At Utah Public Lands Alliance (UPLA), we understand the power of grassroots advocacy in protecting public land access for responsible users — especially off-highway vehicle (OHV) enthusiasts. One of the most direct and impactful ways to make your voice heard is by calling your elected officials in Congress. However, a phone call is only as powerful as the message it delivers. Here are some tips to help you make your calls to Congress more effective, ensuring our collective voice is loud, clear, and impossible to ignore.

1. Know Who to Call

Generally, you need to make 3 calls.

• Your U.S. Senators (two per state)
• Your U.S. House Representative (one per district)

You can find your representatives and their contact information easily at https://www.congress.gov/members.

Your call will likely be answered by an Intern. You should expect that they will take your name and address to verify that you are a constituent, then record your position on the subject you are calling on. They will record your position and provide a summary to the Congressional Representative at the end of each day.

If you would like to have an in depth conversation, when you first call ask to speak to the LA (Legislative Analyst) for Natural Resources or Public Lands. Most often you’ll need to leave a message for them to call you back.

Tip: Focus your efforts on your own elected officials. While contacting others may feel useful, Congress prioritizes calls from constituents — the people they were elected to represent.

2. Be Prepared with a Clear, Focused Message

Before you dial, jot down the main points you want to make. A good call should:

• Identify yourself as a constituent (include your zip code)
• Mention the specific issue or bill by name or number
• Clearly state your position (support or oppose)
• Request action (e.g., “Please oppose H.R.XXXX as it would restrict public land access for responsible OHV users.”)

Example Opening: “Hi, my name is [Your Name]. I’m a constituent from [City, ZIP]. I’m calling to ask Senator [Name] to oppose [Bill Number] because it threatens responsible access to our public lands for OHV users like me.”

3. Keep It Brief and Respectful

Staffers taking your call have limited time. Stay focused on the issue:

• Avoid long explanations or unrelated issues
• Speak respectfully, even if you disagree
• Thank the staffer for their time

Remember: You’re representing not just yourself, but our community of responsible public land users.

4. Personalize Your Call

If you have a personal connection to the issue, share it briefly:

• How does OHV recreation benefit your family or community?
• Do you rely on access to public lands for your business or lifestyle?
• Have you volunteered for trail maintenance or education programs?

Personal stories make your call more memorable and impactful.

5. Follow Up and Stay Engaged

After your call:

• Send a quick thank-you email to the office summarizing your request
• Share updates with fellow UPLA members and encourage them to call
• Watch for responses or statements from your representatives and hold them accountable

6. Don’t Be Discouraged by Voicemail

Offices are busy — voicemails still count! Leave a clear message with the same points as a live call. Some offices track voicemails as part of their daily reports to the member of Congress.

Your Voice Matters

Every call helps shape the narrative on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers keep tallies of constituent contacts — especially on hot-button issues like public land access. When enough of us call, our message becomes impossible to ignore.

At UPLA, we believe responsible OHV users deserve a seat at the table. Let’s make sure our voices are heard loud and clear. When the time comes, make that call — and make it count.

For updates on pending legislation and action alerts, follow Utah Public Lands Alliance at www.utahpla.com or on our social channels.

Please email me with results from your call , and if you speak to a Legislative Analyst, please provide their contact information to me.

Together, we protect access, but we can’t do it without You!

Loren Campbell
President, Utah Public Lands Alliance

Since our inception in 2014, UPLA has been fighting for access by all responsible users on our public lands. Although we initially focused primarily on Washington County and Sand Mountain, in the last 2 years we expanded our efforts to include the entire state and other forms of outdoor recreation. We focused on building and strengthening partnerships with others and educating our supporters and followers about how to make a difference in keeping our public lands open.

We are proud of our achievements to protect and improve access for not only off highway vehicles but all forms of outdoor recreation, here’s a few.

