Webmaster
08-30-2007, 07:34 AM
Off-road vehicles could be limited in Utah wilderness
By Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — A new federal land-use plan for the redrock country around Moab in southeastern Utah would close more than 3,000 miles of rugged trails to motorized vehicles, angering off-road groups.
Conservationists counter that too much of the land is laced with trails carved by all-terrain vehicles and needs more protection.
A map prepared by the Bureau of Land Management of every road and trail open to motorized traffic in the district looks like a spaghetti bowl, said Liz Thomas, a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
A full 98 percent of the land south of Interstate 70 in the BLM's Moab field district is within a mile of a road or motorized trail, she said.
The draft plan also calls for closing 1.5 million acres of land to unrestricted cross-country travel, though some motorized trails would remain open in the areas.
"It is simply not acceptable to have unlimited, indiscriminate cross-country travel," acting BLM Field Manager Shelley Smith said.
Off-roading won't be as satisfying, said Steve Jackson, acting director of the Utah Shared Access Alliance, which promotes motorized travel across public lands.
Jackson said his group recognized the need to update a land-use plan last adopted in 1985, before all-terrain vehicle use exploded. But it doesn't want the BLM to sacrifice too many motorized trails.
The draft plan also calls for wild and scenic river status for 10 segments of the Green, Dolores and Colorado rivers in the district.
Thomas said an option preferred by the plan to manage 47,000 acres as potential wilderness is a small fraction of the 266,000 acres protected by the Clinton administration.
BLM officials emphasize that the draft plan is just being introduced for public comment and is subject to revision after a series of public hearings.
They will be held in Moab, Monticello, Salt Lake City, and in Grand Junction, Colo., in late September and early October.
source: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webutahtrails29&date=20070829&query=moab
By Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — A new federal land-use plan for the redrock country around Moab in southeastern Utah would close more than 3,000 miles of rugged trails to motorized vehicles, angering off-road groups.
Conservationists counter that too much of the land is laced with trails carved by all-terrain vehicles and needs more protection.
A map prepared by the Bureau of Land Management of every road and trail open to motorized traffic in the district looks like a spaghetti bowl, said Liz Thomas, a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
A full 98 percent of the land south of Interstate 70 in the BLM's Moab field district is within a mile of a road or motorized trail, she said.
The draft plan also calls for closing 1.5 million acres of land to unrestricted cross-country travel, though some motorized trails would remain open in the areas.
"It is simply not acceptable to have unlimited, indiscriminate cross-country travel," acting BLM Field Manager Shelley Smith said.
Off-roading won't be as satisfying, said Steve Jackson, acting director of the Utah Shared Access Alliance, which promotes motorized travel across public lands.
Jackson said his group recognized the need to update a land-use plan last adopted in 1985, before all-terrain vehicle use exploded. But it doesn't want the BLM to sacrifice too many motorized trails.
The draft plan also calls for wild and scenic river status for 10 segments of the Green, Dolores and Colorado rivers in the district.
Thomas said an option preferred by the plan to manage 47,000 acres as potential wilderness is a small fraction of the 266,000 acres protected by the Clinton administration.
BLM officials emphasize that the draft plan is just being introduced for public comment and is subject to revision after a series of public hearings.
They will be held in Moab, Monticello, Salt Lake City, and in Grand Junction, Colo., in late September and early October.
source: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webutahtrails29&date=20070829&query=moab