by Tim Peterson, Utah Wildlands Director
In a late Friday “news dump” before the Memorial Day weekend, we got more good news from long-brewing litigation over Utah’s Richfield BLM Resource Management Plan. The federal judge issued an order stating that the BLM must minimize harmful environmental effects caused by off-road vehicle travel, and that they must comply with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) on 4,200 miles of routes the BLM has designated for motorized vehicle travel. The court order also establishes a relatively quick timeline for the BLM to complete surveys for historic and cultural resources and to consider lands that are eligible for protection. This is important news because it sets a timeline to remedy some of the wrongs done by BLM in their hasty management plan of some of the nation’s most treasured lands.
At the very end of the Bush Administration in 2008, the Department of the Interior finalized six BLM management plans in the eastern half of Utah. These plans, gifts to resource extraction companies and off-roaders, threatened to carve up Utah’s renowned redrock country into travel routes and extraction sites.
More specifically, the Richfield Management Plan covers lands between Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks. In it, the BLM designated over 4,200 miles of dirt roads and trails for off-road vehicle use – the equivalent of driving from Los Angeles to New York City, and half-way back – despite evidence of damage to redrock landscapes and cultural resources.
It’s an off-roader’s dream: a federal management plan making nearly 2 million acres of public land a playground for off-highway vehicles.
–The Salt Lake Tribune
In November 2013, the deeply flawed management plans were dealt a devastating blow when a federal court ruled that the BLM had violated several laws. Our partners called the decision the biggest legal victory in their 30 year history, and the Trust has been a partner in the litigation from the beginning.
Friday’s ruling laid out steps the BLM must take to fix the Richfield Plan.
The Richfield management plan is the first of the six to be litigated, and last Friday’s court order could set the stage for settlement of the remaining five cases that suffer from similar legal flaws in our favor.
Thanks to this litigation brought by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, to which the Trust, the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice are partners, the November 2013 decision has had lasting and far-reaching national impact.
Now we have a discrete timeline to which the BLM must hew to better minimize off-road vehicle damage, to inventory cultural resources along motorized vehicle routes and to make sure our precious public lands receive the management plan protection they deserve.
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