• Recommended, justified, wrote grant, and installed 2 state-of-the-art composting toilets on Sand Mountain
• Organized Sand Mountain maintenance project with 150 4×4 and OHV users working together for 2 days installing trail signs and cleaning up dump sites on the perimeter of the BLM land. We also achieved TV Coverage for this event.
• Designed, fabricated, funded and installed Sand Hollow Trail Head Signs on all major trails
• Designed, fabricated, funded and installed Obstacle signs on major obstacles on Sand Mountain
• Worked with BLM to create detailed maps and information panels for 6 kiosks on Sand Mountain
• Obtained approval and installed the Top of the World signpost on Sand Mountain
• Created a website with over 1000 gpx tracks in Utah and surrounding states
• Wrote and supported the App used by St George Jeepers to schedule and promote their weekly trail runs
• Wrote and supported the App used by the Winter Jamboree Trail Guides
• Kevin Keller interviewed multiple times on Fox13 to speak out against the 317 miles of land closures
• Numerous appearances on At Your Leisure Programs
• Launched TrailSaver.com, the first effort to collect trail and route information details at the time users run the trails, then return their notes when they are needed for a Travel Management Action
• Assisted with creation of Waddy’s Corral, a 5 acre staging area to replace the Water Tanks staging area which had become woefully too small for the traffic.
• Assisted with paving Water Tank Road to accommodate increased traffic
• Liaison with Utah State Parks and DNR Law Enforcement to stabilize rates being charged to Events using Sand Hollow State Park
• Led campaign to protect OHV on West side of Sand Mountain and allow the reservoir project without serious objections.
• Participated in numerous cleanups of trash being dumped on perimeters of public lands
• Obtained Access Protection Grant from Utah DNR
• Obtained Grant from Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative to protect Flintstone House on Sand Mountain
• Liaison established with Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office
• Increased size of Board of Trustees to include wider geographic representation and more diverse outdoor recreation activities
• Increased our Follower base on social media over 400%
• Engaged with Utah Legislature on numerous bills affecting use of public lands
• Participated with DOR OHV program for media creation
• Organized and cosponsored NEPA Advanced Training Workshop with BlueRibbon and SLOREX
• Constant Coordination with BlueRibbon Coalition on actions affecting public lands
• Donated $103,316 to BlueRibbon Coalition for Legal Support
• Participated on countless podcasts and Zoom interviews
• Recognition by Western Priorities as one of 6 members of the National Monuments Disinformation Brigade
• Presentations of Major Legal Battle Wins at Family Motor Coach Association 4 Wheelers and at NMRAC meeting
• Hired Professional Natural Resource Consultant to supercharge our efforts at creating substantive and extensive comments. We submitted comments on:
  • Labyrinth Rim  Travel Management Plan
  • Manti-La Sal National Forest Land Management Plan
  • San Rafael Swell Preliminary and Draft EA Travel Management Plan
  • Henry Mountains Preliminary and Draft EA Travel Management Plan
  • Bears Ears National Monument Resource Management Plan
  • Dolores River  Travel Management Plan Scoping
  • BLM Conservation and Landscape Health Rule
  • Red Cliffs Warner Valley Land Exchange Scoping and EA Comments
  • Western Solar Plan
• We participated in many events/meetings to spread our message
  • UTV Takeover
  • OHV Day on the Hill (Legislative)
  • Big 20 Ride
  • Trail Hero
  • Winter 4×4 Jamboree
  • Iron Country OHV
  • Salt Lake Off Road Expo
  • UORA Roundtables
  • SxS Adventure Rally on the Rocks
  • Outlaw ATV Jamboree
  • Vernal Rock Rally
  • Castle Country 4×4 Club Meeting
  • Tri State ATV Club Meetings
  • Utah ATV Association Meetings
  • UT/AZ ATV Club Meeting
  • Bryce Canyon Recreation Council
  • BLM Blueprint Conference
  • House Congressional Hearing in St George on Public Lands
  • Barracks Trail Ride with UT/AZ ATV Club and BLM to Retain OHV Access
  • Matt’s Offroad Games
  • North American Motorized Recreation Council Meeting (NAMRC)

Major New Goals:

• Educate OHV users on the threats to access to our public lands, interventions UPLA and other organizations are engaged in, and how users can help us protect access to our public lands. Educate clubs on how to utilize OHVR grants to accomplish projects, find funding, and utilize UDOR Regional Trail Crews as needed. We are going to promote safe and responsible OHV use using many approaches. Develop and distribute training videos as necessary to educate OHV users on proper etiquette and behaviors such as how OHV riders should behave when they encounter Equestrians on a shared trail, or perhaps how to make effective contacts with local, state and Federal agencies and elected officials.
• Develop and Publish a Utah OHV Impact Study in coordination with UDOR. The study will be completed by a major Utah University, and will be the first one done since 2008 that analyzes the benefits of OHV. This will be an important tool to demonstrate the trends of OHV recreation in Utah, compare it to surrounding states, and provide information for communities to use in developing resources for OHV Recreation.
• Coordinate with Utah Department of Outdoor Recreation to develop and promote common goals, including existing programs such as OHV Program rider education.
• Expand our Board of Trustees to identify and include other outdoor recreation users that share our goals of broad access to our public lands. Our By Laws authorize up to 24 Trustees, we now have 16 Trustees from around Utah representing 4×4, UTV/ATV, Motorcycles, Repair Shops, OHV Clubs, Law Enforcement, Media Production, Education, Mountain Biking, and Competitive Events. Short Term Goals include continuing to expand representation with other areas such as event organizers, equestrians, mapping and similar.
  • Dec 2025           Additional 2 Members, Total 17 Members
  • Dec 2026           Additional 2 Members, Total 20 Members
• Specific Actions to Support Goals
  • Social Media Presence-Social Media and Emailed Newsletter Support are a key way to educate users about our goals and calls to action. Here are some specific goals:
    • Facebook-Increase Views from 45,000 and Reach of 10,000 to
      • Dec 2025           Views 50,000   Reach 12,000
      • Dec 2026           Views 55,000    Reach 14,000
    • Instagram Increase Views from 35,000, Reach from 15,000
      • Dec 2025           Views  45,000    Reach to 20,000
      • Dec 2026           Views   55,000     Reach to 25,000
    • Expand Youtube and X Channel Engagement
    • Increase Subscribers from 5200 to following and maintain Open Rate of >50% on Constant Contact
      • Dec 2025           6000
      • Dec 2026           6500
    • Grow Club Contacts 15% each year, currently 132
  • Club and Event Attendance
    • In 2024, we attended 10 OHV Club Meetings, all in SW Utah. We want to double these meetings throughout the state. 15 in 2025, 25 in 2026.
    • Events-In 2024, we attended 35 days of events to spread our message. We want to increase these to 45 days in 2025 and 50 days in 2026
  • Build TrailSaver and Comments Coach to increase substantive user comments. Goals cannot be set at this time for Comments Coach because we do not have an accurate forecast of the number of travel plans to be implemented under the new administration. Goal will be to accumulate 700 Trail Saver reports in database by Dec 2025, 1,400 in 2026.
  • Build our volunteer efforts to achieve wider engagement so we can be present in more in-the-field activities. Encourage participation with other non profits and government programs such as the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program.
  • Develop personal relationships with Land Managers around the State. In person meetings and trail rides with staff and local clubs.
  • Hire a Professional Executive Director to further expand our reach and effectiveness and develop activity and accountability reporting
• Lobbying-As a 501(c)3, UPLA is allowed to engage in limited lobbying activity. We filed 501(h) lobbying election so that we have clearly defined limits on our engagement level. Only registered lobbyists and unpaid volunteers and board members will be engaged in lobbying activities.
• Financial Growth-Continue pursuing diverse funding to accomplish our mission by ensuring we can support all of the following:
  • Donations for litigation and lobbying for access protection to other organizations-$50,000 Annually
  • Program Expenses have averaged approximately $100,000 annually for the last 2 years. We need to continue offering more financial support to other groups and organizations by offering funding support for their projects (for example… helping OHVR grant recipients meet their match requirements)
  • Provide Grant Writing Assistance to other Organizations, including financial assistance
  • Identify and Develop Diverse Funding Sources with private fundraising efforts with continued focus on donations from donor advised funds, securities transfers, and property donations
  • Apply for and utilize grants as needed to achieve our goals

Anytime a new Administration takes control of elected office, it generally is accompanied by significant changes in the policies and practices of that Administration. There is little doubt that President Trump is making sweeping changes, but we have only seen a few signals in his plans about regaining access to our public lands, Interior Secretary Nominee Burgum is still awaiting confirmation, but there are many other very important positions that are still awaiting announcement such as Director of the BLM and Chief of the United States Forest Service, In Utah, there will be a new BLM Utah State Director. I believe it is important to lie out the challenges we’ve had with current policies and be sure our leaders are aware of both what has happened and suggestions for changes going forward.

Today, I will be sending the following letter to President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Acting Interior Secretary Walter Cruickshank, with copies to Senator Mike Lee and Senator John Curtis and Governor Spencer Cox. I encourage you to make your voices heard and send similar letters to members of the Administration.

Loren Campbell
President
Utah Public Lands Alliance

Appeal to President Trump Asking for Executive Action and Leadership_Low Res_000059

Just a few days after the advocates gave up on the effort to create the Dolores River National Monument, they are now proposing the area be designated as a National Conservation Area. We are strongly opposed to this effort as it is just a stepping stone to even more restrictions. Here is what we are sending to support opposition of this new threat to motorized recreation and dispersed camping.

Final Opposition Article on Dolores NCA

UPLA has completed our final draft of comments and you can find them here. 

If you’re ready to submit your comments, visit this BLM EPlanning site, wait for the Green Participate Now Button to come up and submit your comments. 

Comments Must be Submitted Today Monday December 16, 2024

Thank you for your Support!

