On March 17-18, 2023, volunteers from Utah Public Lands Alliance, Desert Roads and Trails Society, St George Jeepers, and Ride Utah will be meeting at Waddy’s Corral on Sand Mountain to work on several service projects around the area. We are expecting attendance at this event to be unprecedented in scope and size. Combining the resources of 4×4 and UTV/ATV groups working together, along with our partners, the Bureau of Land Management is the way we will win the fight to keep our public lands accessible.

Among the projects we are tackling will be the completion of the staging area fencing, installation of educational street signs and obstacle plaques, cleanup of the Warner Valley and Washington Valley Staging Area, and repairs to the damage to the Competition Hill Composting Toilet.

All Volunteers should report to Waddy’s Corral each day at 9:00 AM for a quick meeting and to split up to tackle one of the projects. Volunteers should bring an assortment of hand tools, shovels, pick axes, trash grabbers, 5 gallon buckets, gloves, water, lunch, and snacks.  Pickups or trailers are very helpful on the cleanup projects.

BLM is providing logistical support including dumpsters and trash bags.

We expect to have media present to cover the event, and we encourage all participants to take photos of the effort and to share them on social media with a hashtag of #sandmtnproject2023

For more information, please email us with your questions

Loren Campbell
President
Utah Public Lands Alliance

Together We Will Win,
But We Can’t Do It Without You!

Come out and help support Matt’s Off Road Wrecker Olympics March 8-11 at Sand Hollow State Park. Matt’s has generously agreed to make a donation to Utah Public Lands Alliance for our help in getting volunteer staff for the event.

The schedule of events will be:

1. Wednesday will be preregistration, so we will need help at both in Sand Hollow State Park to setup the vendor area, and at Sand Hollow Resort to check people in and give directions.
2. Thursday all of the events will be in the staging area near the tunnel. Volunteers will be
3.  assigned to help with registration, wrecker events such as Welding Competition, Dead Vehicle Pulls, Rollover Recovery, Flex Off and More. We will also need help with the vendor show at the end of the day. We will need to cover 62- 4 hour s
   hifts this day.
4. Friday will be on the Mountain at Triple 777s. Mad Moose is donating 50 SxSs we will use for our volunteers to shuttle people up and down the mountain to 3 different viewing areas where the competition will be held. Drivers for this will need to be at least 25 years old and must have the OHV Education Course Certificate. We will need to cover 100- 4 hour shifts on this day, so we need a lot of people to signup for Friday, the majority of which will be assigned to drive the SxS’s to shuttle people
5. Saturday will a vendor show, closing ceremony and cleanup activities.

To sign up, you need to do 2 things….

1. click on this link to select the shifts you’d like to be assigned

AND

1. Complete this volunteer information sheet to indicate your t shirt size

It will be a fantastic and exciting event, and you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy all the activities. Every volunteer will receive a t shirt, water, and snacks.

People say sausage making is not a pretty process, but it sure tastes great when you put it on the grill. The same can be said about politics and legislation. UPLA has been busy in the sausage making business of monitoring and contacting the Sponsors about bills

• HB 384 (Representative Jeffrey Stenquist) was making changes to the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure funding that did not give OHV and Boating a strong voice at the decision making table on the distribution of funds received from Sales Tax. We still have the Director of DNR as a voting member, and we were able to get our OHV and Boating Program Managers with Advisory Seats on the 15 member panel. This bill does not affect the Restricted OHV funds, which do keep OHV and Boating Program Managers as Voting Members on approving grant requests.

that we are interested in.  I am very proud to say that we have a very capable and skilled team in working with legislators to get bills authored, edited, and passed or defeated that affect Outdoor Recrreation and our public lands.

These are 760 bills available in this current legislative session, these are the ones we have been actively engaged in:

Passed

• HB 55 was a cleanup bill to last year’s OHV Education bill to fix some issues with the license and registration processes. No significant changes to OHV or the original OHV Education Bill.

