The Bureau of Land Management has approved another large-scale Utah travel management plan as part of a legal settlement with environmental groups that has drawn fire from an off-highway vehicle group and is certain to be scrutinized by the incoming Trump administration.
BLM announced Tuesday it had finalized the plan for off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in the San Rafael Swell, an area popular among hikers and campers for its red rock cliffs and slot canyons.
The plan designates more than 1,300 miles of motorized travel routes within the area and closes 158 miles of already open routes to all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and off-road trucks. BLM said the closures are to protect “cultural resources, important wildlife habitats, and delicate ecosystems.”
Previous alternatives outlined in a draft environmental assessment in June called for closing as many as 235 miles of existing OHV trails and limiting access on another 82 miles across the massive 1.1 million-acre planning area in eastern Utah.
