Moab area trails under threat in BLM draft

[lobbs611]

I'm copying and pasting information that was posted in another group regarding the draft currently in front of the Bureau of Land Management regarding the Moab area. It's very important that we as off-road enthusiasts make our voices heard that we do not want these trails shut down to motorized traffic.

"The draft EA for the Labyrinth Rims / Gemini Bridges travel plan in Moab has just been published, kicking off a 30-day comment period that ends October 7.



Find more info here: https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-announces-public-meeting-and-comment-period-labyrinth-rimsgemini-bridges-draft

This is probably the most important travel management plan of the decade and will decide the fate of most of Moab's most famous Jeep trails.

It is crucial that you comment opposing alternatives B and C and supporting alternatives D or A, and ask the BLM to keep all of the routes mentioned below open instead of closing them. Please review the entire press release above for additional information.



COMMENTS ARE ONLY ACCEPTED UNTIL OCTOBER 7, 2022.



Written comments may be mailed, emailed, or submitted through ePlanning. Please reference “Labyrinth Rims Gemini Bridges Travel Management” when submitting comments via ePlanning and mail.



Mail: BLM Moab Field Office, Attn: Labyrinth Rims/Gemini Bridges Travel Management,

82 East Dogwood Moab, UT 84532

ePlanning: https://go.usa.gov/xs57Y

[email protected]

[email protected]



As expected, the "natural resources" alternative B was modified to close even more trails as requested by Grand County, and would now close all of the Hey Joe Canyon, Hell Roaring Canyon, Golden Spike, Gold Bar Rim, Rusty Nail, Day Canyon Point, Dead Man Point, Bull Canyon, Ten Mile Canyon, and 3D / Mashed Potatoes Jeep trails, plus the Dead Cow and Tubes motorcycle trails, plus parts of Where Eagles Dare, Buttes and Towers, Wipe Out Hill, and 7 Mile Rim.



If this extreme alternative was chosen (unlikely but possible) it would utterly eviscerate the Easter Jeep Safari trail network and close at least portions of most of the famous named trails featured in guidebooks and motorized events.



The so-called "balanced" or "multiple-use" alternative C (the one the BLM almost certainly intends to adopt) appears unchanged since the preliminary alternatives release a year ago, and would close 2/3 of Ten Mile Canyon, half of Hell Roaring Canyon, all of Mineral Canyon, one of the overlooks on Deadman Point, part of the Buttes and Towers safari trail, the 7-Up trail, and many other lesser known routes.



Alternative D is the "pro-motorized" and has the least amount of closures, but still closes part of the Buttes and Towers safari trail. It could be acceptable to motorized users if they eliminated that closure. Alternative A, the no-action alternative, is of course the best but the BLM never picks that one and always picks one of the action alternatives. So D is the only real option for motorized users to support."

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[Felix808]

Unfortunately, they're are a lot of people out there that have wanted all the trails closed. This is a never ending battle and need as many people to get involved in keeping our trails open. This is another reason that Ford getting involved in the Wild Fund is a great thing.

Thanks for posting this @lobbs611

 

[UtahBrandon]

Thanks for posting. Another important takeaway from proposals like this is to not be an ass on the trails, and to respect the trails, the wilderness and the surrounding communities.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Done.

 

[BostonSasquatch]

Hopefully the Moab business community, which is very dependent on tourism, will get in gear and oppose this.
This is what happens when DC "Beltway" progressives get in power. Very few of them get into the open. Those that do are anti-vehicle.
Confounded impudent little Beta-boys!

 

[Felix808]

Hopefully the Moab business community, which is very dependent on tourism, will get in gear and oppose this.
This is what happens when DC "Beltway" progressives get in power. Very few of them get into the open. Those that do are anti-vehicle.
Confounded impudent little Beta-boys!

Unfortunately there are a large growing number of them wanting trails closed, as stupid as that sounds. Have been for years.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Bump

 

[cracKen]

"Please note the most useful comments are specific and contain new technical or scientific information relevant to the analysis and alternatives. Comments containing only opinions or preferences will not receive a formal response but may be considered in the BLM decision-making process."

The proposal pdf is almost 200 pages long. Contains a lot of technical details. But yea, looking at the proposed A B C and D plan...B almost closes most things, with D very little and C a little more.

 

[NORCALGXP]

Bump

 

[BostonSasquatch]

I visited Moab for the first time this last August, and enjoyed several of the easeir/"more difficult" trails. I look forward to tackling the tougher ones, "Behind the Rocks," "Top of the World," etc.

I noticed that "downtown" Moab is a very long commercial strip that spreads north and south from what appeared to be, once, a rather small, even quaint, downtown. It seems to me that this is a once-small-town that grew large from a large business infusion. Perhaps the " large growing number of them wanting trails closed" that Felix 808 (above) referenced are old-timers who resent the loss of their small-town ambiance? In that case, they would constitute a natural coalition with enviro-romantics and DC Beltway enviro-zealots who want to "protect" the trail system from power-sport enthusiasts.

Throw in anti-ICE "global warming" advocates and you have a strong political block. Consider the controversy a few years ago of the status of Bears' Ears. There are people who want to "re-wild" large areas. First motorized vehicles are excluded, then horseback riding and mountain bikes, until only hikers can access. Since few hikers venture more than several miles into the "protected" regions, they are, effectively closed to humanity.

Of course, the elite will have their thousand-plus-acre ranches to enjoy.

I hold that these anti-trail partisans are romanticists governed by bad ideologies and politicized "science"--and are unwittingly foolish. Should they succeed, motor-sport enthusiasts will go elsewhere. For starters that will strangle a growing Moab economy (which may be just what some want), and 4x4s and OHVs will go elsewhere, probably to areas that are not so carefully maintained and regulated.

 

[EveryDayBronco]

I visited Moab for the first time this last August, and enjoyed several of the easeir/"more difficult" trails. I look forward to tackling the tougher ones, "Behind the Rocks," "Top of the World," etc.

I noticed that "downtown" Moab is a very long commercial strip that spreads north and south from what appeared to be, once, a rather small, even quaint, downtown. It seems to me that this is a once-small-town that grew large from a large business infusion. Perhaps the " large growing number of them wanting trails closed" that Felix 808 (above) referenced are old-timers who resent the loss of their small-town ambiance? In that case, they would constitute a natural coalition with enviro-romantics and DC Beltway enviro-zealots who want to "protect" the trail system from power-sport enthusiasts.

Throw in anti-ICE "global warming" advocates and you have a strong political block. Consider the controversy a few years ago of the status of Bears' Ears. There are people who want to "re-wild" large areas. First motorized vehicles are excluded, then horseback riding and mountain bikes, until only hikers can access. Since few hikers venture more than several miles into the "protected" regions, they are, effectively closed to humanity.

Of course, the elite will have their thousand-plus-acre ranches to enjoy.

I hold that these anti-trail partisans are romanticists governed by bad ideologies and politicized "science"--and are unwittingly foolish. Should they succeed, motor-sport enthusiasts will go elsewhere. For starters that will strangle a growing Moab economy (which may be just what some want), and 4x4s and OHVs will go elsewhere, probably to areas that are not so carefully maintained and regulated.

How has Moab changed from before covid and after covid?

I went before covid and it was beautiful. We looked into going during covid but the number of visitors increased so much that we canned the idea of going there.

People couldn’t travel abroad so they swarmed the few places in the US that didn’t completely shut down. Moab was one of those places!

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