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 We are asking that the EA be withdrawn and resubmitted for public comments once they complete significant additional evaluations.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