Scoping is underway for the proposed Land Exchange for the Washington County Water Conservancy District to obtain 1050 acres of land from the Western portion of Sand Mountain OHV area near Warner Valley. Part of this may be to provide land for the new reservoir, to which we have no objection, but we are in opposition to the addition of the land east of Warner Valley Rim which would affect West Rim and Ridgeline Trails. You can learn more about the latest details at www.UtahPLA.com

What is Scoping? The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to involve the public in the planning process and seek their input through a scoping process, which is one of the first steps of the process. It will be followed by BLM’s preparation of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) , and you will have another opportunity to add substantive comments. Effective NEPA scoping comments for BLM should ask these kind of questions, some thought starters have been included in italics, but come up with your own questions, please don’t just copy this list, put it into your own words.

1. Provide specific information about the proposed action, including its location, purpose and need, and potential environmental impacts.
   1. We understand the purpose of the reservoir use, but what is the purpose of the large acquisition east and north of the reservoir?
   2. We asked the Water Conservancy District and City of Washington what they plan to use the land for, and their response has been they have no plans or it’s too early to have thought about it. BLM should demand a clear direction from the City of Washington as to their involvement and precise plans for the future.
   3. How will it affect visitors and their economic impact to the region?
   4. Adjoining lands that are managed by different agencies often cause conflicts because of differences in rules governing that use, and law enforcement. If the “dispersed” camping is eliminated at Washington Dam, law enforcement issues may rise with those people desiring free camping will arise in other areas, i.e. our Waddy’s Corral staging area may have people trying to camp there, especially after we pave the road to it. Much of the increase in OHV recreation has come from UTV/ATV users, who need staging areas to unload and park their machines. Where do they go if Washington Dam is closed?
   5.  What will be the Visual Resource Impacts of the change. Currently, most of Sand Mountain is classified as Class 2, but it appears from Map 2.14 in the BLM St George Field Office 1999 Recreation Management Plan that the West Rim is classified as Class 3. How will you ensure that the basic characteristics and visual appearance will be maintained if the exchange is approved?
2. Identify any alternatives that the BLM should consider, including no action, and explain why they would be preferable or less impactful.
   1. What other locations may have been considered for the exchange located north and east of the reservoir?
   2. Have you considered alternatives that eliminate the areas east of the reservoir.
   3. Have you considered replacing our area of concern with land to the south of the proposed reservoir location, where WCWCD is planning for recreation already.
   4. What other alternatives have you considered for acquiring the 89 acre Non Federal parcel.
   5. If no action is recommended as an alternative, please provide precise details what that means.
3. Highlight any potential significant impacts that may result from the proposed action and suggest ways to mitigate or avoid them.
   1. Without knowing what the new use will be, how can you clearly analyze potential impacts or mitigations.
   2. How do you propose to resolve impacts such as user conflicts between OHV and development or noise or traffic concerns.
   3. Although a State Park, California’s Oceano Dunes OHV users have been attacked by new residents building communities adjacent to the Dunes because of User Conflicts. What consideration have you given that the transfer could lead to even further losses if undetermined future users complain about current OHV use such as noise, traffic, or blowing sand.
4. Provide relevant scientific data, studies, or other sources of information to support the comments.
   1. Oceano Dunes is a great example of how user conflicts were created that led to further losses to OHV.
   2. In many communities, airports have come under attack from new communities built around them that complain about the noise, ultimately resulting in the closure of 378 airports since 1990, almost 7% of the total.
   3. How will the appraisal reflect the value of Recreation?
5. Address the scope of the proposed action, including any indirect or cumulative effects that may result from the action.
   1. How will access to the public lands on top of Warner Ridge and West Rim be accomplished.
   2. What will be the impact of the loss of staging and dry camping in the area?
   3. What will be the impact on OHV traffic patterns from the recently constructed Waddy’s Corral Staging area.
   4. Why are you giving more land than needed for the reservoir?
   5. Where will the people that use the disbursed camping sites on Pipeline Road go to?
   6. Where will the campers using Washington Dam free camping area go?
   7. There are often many conflicts when different land managers are in charge of adjacent areas, who is going to manage the acquired land, and what is their experience at working with BLM?
   8. How will the view sheds from the West Rim trail and above be impacted by the change?
   9. The OHV Area loss from this is 1050 acres, plus an additional loss of almost 400 acres if the reservoir project proceeds in a future request. This is in addition to the indirect and direct cumulative effects from various options from the 2016 Lake Powell Project proposal, ranging from 60 to 290 additional acres of land being closed to OHV use. This brings the total OHV loss to 1740 acres from the Sand Mountain SMRA. What other options have you considered?
6. Identify any potential environmental justice concerns that may arise from the proposed action, such as impacts on low-income or minority communities.
   1. How will the loss of free and disbursed camping affect users of lower income?
7. Discuss any potential cultural or historical impacts on Native American tribes or other affected communities.
   1. What cultural, anthropological, and historical impacts will result from this Proposed Exchange?
8. Offer specific suggestions for how the BLM can address public concerns and incorporate feedback into the decision-making process.
   1. While we appreciate the extension for comments of 6 days, there are many visitors that come at different times of the year, and it will take time to get the word out to people interested in the outcome. Have you collected user data by month to see what the most frequent periods the land is used? What do you need to justify an extended comment period for future comments?

