On March 24, 2022, the Grand Canyon National Park Service (NPS) announced that they were beginning “civic engagement” to seek public comments for a proposed 3 year advance reservation system in a press release. The Press Release caught the attention of the St George News, which featured an article about the proposed plan that same day.

On March 30, Utah Public Lands Alliance published an article about the proposed Reservation System, asking our members and interested parties to learn more about the limits on usage, and to ask them to submit comments to the National Park Service. Our Facebook posts alone reached a new record of 38,803, by far surpassing the interest of our viewers on any other subject. Many of our members and guests submitted comments before the April 6 deadline.

The NPS received 333 comments during the short 13 days public comments were open. They classified the comments into six primary topic areas and published their comment responses here. It should be noted that in the first paragraph of their response document, they were still referring to the reservation system as “proposed.”

Mid July, UPLA learned that the National Park Service had implemented the reservation system without any changes as a result of the comments that were submitted, now requiring advance reservations to visit the Tuweep area, including Toroweep, Vulcan’s Throne, Kanab Plateau, and Tuweep.

Some of the highlights about the new reservation system are:

• Reservations can be made on https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/10089462
• Daily Limits are
  • 2 Slots are available for Commercial Tour Operators
  • 18 Slots are available for Private Vehicles
    • 6 are available from 3 to 120 days in advance of your visit date
    • 12 are available up to 2 days in advance
    • You can only reserve for one vehicle
  • 10 Slots are available for Backcountry permits for camping
• Cost to make a reservation is $2 per vehicle.
• The previous limits of only 4 vehicles/11 people remain in place

On further investigation, Blue Ribbon Coalition (BRC) learned that the change was done through a Categorical Exclusion (CE) that was drafted on March 9, and signed by Edward T Keable, Park Superintendent, on March 15, 2022, 2 weeks prior to their announcement of accepting public comments. A Categorical Exclusion is a process that bypasses the need for the legal protections afforded by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Staff made the decision in a backroom, then attempted to sell the illusion they were open to comments from the public to influence the policy.

We determined that our best course of action for the time being will be to work with the NPS staff on the details of the 3 year study rather than to pursue a legal challenge at this time. At the conclusion of the study period, NPS has stated that any final changes will go through the NEPA process, when we will be fully engaged in the fight.

We will work with our NPS representative on influencing the study parameters, including asking that No Shows be tracked as a part of their stats (We are concerned that people will make reservations and then not show up, depriving someone else the opportunity to visit.)  In addition, we will work on getting periodic update reports, and perhaps work on  shortening the study from the current 3 years.

The NPS advised us that for the first year, people arriving without a reservation will be educated, but allowed to enter the area and not be cited. If you have any difficulties visiting the area, or if you have trouble getting a reservation, please email us at info@utahpla.com with the details.

Finally, even though we did not get the objective we wished on this plan, the importance of taking action by making public comments about topics that are of concern to you is extremely important. Blue Ribbon Coalition is a very important ally in our fight to retain access to our public lands. In the last year alone,  BRC has influenced 180 planning processes in 17 states, you are instrumental in that process with 7,500 comments from members to Land Managers.

Thank you for your support, let’s work together to Fight for Every Inch!

Help Save OHV Access to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

The National Park Service is considering a plan to limit OHV visitors to only 20 vehicles per day, including tour operators. Further, their plan requires visitors to obtain one of the permits via their reservation system, with only 6 spots available 120 days in advance, and the remaining 12 available 2 days before the visit.

You can read more about this on the Blue Ribbon Coalition/Share Trails website here, but I urge you to write your comments directly on the National Park Service website here. 

After you submit your comments, please copy and share them either at the bottom of this page or in our Facebook post so we can share them with Blue Ribbon Coalition.

Utah is blessed with 2,400,000 acres of land owned by federal and state government, that means 70% of Utah land belongs to us, the people. Even though it’s our land, the fight to retain access to these lands for responsible recreation is getting even fiercer.

The Utah Public Lands Alliance has been representing the public since 2014 and now have over 950 members. We are expanding our coverage throughout the state and to make sure we represent all public land users. To accomplish our Mission, we are changing our Membership policy effective July 6, 2021.

Our existing Lifetime Members as of June 30 will be automatically converted to Charter Members, which are to be recognized as the first to step up to meet the challenge. All Charter Members will retain their membership for life without any further subscriptions.

Effective July 6 all new members will become Annual Members at the same fee of $25 except it will automatically renew each year. For Members that want to step forward and be recognized for making a huge difference, a Benefactor Lifetime Membership will be available for $500 as a one time donation.

What Do You Need To Do?

If you are already a UPLA member, you do not need to do anything, you will automatically become a Charter Member on July 6.

If you are not currently a member, sign up for the Lifetime Membership by July 5 and you’ll automatically become a Charter Member, meaning you’ll never have to pay membership dues again.