Utah Public Lands Alliance

Together We Can Win,

But We Can’t Do It Without You

Comments are due to BLM by December 16, See bottom of article for how to submit your comments

The Environmental Assessment for the Land Exchange that will affect the West side of the Sand Mountain OHV/SMRA has been released, and we need your comments submitted by December 16. See the bottom of this page to see how to submit your comments. In the Scoping period in this plan, 1476 comments were received, but only 30 were deemed “substantive”. It is critical for not only this plan, but all land actions, that we work to make our comments “substantive” to be recognized. Here’s a short tip sheet on substantive comments

UPLA’s Natural Resource Consultant, Rose Winn, will review comments that are emailed to her by December 14 and work to tailor them so they are considered “substantive” Let’s take advantage of this opportunity and turn the tide on submitting comments that are counted.  See the details at the bottom of this article for more on submitting your comments.

What’s the current situation?

The original location of the Exchange would have included transfer of the area 200’ east of the Toilet on Pipeline road all the way to Long Valley (marked by Orange line on map), this would have impacted all of West Rim Trail in addition to other areas. Through the joint efforts by UPLA and Washington County Water Conservancy District (WCWCD), we were able to get BLM to reduce the size of the Exchange by moving the boundary about 500’ west (new boundary marked by Blue Line) This reduced the size of the Exchange by 234 acres. Click Here to See the Map

UPLA and other OHV leaders have been working with WCWCD since 2023 to arrive at agreements to be incorporated into the Exchange. WCWCD has already agreed with a Board Resolution to most of the conditions, and we are currently working with them to add some additional clarity now that the EA has been released. Click here to view the WCWCD Original Resolution (in Bold)  as well as the additional items we are working to add in italics.

There is a lot of pressure to make this Exchange happen. Because there is little question that the Exchange will have a Negative impact for OHV, UPLA’s position is that we although we are generally opposed to the Plan, but with mitigations that will protect most OHV in the area, we would be accepting of the Exchange because of the value of the Reservoir and related recreation around it. We are opposed to the Exchange if the land is not used for this purpose. We are asking that the EA be withdrawn and resubmitted for public comments once they complete significant additional evaluations.

What we need you to comment on:

• How have you used the Exchange Land personally? What trails have you used, for how long, by yourself, families or groups, how often? Have you used the dispersed camping area in Long Valley/Washington Dam, why you use it, how often? Who have you used it with? Have you participated in maintenance or cleanups of the area in the past to retain its natural beauty? If the dispersed camping area in Long Valley is no longer available, where would you go and how would affect your visits? What types of vehicles do you use to recreate in the Exchange area? What other concerns do you have? Some of the Dispersed camping along Pipeline Road will also likely be affected, if you’ve used that, please add your comments about that as well.
• An alternative that was also not explored in the EA was the possibility of adding other areas to the SRMA for Open OHV. If you have specific suggestions for alternatives for either dispersed camping or OHV, please mention those.
• We are concerned that BLM only addressed that the Intended Use of the EA is limited to development of the land as a Reservoir, (Reference Section 3.2 of the EA for this) A Reservoir will provide not only water needs, but also will provide an alternate form of recreation. Although the Reservoir is the most likely use, there is significant chance that they will elect not to build the Reservoir. If that decision is made, we are very concerned that other types of development such as residential or housing will create unwelcome consequences for the area, such as user conflicts between homeowners and OHV. There are ways that this concern can be mitigated, but the fact that they were not evaluated in the EA means resulted in those consequences not being considered. Submission of comments that express concern for Exchange land being used for any other purpose than Recreation, and that the EA is Inadequate because it failed to analyze this important, and not unlikely, future consequence.
• We know that some of the trails on the East side of Long Valley are used extensively by Dirt Bikers frequently. We really need comments from the Dirt Bike/Mountain Bike community.
• Your comments should be specific to your personal interests or experiences and should cite the EA whenever possible. Always include as many of the tips above about your specific concerns, including as many of the details as possible. some of the details above.
• Be sure to mention in your comments if you are a Member of BlueRibbon Coalition or Utah Public Lands Alliance

How do you submit comments?

If you would like to have UPLA’s Natural Resource Consultant review your comments first and work to ensure they are considered substantive, please email them to Rose@UtahPLA.com If you want this review, you should send your comments to her no later than December 14. You will still need to report your comments directly to BLM

Comments should be submitted on the BLM EPlanning Website https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022389/510 It may take a moment when you get to the site, but you should see a Green Participate Now button. If you don’t see it, click on the How to Get Involved link and wait for the Green Participate Now Button to appear on the page.

Other References:

BLM Draft EA with Highlights of Significant Sections (To see the highlights, you’ll need to download the file and open with Adobe Reader)

UPLA Significant Notes on Draft EA

UPLA Comments on EA-Expect to see this on Friday after our next meeting with WCWCD