Scoping is not about stating opinions or venting, it’s about developing the questions that should be answered in the EA or EIS. Framing your comments into questions are the best way to elicit consideration for that question to be addressed in future evaluations. No comment is worthless, but comments that are very broad such as “I don’t want this exchange to happen” are not very helpful if not supported by specifics. If you have detailed and specific comments, I encourage you to submit comments using Option 1 below. If are limited in time and want to make quick comments, I suggest you make your comments using the Blueribbon Action Alert Option 2, it has an excellent set of comments that cover a wide range of subjects. When you submit using the Blueribbon Action Alert, copies will be sent to BLM and Congress. The best option is to submit them both ways.

Now is the time to submit your comments, visit www.UtahPLA.com for the very latest information.  

• Submit Your Comments Electronically using your choice of methods:
  1. By email sent to blm_ut_sgfo_comments@blm.govwith a copy to StopSandMtnSale@gmail.com
  2. Visiting Blueribbon Coalition’s Action Alertat https://www.sharetrails.org/stop-the-sale-of-sand-mountain/#/104/

Comment Period Closes at Midnight on April 19, 2023

Start Now, and Get your Comments Submitted!

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!

What is R.S, 2477? RS 2477 is a federal law that authorized construction of roads across federal public lands that was passed in 1866. It helped settle the West for 110 years. Residents of Utah, visitors, pioneers, and settlers created and used thousands of roads across public lands for farming, ranching, hunting, recreating, mining, and connecting communities. We continue to use many of these routes daily and some occasionally or seasonally.

Although Congress repealed R.S, 2477 in 1976 when they enacted the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), Section 701 preserved all R.S. 2477 rights of ways that existed at the time FLPMA was passed and preserved them for public use.

There is no formal administrative or judicial process under FLPMA, but in 2012 the Utah Attorney General filed lawsuits relating to R.S. 2477 rights of wa

y. In 2015, the Utah Federal District Court entered an order that established a process for processing 12,500 right of way claims throughout the state. One of the requirements was that Utah had to submit proof of county maintenance or public use of claimed right of way for a period of at least 10 years prior to October 21, 1976.

It is important to note that R.S. 2477 routes can be across both private and public land, which is especially important to protect access to public land that crosses over privately owned land. This is becoming even more important as development increases throughout Utah.

PLPCO’s Role The Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office (PLPCO) is a state agency that provides research and litigation support for R.S. 2477 claims. One of their first tasks was to document each of the 12,500 Utah roads, which is available publicly on their Access Map 360° , which shows not only the route, but also video tours of the routes to show the condition of their existence.

How to get Help If a route is threatened near you, and you want to see if R.S. 2477 may help in keeping it open, follow these steps.

• Check the Access Map 360° to see if the route is catalogued
• If it is catalogued, build a statement giving all relevant facts such as the Road #, who and why is threatening closure, and documentation that the road is still in public use. Send an email with all your documentation to PLPCO, and please also copy UPLA
• PLPCO will contact you about your claim.

