UPLA now has the most extensive collection of GPX tracks throughout Utah and surrounding areas. It’s hard to count, but it’s safe to say we literally have thousands of route tracks within Utah from many different sources. Recent additions to our collection include:

• Arapeen
• Bears Ears
• Bear Lake-Northern Utah/Idaho
• Canyonlands/Maze
• Great Western Trail-AZ, UT, WY, ID
• Hanksville/Torrey
• Paiute OHV Trails including Fremont and Pausaugant
• Vernal
• 360 Google Street View Trails that show you video of the trails

These tracks are available to Members by visiting Trail Maps – Utah Public Lands Alliance. If you’re not a Member yet, there’s a link to choose and activate a membership right away.

BLM’s reopening of the devastating Labyrinth Rims/Gemini Bridges Travel Management Plan is a monumental opportunity, but our success will depend on our ability to submit massive numbers of public comments to BLM on the Action. We know it’s tedious to ask, but we’ve all been asking for this, and we must act to ensure our success on future plans.

Here’s What You Should Do:

• Go to this BLM Interactive Map to see which routes they have proposed reopening. When you get on the map, the Green lines mark the routes BLM proposed for  reopening. The Pink indicates routes they are proposing to open seasonally. Black lines indicate single track routes they are proposing to open to 50” width or less. If you need to see more detail on the map, click on the 4 squares at the upper right and pick a different basemap for more details on the map. When you click on a line, it will give you additional information about the trail.
• Optional: Research UPLA Files to help identify routes and give you more information on them. We have added some of the most requested information for you to see as follows:
  • Click Here if you’d like to see a list of the BLM Route Numbers with Common Names for the Trails
  • Click Here if you’d like to see rationale from the 2023 Decision Record including common names, and highlighting the routes that BLM designated for reconsideration
  • Click Here if you’d like to look up the Route Report for a specific route number. These can be very useful, as the last pages (Alternative D in green) show the conditions BLM identified that the route could be opened. These can be mentioned in your comments
  • Click Here if you’d like to read the 2023 Final EA. You probably won’t need this unless you’re just curious about a detail.
• Draft your detailed comments about trails you are familiar with. Include personal experiences, how you’ve used it, how often, who you’ve been there with; in other words, why it’s important that it be reopened. Use as much of the factual information from one of the sources as you can.
• Submit your Comments using any of three ways
  • A. If you feel comfortable submitting them directly to BLM, you can do so at the BLM EPlanning Website  Use the Participate Now button there, you can type comments in, or upload a word or pdf document, and can attach photos if you have them.
    OR
  • B. If you want help formatting your comments, Email your draft to our Comments Coach. Rose will help you format them so they are ready to submit, and will return it to you to submit to BLM. Rose is also working on UPLA’s formal comments, so to get a response you must send them no later than Sunday, October 19. You will then need to submit them to BLM or through BlueRibbon Coalition’s Action Tool.
  • OR
  • C. Submit the comments using BlueRibbon Coalition’s Action Tool. This method will submit comments directly to BLM, but will also provide them to BlueRibbon Coalition so they know hear directly from you. This method will not allow you to attach items.

Q&A

• If you want to comment on a route that is not in the reconsideration list, can you? Yes, go ahead and submit comments on any closed trail you would like reconsidered.
• When must comments be received by BLM? October 24, 2025
• Where is the announcement from BLM? BLM Announcement
• How did this come about? This action has been the result of many different organizations and individuals that filed lawsuits for  reconsideration, among them BlueRibbon Coalition, the State of Utah, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Colorado Offroad Trail Defenders, Ride with Respect, and everyone that has filed comments or made donations to support their efforts.
• What trails are being reconsidered? Nearly 50% of the 2023 closures are being reconsidered, including popular routes like Hey Joe Canyon, Deadman Point, Dead Cow Loop, Day Canyon Point, Hell Roaring Canyon, Mineral Canyon, several key Green River overlooks, and many other backcountry access routes. Click Here for a Complete List
• Are the routes open now? No, they are not reopened at this point, the existing Travel Management Plan will remain in effect until a final decision is made.
• Will these all be reopened? That depends a lot on you, we need your comments to make this happen.
• What about other Travel Plans that resulted in closures like San Rafael Swell and Henry Mountains? Trust us that we’re continuing to work on those, but don’t let this opportunity pass us by.

Submit Your Comments On Every Route You Know About

Comments are Due Tonight September 19 to Support Recission of the Forest Service Roadless Rule

Submit Your Comments Here

UPLA – USDA Proposal to Rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule FINAL COMMENT

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

Utah Public Lands Alliance has been fighting for access to our public lands since 2014, and our efforts have been gaining fruit. Our list of accomplishments is long, but it’s important to realize We Can’t Do It Without You. We need both your voice and your donations, and during the end of 2024 we would like you to consider giving generously to not only sustain, but to accelerate our progress.

Loren Campbell conducted an interview with Steve Radmall, UPLA’s Certified Public Accountant, to discuss tax advantages and donating to UPLA. The subjects discussed included the following topics:

• Are all donations to UPLA deductible?
• Explain the Standard Deduction allowance, and strategies to maximize tax savings
• Donor Advised Funds as a strategy to plan giving for the future, and get a deduction this year
• Double Tax benefits for donating appreciated assets (stocks)
• Qualified Charitable Distributions from IRAs

UPLA is proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we need your support to continue and accelerate our progress. We are grateful for any size or type of donationUPLA is always grateful for every donation of any size. Utah Public Lands Alliance is a IRS recognized 501©3 non profit and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by current IRS regulations.

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