Federal judge rules no off-road vehicles on Richfield BLM lands

[lobsterdmb]

From: http://m.ksl.com/index/story/sid/27506972?mobile_direct=y

Federal judge rules no off-road vehicles on Richfield BLM lands

by Amy Joi O'Donoghue • Nov 05 - 7:25am

SALT LAKE CITY — A coalition of conservation groups is hailing a federal judge's ruling Monday to strike down portions of the Richfield Bureau of Land Management plan they said gave deference to off-road vehicles at the expense of the environment.
"This landmark decision is a resounding rejection of the BLM’s mismanagement of Utah’s stunning public lands,” said Stephen Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

“The Richfield (Resource Management Plan) wrongly prioritized ORV use over all other uses of the public lands and neglected streams and special places worthy of protection. The court didn’t mince words in its ruling that this violated federal environmental and historic laws,” Bloch said.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance was among seven groups that filed a legal challenge to the Bush-era plans following their adoption in 2008, contending they imperiled pristine landscapes.

The Richfield plan covers 2.1 million acres that is mostly sandwiched between Capitol Reef National Park and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It was the first plan to get its day in court, where critics detailed that its 4,000 miles of off-road vehicle routes threatened prime landscapes such as Factory Butte, the Henry Mountains and Dirty Devil Canyon.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball reversed the BLM's off-road vehicle designations and directed the BLM to complete on-the-ground surveys for historic and cultural resources before authorizing any off-road use. "Contrary to the BLM's assertion, this not a case where there appears to be mere disagreement about which routes were chosen," Kimball wrote. "Rather, the case represents a failure to provide enough information or analysis for someone other than the BLM to know why or how the routes were chosen."

Additionally, the judge said the agency's failure to designate the Henry Mountains as an "area of critical environmental concern" violated federal law.

Bloch said the ruling raises questions about the legality of five other BLM management plans in the eastern half of the state that the groups contend suffer from similar legal problems. Conservationists have challenged all six plans in court. The Richfield plan is the first of the six to be litigated.

In their challenge to the Richfield plan, the groups said the plan allowed off-highway vehicle use on 1.9 million of those acres in routes detailed only in spreadsheets. The routes included 400 stream crossings, yet they said the BLM did not detail any impacts to water quality.

Kimball also ordered the BLM to re-evaluate information supporting the designation of Happy Canyon and the spring areas of Buck and Pasture Canyons for protection.

“It’s a new day for Utah’s Red Rock country,” said Heidi McIntosh of Earthjustice. “This far-reaching decision means BLM can no longer dismiss the value of wilderness, scenery, wildlife and areas of cultural importance to Native Americans in favor of destructive ORV use.”

 

[jmaxj]

Yup, its all bad now. There's 5 other places on the chopping block too. Moab being one of them.

 

[XJLI]

:-( that sucks. Anything that can be done?

 

[DrMoab]

:-( that sucks. Anything that can be done?

Yes...but talking about it here might get me arrested.

 

[XJLI]

I just don't understand how people don't understand that without ORVs it's a PITA, sometimes even dangerous to even get around those places. What are you supposed to do? Hike for a week? Rent a donkey?

 

[jmaxj]

Re: Re: Federal judge rules no off-road vehicles on Richfield BLM lands

Yes...but talking about it here might get me arrested.

Agreed.

 

[DrMoab]

I just don't understand how people don't understand that without ORVs it's a PITA, sometimes even dangerous to even get around those places. What are you supposed to do? Hike for a week? Rent a donkey?

Just so you understand. This ONLY affects ATV's. It's not an outright ban on the use of the area. Most guys in a jeep wouldn't notice.

 

[XJLI]

Just so you understand. This ONLY affects ATV's. It's not an outright ban on the use of the area. Most guys in a jeep wouldn't notice.

Well excuse my lack of understanding of the terminology then. So is that unregistered ATVs? I guess no side by sides either. What about street legal bikes?

ORV= atv, dirt bike, etc
OHV= jeep

?

 

[DrMoab]

ORV, OHV pretty much means the same thing in this case.

Utah issues an OHV license to vehicles that aren't driven on the streets such as dirt bikes, ATV's, side by sides and Derek's jeep. They run a system of trails set up just for free guys. It's those trails that are in trouble. They aren't closing existing roads that you could take your jeep on. At least that's how I understood this.

IMO this story was written badly and left me with more questions than answers. I hope to hear more on it. The sad thing is this hasn't even made the local news as far as I know.