Support or Watch

• HB 262 (Representative Casey Snider) was a bill that would have restricted access to Wildlife Management Areas throughout Utah to only people with current valid hunting or fishing licenses. We strongly opposed this change, and worked with the Sponsor of the bill to have that requirement removed. The bill has been set aside for now with no further action, but we are watching it.
• HB 299 (Representative Casey Snider) is a Bill modeled on the OHV Grant Program but for Boating. The OHV Restricted Fund grants have been very popular. We are very pleased that this original bill sponsored by OHV advocates has become a model in Utah and many other states in adopting programs for outdoor recreation. We are in full support of this Bill.
• HB 444 (Representative Jeffrey Stenquist) is a companion bill for Grant Funding for Recreational Vehicles, based on our OHV Grant Program. We are very pleased that this original bill sponsored by OHV advocates has become a model in Utah and many other states in adopting programs for outdoor recreation. We are in full support of this Bill.
• HB 421 (Representative Jefferson Moss) is a bill that will give the State Legislature control over the Utah School and Institutional Lands Trust Administration (SITLA) SITLA is charged with administering lands granted to the trust by the Federal Government when Utah became a State. The purpose is to support schools and education. Largely, SITLA has operated independently with little oversight, this bill gives the Legislature financial control over SITLA. We strongly support the passage of this bill
• HB 200 (Representative Stephanie Gricius) is a bill that eliminates a prior provision that made transporting an unregistered OHV vehicle an infraction. This bill eliminates that. We strongly support this bill.

One thing you can count in politics is that nobody ever gets everything they want, but all of the Representatives associated with these bills have listened to our arguments and most  of them have have adopted amendments. This caused us in many cases from Opposed or Watch Closely to Support. We’d like to recognize them for their willingness to listen to us and adjust their bills.

Overall, we think the result has been some decent tasting sausage, but I’d love to hear what you think. If you know of a bill related to use of Public Lands that needs our attention, please let me know.

Loren Campbell
President, UPLA
President@UtahPLA.com

Every public land user has thought at one time or another how to get help if you had an emergency situation and needed to get help. We just had a friend from California go up for a few days to Death Valley, alone, He was supposed to have met a friend in Beatty last night and he no showed, so yesterday they called the Ranger in the area who found him. He ran into a flash flood and his vehicle got really stuck in the mud up to the frame. He was in good shape after being stuck for 3 days with plenty of water and food, but needed help to get the truck out before more rains come through the wash he’s in. A crew of 3 rigs is heading down to St George to get him out, but without the Ranger locating him the rescue would have been much more difficult.

Think about your communications strategy before you head out. Here’s a few tips to consider from worst to best options.

CB Radios are decent for communicating in a small group, but as far as trying to ask for help, you’re out of luck.

Race Radios (Private land Mobile Radio-PLMR) mobile mounted radios with a vehicle mounted antenna work pretty well, often out 25-50 miles, but you have to have someone monitoring the frequency you are using to be able to relay your request for help. Handheld Race Radios are pretty much worthless for any range.

GMRS Radios that are mobile mounted in a vehicle with a good external antenna also have the same range as Race Radios, and there are GMRS repeaters, but I’m not certain how many there are or exactly how they work yet.

Ham Radios that

are mobile mounted with a good antenna can often get out 75-100 miles with line of sight. There are repeaters in many locations that you can talk through, and often some of the repeater channels are monitored by Ham Operators who will be glad to relay messages for Emergency Assistance. To be able to use the repeater system, you first have to know what repeaters are in the areas you’re traveling in, and you need to program the channel into your radio along with the proper offset and Code. Ham has always been a good emergency service as long as there’s a monitored repeater near you.

Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) are a great option for signaling for help. There is a wide range of capability for each device, some only send out an SOS with your location, others feature satellite messaging to provide more details. You need to register with all your information once every 2 years, including your emergency contacts. Registration is free and can be done at www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov. If you’re going to use PLB SOS for emergencies, you should be aware that activating it will notify Search and Rescue to come to your aid, but they will have little information about what kind of help you need. Depending on where you are, you may incur substantial costs for SAR to respond.

Satellite messengers also have the SOS feature, but allow 2 way communications with authorities over Iridium and Globalstar satell

ites. They require some type of subscription service.

Iphone 14 just introduced the capability of Emergency Text Messaging via Satellite. I have listed this last because I think this may be the best way to get the help you need. This feature is available on all Iphone 14 models, and is included free for 2 years when you buy a phone. The system works over the Globalstar Satellite network, and Apple maintains their own Emergency Center to respond and dispatch help. The SOS feature on the phone will automatically transmit over cellular if you have it, or will switch to Satellite mode and help you locate the best position for Satellite reception. My tests have only taken a few seconds to lock onto a satellite. One great feature of the system is that you have the option of also including your emergency contacts in the chat, so everyone receives real time updates of all communications between you and the Emergency Center. Best of all, you are very likely to have the only tool with you whenever you need it, and it’s really easy to use. The system is designed to even work in  with the Crash Detection of the Iphone, even in many cases if you’re inside the vehicle. As with any communications, there are some limitations with things that might block signals such as mountains, tall buildings, or deep canyons.