PLPCO has Attorney Generals in their office that will assist in working the claim, often working with your local County Attorney General to resolve the matter.

Utah Code 72-5-104 also provides protection for Prescriptive Easements for public roads in use for more than 10 years. Iron County recentlly passed an Ordinance that makes it illegal to close “public” roads, notifying land owners to reopen the road or face administrative action from the County. I recently testified at a Washington County Planning Commission hearing where they adopted an Ordinance that requires owners include any R.S. 2477 roads be disclosed in their applications to ensure they remain open. UPLA will be pursuing the Washington County Commissioners adopt a similar Ordinance as that of Iron County.

Be sure to let UPLA know of R.S. 2477 issues or pending legislation in your area.

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How to Protect OHV in Bears Ears National Monument

The Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) was restored in size by President Joe Biden to 1,360,000 acres, making it one of the largest in the country. As a result, a new management plan is being developed that will decide how the land will be managed (used). The Scoping Document BLM prepared will be one of the largest eliminations of OHV use I’ve ever seen. Some of the most popular OHV routes would be Arch Canyon, Hotel Rock, Lockhart Basin, Beef Basin, Bridger Jack Mesa, Lavender Canyon, and Davis Canyon, with many, many more subject to the axe.

And it won’t just affect OHV use, if you are a hiker, dispersed camper, miner, drone pilot, or equestrian user that depends on access roads to get to your favorite sites, you will also be extremely limited on your use of the BENM under the current proposals.

BENM is a huge area with very diverse uses and landscapes,and is surrounded by other currently protected areas including National Parks, Wilderness, Wilderness Study Areas, and even another National Monument already contained in its massive boundaries. BLM’s scoping document should make the alternatives easier to understand, but this one makes it even more complex. NEPA requires that BLM and USFS consider a reasonable range of alternatives in their plans. OHV use is already limited in the entire BENM, meaning that you may only operate on designated routes. In addition, OHV use is already prohibited in Designated Wilderness (DW), Wilderness Study Areas (WSA), and Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRA),

Alternative A is the No Change required alternative. It is generally provided as a requirement to the “full range of options” legal requirement. It is always included as an obligatory placeholder,and is almost never selected in the final draft. Target shooting and drone operation would be permitted with some restrictions under this Alternative.

Lands with Wilderness Characteristics

Alternative B adds Lands with Wilderness Characteristics to closure by OHV, as evidenced by the following chart which indicates how much of BENM will be closed to OHV. The BLM website states that for an area to qualify as lands with wilderness characteristics, it must possess sufficient size, naturalness, and outstanding opportunities for either solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation. It may also possess supplemental values.

The addition of “lands with wilderness characteristics” is an enormous tract of land depicted in the green hashed marks that will affect much of the 1800 miles of OHV routes, as well as many connecting routes between areas that will be cutoff from motorized vehicles. In addition, other special use restrictions such as limits on group sizes and permits will be required.  In addition, target shooting and drone would be prohibited throughout the entire BENM.

Alternative C will probably be considered as the “balanced” approach, but it is definitely not for OHV and many other forms of recreation. It would divide the BENM into many different Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) zones, which all will have different limits and regulations  on use. The language regarding this is not only vague, but contradictory in nature. It also includes “lands with wilderness characteristics” as being Closed to OHV. The language regarding road density and sitage is extremely vague, but their intent seems clear.This Alternative would allow  some limited drone use and target shooting could be done in the “front country” or in designated ROS zones.

Alternative D is Orwellian in scope, adding to the “lands with wilderness characteristics” 3 additional restrictions with no formal definitions.

• 1) Areas where OHV use has damaged or is a current or foreseeable future risk to the protection, restoration, and resiliency of BENM objects and values. If the authors of this proposal are the unelected bureaucrats deciding this, we are in trouble.
• 2) Areas where OHV use affects traditional use and cultural setting
• 3)With the exception of existing designated routes, areas within 300 feet of riparian habitat, perennial springs, and other perennial aquatic ecosystems

Another statement in Alternative D is that “in OHV limited areas, road density would be minimized, and siting criteria would be identified, especially in important resource areas, to ensure the protection, restoration, and/or increased resiliency of BENM objects and values. Future implementation-level travel planning would not allow designation of additional routes but would focus on refining (as needed) the existing designated route network.” Target shooting and drone usage would be prohibited throughout the BENM. In Alternative D, your visit to Bears Ears may very well be limited to driving through in your passenger car with no dispersed camping opportunities, and complex rules that will almost ensure users will be in violation of one of them.

