.

We want to expand and improve responsible motorized recreation opportunities for tomorrow. This job is too important and time intensive for volunteers, so Mike is UPLA’s only salaried employee.

Having a Voice at the Utah Legislature
Public-land policy isn’t limited to federal agencies. Decisions made by the Utah Legislature can also directly or indirectly affect OHV recreation, public access and the way Utah’s public lands are managed. UPLA works with Brett Stewart, our Utah OHV lobbyist, to stay informed about legislation that could affect motorized recreation.

That gives us the ability to identify important bills, understand their potential consequences, communicate with lawmakers, mobilize our constituents when necessary, and advocate for legislation that protects or improves responsible OHV access.

We’ve also worked with event organizers and Utah State Parks to streamline application process and reduce fees for special events.

Effective advocacy means being involved before decisions are made—not complaining about them afterward.

Fighting for Access in Court
Sometimes comments, meetings and legislation aren’t enough. Sometimes protecting public access requires litigation. A significant portion of the money UPLA raises goes directly toward that fight.

Over the past couple of years, UPLA has contributed nearly $200,000 to BlueRibbon Coalition to help fund legal representation and litigation protecting public access. Court cases are expensive. Federal land-use litigation can take years. And organizations seeking to restrict motorized access have substantial resources of their own.

UPLA made a deliberate decision that one of the most effective ways we can use our donors’ money is to help put experienced public-access attorneys in the courtroom. We don’t need to duplicate that legal infrastructure ourselves. By supporting BlueRibbon Coalition’s legal efforts, our contributions can become part of a much larger and more effective legal strategy.

When an important access issue reaches the courtroom, OHV recreationists need someone sitting at the other table.

We help make sure they are there.

Taking the OHV Community’s Voice to Washington
UPLA works directly with officials in Washington, D.C.—both within the Administration and in Congress.
Those relationships give us an opportunity to explain how federal public-land policies actually affect people on the ground in Utah.

We’re preparing our next return to Washington now. One of the priorities for our upcoming trip will be advancing the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act. This time, we intend to bring something more powerful than a position paper. We are bringing disabled advocates who are themselves active OHV recreationists. They will explain firsthand something that is sometimes overlooked in discussions about motorized recreation: for many Americans with mobility limitations, a motorized vehicle isn’t simply recreation equipment—it can be what makes access to the outdoors possible. We want members of Congress and federal officials to hear directly from the people whose lives would be affected.

Where Does UPLA’s Money Come From?
This part matters. Utah Public Lands Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
-We aren’t funded by some giant corporate benefactor or billionaire.
-We don’t receive some mysterious pool of “dark money.”
-And claims that UPLA is secretly on the payroll of the oil and gas industry would almost be funny if they weren’t so ridiculously untrue.

UPLA exists because ordinary people who value public access choose to support us. UPLA  exists because the vendors you buy your vehicles and accessories from choose to support us.

People like you.
Those donations help us participate in federal land-management processes. They help put our Executive Director on the road meeting with clubs, communities and land managers. They help us maintain a presence at the Utah Legislature. They help us advocate in Washington.

And importantly, they help put attorneys in court when public access must be defended.

This Is What Your Donation Does
When you donate to UPLA, you aren’t simply supporting another outdoor organization.
You’re helping build a coordinated effort to protect motorized access at virtually every level where those decisions are made:
• On the trail.
• In our communities.
• At the land-management office.
• At the Utah State Capitol.
• In Washington, D.C.
• And in the courtroom.

We believe public lands should remain accessible to the public. We believe responsible motorized recreation belongs on those lands. We believe conservation and access can coexist. And we believe the OHV community must have an organized, knowledgeable and persistent voice whenever decisions affecting our future are being made.

But none of that happens for free.

UPLA exists through the generosity of the people we represent. If you value the trails you ride, the places you explore and the ability of the next generation to experience Utah’s public lands by motorized vehicle, we need your help.

Help Us Keep Fighting
Every donation—large or small—helps us continue the work.
Help us educate.
Help us advocate.
Help us legislate.
Help us litigate.
Help us protect your right to responsibly access America’s public lands.

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