Together, We Will Win

But We Can’t Do It Without You

With the amazing help of the 170 volunteers, 87 trail leaders, and in junction with the 18 Search and Rescue volunteers, 6 volunteer recovery teams, and all the great sponsors and vendors, the 2019 Winter 4×4 Jamboree was able to become the biggest Winter 4×4 Jamboree event to date!

A staggering 823 vehicles enjoyed three days of beautiful scenic trails, while some took on the red slick rock and crawled their way through epic trails located at Sand Mountain Recreation Area (Sand Hollow) and the surrounding areas.

Desert Roads And Trails Society – Desert RATS were amazed by the contributions that everyone made to this event. With everyone’s help they were able to raise $48,000.00.

Desert Roads And Trails Society – Desert RATS donated $25,000.00 to Utah Public Lands Alliance!

We appreciate everyone involved in making this happen. A huge thank you to the volunteers, the participants and vendors.

For more information you can visit www.winter4x4jamboree.com.

Sen. Mike Lee: This bill is not the right move for Utah lands
By Mike Lee

For the Deseret News

Published: February 11, 2019 8:00 am

WASHINGTON — Sometime early this week the Natural Resources Management Act will come to the floor for a vote in the Senate. There is much to like about the bill. And many good people have worked very hard on it.

Unfortunately, after a lengthy review and much negotiation, it has become clear that this is not legislation I can vote for in good conscience. On balance, the bill moves federal lands policy in the wrong direction by failing to reform federal land acquisition programs and adding new restrictions to how Americans are allowed to use land already under federal control.

As mentioned earlier, the bill does have some good policies in it, particularly for Utah. It gives 80 acres of Bureau of Land Management Land to Hyde Park for the construction of an underground water tank and trailhead. It also gives 2.61 acres of Forest Service land to Juab County and helps celebrate the upcoming anniversary of the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad by redesignating the Golden Spike National Historic Site as the Golden Spike National Historical Park.

At the national level, the bill includes a “sportsman” package that makes it easier for hunters and fisherman to enjoy public lands It also includes the Good Samaritan Search and Recovery Act, which requires the Interior Department and Forest Service to grant expedited access to volunteers helping with search and recovery efforts on federal lands.

These are all good commonsense policies which improve federal land management. Unfortunately, they have been stuffed into the same bill with bad federal land management policies that are particularly harmful to Utah.

First, the legislation permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund, an admirably intended program enacted to preserve access to recreation opportunities on public lands. When the program was first passed in 1964 it promised to direct 60 percent of its funds to states and 40 percent to federal purposes. Sadly, this is not how the program has been implemented, just 25 percent of all LWCF have been given to states while 61 percent of the funds have been spent on federal land acquisition.

Worse, the LWCF keeps on buying new federal lands without securing any method for maintaining the land they already own. According to a 2017 Congressional Research Service report, the maintenance backlog on federal land is up to $18.6 billion, including significant backlogs at Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Zions National Parks. When the federal government fails to maintain the lands it owns, ill-kept roads and trails make it harder for citizens to enjoy our national treasures and wildfires become more likely.

Second, the bill creates another 1.3 million acres of wilderness in the West — half of it in Utah. At first blush, wilderness designations sound like a good thing. And sometimes they are. But this highly restrictive designation limits far more activities than is necessary to actually protect the land.

In fact, a wilderness designation prohibits almost all activity, including all commercial activity, all infrastructure development and any travel by car or bicycle. And in a state like Utah, where the federal government owns more than two thirds of the land, these designations have big consequences.

Citizens must go to the federal government, hat in hand, to ask permission for any use of the land at all — whether to dig a well, build a road, bury a cable or do virtually anything on it. So designating more than half a million acres of wilderness — most of which is in Emery County — is a big blow.

Finally, this bill does nothing to address the imminent threat that Utah faces from unilateral executive land grabs through the Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act was intended to give a president the power to protect specific historic and cultural objects by implementing severe restrictions on select federal lands. According to the original law, these “National Monuments” were supposed to include only the “smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”

This is not how the law has been used. Instead, presidents have abused the law by designating vast million-acre swaths for monument protection. These vanity projects can hit local communities hard. For example, when President Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, many local ranchers lost their right to build fences, secure water resources and maintain roads for their herds. Many families were forced to reduce their herds, sometimes by half. And local church groups were prevented from walking down the very roads their ancestors built during remembrance treks.

Other states have been given protections from these Antiquities Act power grabs. In Wyoming, for example, any monument designation must be approved by Congress. A simple fix to federal law, adding just the words “or Utah” to the Antiquities statute, could solve this problem. But this bill did not contain those words.

No legislation is perfect. Every bill that becomes law in Washington requires compromise. But at some point, too much compromise can lead to a deal doing more harm to your community than good. Regrettably, the Natural Resources Management Act has reached that point. It simply shifts too much power away from Utah communities and to bureaucrats in Washington. And I have heard similar views from many state legislators, county commissioners and rural constituents.

Utah communities should not be forced to accept harmful policies to the state and their communities just so they can make some commonsense land transfers that communities in non-western states are free to do without congressional permission.

With more hard work and cooperation, I know the next lands bill will be different.