Current Trails Overlaid with Proposed Zones

This map shows the complex network of designated areas, along with trails and roads overlaid onto it,

clicking here will display the map in greater detail. . Virtually all of the color shaded areas on this map will be restricted from OHV use.

There is no good alternative from this range of choices, so the best approach at this point is just to tell them you protest the array of current Alternatives, to complain about the lack of clarity on their entire RMP, and to comment on how you have used the area in the past, or plan to use it in the future. Some of the things you might mention are:

• How long and how often you’ve been coming here
• Who you have brought to visit the area
• Activities you’ve engaged in, OHV, Dispersed camping, hiking, equestrian
• The nature of any conservation efforts you have engaged in, whether it is in BENM or other public lands
• Specific trails that you enjoy, or plan to enjoy. Specific trails identified now are Arch Canyon, Hotel Rock, Lavender and Davis Canyons, Chicken Corners, Lockhart and Beef Basin, and the Peavine Corridor.
• If you have mobility or disability issues that limit your visitation

Comments are only being accepted until October 31, so please Visit Blue Ribbon Coalition’s website and complete their comment writer.
if you want to send personal comments about trails you use, submit them on the BLM E-Planning website.

Please submit your final comments on your favorite Moab trails to keep them open. The extended Comment period ends Friday.

If you haven’t submitted comments, please do it today.

If you have submitted comments, thank you.

If you want to see more details about exactly which trails are threatened, including maps, guides, and photos, please look at our friend Patrick McKay’s comments here. His comments total 527  pages, and is chock full of information to let you share your personal experiences with trails that will be affected. Please don’t copy and paste his comments, but use it as a reference to help you write your own.

Please submit any final comments by going directly to the BLM website

                                                          Thank you very much!

We only have until Friday at 5:00 to submit final comments regarding saving iconic Moab Trails. I attended the Grand County Commission Hearing last night to make comments protesting their support of Alternative B, which would remove 437 more miles of trails from the network. The Commission approved the recommendation letter (Vote 7:0) to BLM that will remove iconic FMCA Trails 7 Mile Rim, Gemini Bridges, Golden Spike, Gold Bar Rim, Hey Joe Canyon, Mashed Potatoes, and parts of 3D Hidden Canyon. For a more complete list of trails click here. In addition, many spurs off popular routes throughout the area that go to scenic overlooks such as Monitor and Merrimack, the Tusher Tunnel, and many others will closed to motorized traffic forever. For a more complete list of trails to be closed, and the reasons can be found here

You can submit comments 2 ways:

• If you’d like to use the Blue Ribbon Coalition’s comment writer, click here. It will generate a templated letter, which you can edit and delete your personal details. Personalizing it with your personal experiences and details are what make this method effective. Pictures can tell the story of a thousand words.
• Click on this link to go directly to the BLM comments page. You can write a free form text on their form, or attach documents in most popular forms such as word, excel, pdf, and jpg photos. You can combine all your comments into one single post, or you can post as many as you want. I recommend you do a single post for each trail you want to report on.

What should you include in your comments? Anything that is of importance to you in retaining access, but here are some thought starters:

• How long you’ve been using the trail?
• Do you bring your family?
• How often you come?
• How long do you stay in Moab when you visit?
• Is the trail on your bucket list to do in the future?
• How much do you spend on each visit?
• What do you love most about the trail? Challenge, Remoteness, Views
• Did you observe any educational signs on the trail about responsible use, conservation, etc?
• How well known is the trail? Is it in specific guidebooks or publications?
• Is it an important connector between 2 trail networks?
• Are there dispersed camping sites that you’ve enjoyed, or want to come back to?
• Do you have any mobility issues that would prevent you from visiting this trail if you could not use a motorized vehicle?
• Is the trail well marked? Is it in good or obscured condition?

We are not crying wolf, either make your voice heard on this critical issue, or remain silent about the loss of these trails. Write your comments today!