Another handy thing is that you can share your location (without messaging) to let loved ones know where you are, without it being an emergency. Here’s a great video that explains the features…

One thing for sure, the time for planning what you’re going to do in an emergency is not when you have an emergency. Figure out the plan that works best for you and to discuss it with your friends and family.

H.B. 0180, the Off Road Vehicle Safety Education act, was passed in the 2022 Legislative Session with an effective date of January 1, 2023. Enforccement will not begin until February 1, 2023. This article is to summarize the interview with Chase Pili, the DNR OHV Program Director, and Kevin Mortensen from Ride Utah. The full video can be watched at https://youtu.be/_EtjOtk48ek

Why the Change: There has been a huge increase in OHV use in Utah since 2020. This bill has been in the works for the past 3 years and was prompted by efforts to reduce the number of complaints associated with Off Highway Vehicle use, both on trails and on the streets. The bill was authored by OHV advocates after considerable input from OHV users of all different types. from a wide variety of users types.

What are the Rules for Registration Requirements? Utah Residents will be issued hard plates for street legal OHV vehicles as they have been in the past. OHV registration stickers will be replaced with a special OHV tan hard plate when current registration expires. This will require a trip to the DMV the first time to get the plate. Renewals after you are issued a plate can be done online. Stickers will still be issued for OHV registration for all motorcycles and snowmobiles. Hard plates will make it easier to identify and report bad actors without conflict.

Out of State Residents must apply online (www.OHV.Utah.Gov) for their OHV Permit. The sticker will be mailed to them, but they will be issued a temporary if they are already in the state. You will be required to provide proof of course completion to complete your application.

Who must take the OHV Course? Every OHV driver 18 years of age or older that recreates on public lands must take the class. By definition, this includes Type 1 (ATV), Type 2 (UTV Sxs), Type 3 (Non Street Legal Full Size-Buggies), and Off Highway Motorcycles. Both Utah residents and non residents must take the course, including those that rent vehicles. E-Bikes are not considered OHV vehicles and are not subject to the course requirements.

Street Legal Full Size Vehicles (i.e. Jeeps), snowmobiles, husbandry vehicles or registrants at a sanctioned OHV event are exempt and not required to take the course.

More about the course The course is FREE to everyone, if you go to a website that charges a fee, you should go back to www.OHV.Utah.Gov It takes about 20-25 minutes and includes questions in each section that you must answer correctly to complete it (The answers are in the text right above the questions)

What about the Youth Course? If a driver is under 18, they must take a Youth course as they have in the past. The cost for the Youth Course is the same $35 that has been charged for years, and can be done online or in person. When a person completes the Youth course, that Certificate will be good for life, they will not have to take the Over 18 course. A separate change was also made last year that allows youth of any age to take the class as long as they can safely operate the controls (the minimum age was 8 year)

How do I prove I took the course? After completion, you can download a digital copy for your phone or print it out. I recommend if you store it on your phone as a picture you put it in a special folder or mark it as a favorite to make it easy to locate.

What are the penalties for violation of the rules?  Fines may be levied for violations as they have been in the past by law enforcement and local courts, and are considered either infractions or Class B or C misdemeanors. A new provision applies to users that cause damage to trail systems which will add to any fines the requirement that the court shall order the person to perform community service in the form of repairing any damage to the public land in the area where the damage occurred. The court shall determine the approximate value of the damage caused and calculate the number of hours required by using the rate of $25 per hour. What does this mean? If a violation causes $2500 worth of damage on a trail, they will be required to perform 100 hours of community service in the local area. Being ordered to do 100 hours of work by a court is probably not what most people would want to do on their time off, especially if they have to travel far from home and incur travel expenses.

Contrary to many people’s comments online, fines assessed do not go into the OHV budget, they are assessed by local municipalities.

Summary We should not expect this course or the registration changes to completely eliminate complaints, but whatever improvement we get will help us in our fight to keep trails open. Education will always be our best resource to keep our trails open!