Bears Ears National Monument Recreation Management Plan
UPLA Resources on Bears Ears National Monument RMP
Click to Play the Webinar by Rose Winn from UPLA and Simone Griffin from BlueRibbon Coalition for useful information understanding and commenting on the Bears Ears RMP
Webinar Powerpoint Presentation on Bears Ears 05/30/24 by UPLA and BlueRibbon Coalition
RMP Comment Template Word Version PDF Version
Webinar Recording of Bears Ears Presentation
So What Do You Do Now?
- Download the Comments Template from the Webinar links above and prepare your own comments using that as a Guide. The Template suggests the main areas that you should include. We need to Submit Substantive Comments regarding the 7 Management Areas introduced in Alternative D.
- Submit Your Comments before June 11 to the BLM here. Be Patient, you must wait 10-15 few seconds until you see
on the Page, then Click on that. Once you submit your comments, it will take you to a Receipt Page that shows your comments. Click on the Download PDF of your comments and email copies to landuse@utahpla.com AND brc@sharetrails.org
UPLA Article with Links to All Utah Travel Management Planning Information
Bears Ears RMP Plan Analysis-Article 1 – Protecting Utah’s Public Land Use – UPLA (utahpla.com)
Summary The Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) Recreational Management Plan (RMP) was released on March 8, 2024, and is now available for comments. An RMP is especially important because the terms defined in that determine what is even possible when they adopt Travel Management Plans. If a Zone or Area determination is that an activity is not permitted, it is not even possible for that type of recreation to be permitted.
In this plan, BLM introduced a concept we have not seen before. There are now 5 Alternatives, summarized as follows:
- Alternative A is the No Change Option
- Alternative B is now the most permissive Option
- Alternative C would result in a total of 664,030 acres designated as OHV Closed Areas, with 700,122 acres Open as Limited OHV area.
- Alternative D introduces 7 Management Areas with additional restrictions, it is the most restrictive. Alt D would make 982,914 acres as OHV Closed, with only 381,239 acres as OHV limited. In addition, Lands with Wilderness Characteristics: 419,128 acres will be managed as lands with wilderness characteristics under Alt. D. There is also a proposed aquifer ACEC in Alt.D that covers almost the entirety of the monument covering 1,012,371 acres, the only acreage not included is the Manti-La Sal National Forest. Areas of Critical Environmental Concern are not well defined, often restrict motorized use and are used as justification to implement restrictions and closures.
- Alternative E introduces the concept of different considerations based on 4 zones. Recreational Shooting would be prohibited in the entire BENM. 2 More ACECs will be designated. Fire Management will prioritize natural processes and incorporate Traditional Indigenous Knowledge (have no idea what this means now) Aircraft landings will be limited 2 only to airports, eliminate drones almost entirely. 569,971 acres will be OHV Closed, with only 794,181 acres as OHV limited areas.
BLM Resources
DRAFT EIS Executive Summary Volume 1 Description of Route Alternatives Begins on Page ES-5 (25). A chart comparing effects of the various alternatives can be found on Page 2-116 (174)
BENM Draft Management Plan Fact Sheet Just a general overview of Plan
- Bears Ears National Monument ePlanning website
- Bears Ears National Monument Resource Management Plan
- BLM, USDA Forest Service invite input on Bears Ears National Monument draft plan
Other Resources
BlueRibbon Coalition Action Alert Bears Ears
Patrick McKay Colorado Offroad Trail Defenders Facebook Overview
Summary This will likely require a lot of reading and searching to make comments, so it is different than the TMP that will follow it. It is critically important though that we get this step right or there will be very few possible routes to consider in the TMP. Please do your research and help save our access.
We Need Your Support to Make This Come Together, please help!