Not good news, does it go here? (1 Viewer)

[devo]

From the Overland FB page….


Any of you know anything about this?
*******

There's no other way to say this. This travel plan is the worst defeat motorized recreation has suffered in decades. SUWA won. Moab is lost. Almost every major trail west of Moab is closed, including Day Canyon Point, Hey Joe Canyon, Mashed Potatoes, Ten Mile Canyon, Hell Roaring Canyon, Mineral Canyon, Hidden Canyon, 7-Up, two of the three overlooks on Deadman Point, and many more. Poison Spider, Golden Spike, 7 Mile Rim, 3D, Buttes and Towers, Hell Roaring Rim, and Metal Masher will stay open but that's about it.

All motorized access to the Green River except for county B roads is closed. Most overlooks on the rims of Labyrinth Canyon, 10 Mile Canyon, Taylor Canyon, and South Fork 7 Mile Canyon are closed. For no other reason than the fact the BLM decided to completely reverse course and prioritize non-motorized recreation everywhere there is anything remotely scenic, contrary to the express direction of their own resource management plan. I thought this would be bad, but I never dreamed it would be this bad.

Where do we go from here? Motorized groups including Colorado Offroad Trail Defenders and BRC will appeal, and then there will be lawsuits after that. Those legal challenges will take years and we are almost certain to lose because the law is heavily against us and motorized recreationists have very little legal ground to stand on. It is likely nothing short of an act of Congress or the longshot of the State of Utah winning an RS-2477 lawsuit will save offroading in Moab.

Elections have consequences. This decision likely came straight from BLM senior leadership in the most anti-recreation administration in decades. It's hard to see any other explanation for how the BLM completely disregarded all comments from motorized groups and gave environmentalist literally everything they wanted. Unless something changes, the remaining travel plans in Utah will be just as bad, largely eliminating motorized recreation in the San Rafael Swell, Henry Mountains, and Kanab areas. This can't go on. Motorized recreation is being systematically eliminated on public lands across the west, and something has to be done to stop it. I only wish I knew what.

 

[sogncab]

recreation is being systematically eliminated on public lands across the west, and something has to be done to stop it. I only wish I knew what.

I likely won't be retiring in this country.
It has changed so much in my lifetime, and not in a way that matches my ideals or my conscience.

This ship is sunk across the board. The lack of control, and the fragility of our rights and freedoms have been shown the last three years.

"You'll be happy and own nothing"

 

[OldCarSmell]

How about a big thanks to the swelling numbers of SxSers and the hordes of off roaders who have little to no regard for Leave No Trace standards? Everywhere I go there’s ding dongs in expensive machines shredding up beautiful places bc they think it’s their birthright. It’s disgusting and shameful and it’s tiring. I know many - maybe even most - off-road enthusiasts out there know and act better, but enough don’t that access is now rightfully being restricted. This country’s great outdoors were revered more in years past, looked upon as something to care for, protect, enjoy, explore, and to steward for use by many future generations. Now people want to conquer and dominate and pay no mind to the impacts of their choices. Well this is the consequence. If you don’t take care of your things they get taken away. I don’t blame anyone in charge for doing the responsible thing, blame falls 100% on the culture of tearing sh** up and having fun at the expense of other people and our natural resources. I’ve seen it in every western state I’ve traveled to in the last 10 years and the past two years it’s worse than ever before on account of jerks with no conscience combined with public lands touristas driven in new directions by Covid lockdown from a few years back. If we’re lucky some people will return to international airline travel and resort vacations and CanAm will go bankrupt.

 

[peneumbra2]

I hear from a couple of high-placed Govmint sources that these restrictions will likely be mitigated, so hang on...

 

[cbmontgo]

They are quietly closing trails here in Colorado daily it seems like. Many of these trails are rarely traveled and certainly not abused by anyone. It's secretive by design and infuriating.

The end goal of these people is to make it all of these lands accessibly only by foot, because they want to ban what they don't understand. These folks all have one thing in common, but I am going to try to stay out of politics here.

 

[OldCarSmell]

They are quietly closing trails here in Colorado daily it seems like. Many of these trails are rarely traveled and certainly not abused by anyone. It's secretive by design and infuriating.

The end goal of these people is to make it all of these lands accessibly only by foot, because they want to ban what they don't understand. These folks all have one thing in common, but I am going to try to stay out of politics here.

Have you called anyone to ask why they’re being closed before jumping to conclusions/lighting your own hair on fire? Usually there are reasonable explanations to things, and sometimes even people want feedback and are open to dialogue and collaboration. This doesn’t usually result though from people firing bias-fueled comments all over discussion forums. Maybe redirect your energy and try a conversation before putting that head full of steam onto a comment card that noone who matters will read.

 

[cbmontgo]

Have you called anyone to ask why they’re being closed before jumping to conclusions/lighting your own hair on fire? Usually there are reasonable explanations to things, and sometimes even people want feedback and are open to dialogue and collaboration. This doesn’t usually result though from people firing bias-fueled comments all over discussion forums. Maybe redirect your energy and try a conversation before putting that head full of steam onto a comment card that one who matters will read.

I have. And I've spoken to a land use attorney who fights this in Colorado. No head full of steam, just real-life observations. It's not right what's going on.

 

[OldCarSmell]

I have. And I've spoken to a land use attorney who fights this in Colorado. No head full of steam, just real-life observations. It's not right what's going on.

What is it that’s going on?

 

[devo]

More to read……..

BLM’s Labyrinth Rims travel plan closes 28% of OHV routes - The Times-Independent

Under a newly-released travel management plan, nearly a third of off-highway vehicle (OHV) routes in the swath of Grand County near Labyrinth Canyon will be closed, per the Bureau of Land Management’s Labyrinth Rims/Gemini Bridges Travel Management Plan, which was released earlier today, Sept...

www.moabtimes.com

 

[ajordan1975]

it's been mentioned here.

RELEASE: BlueRibbon Coalition Will Challenge Plan to Close Labyrinth Rims/Gemini Bridges

SALT LAKE CITY – BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC) announced today that it opposes the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed final travel plan for the Labyrinth Rims/Gemini Bridges area near Moab. The plan closes 317 miles of the most popular backcountry roads in the world. It limits or prohibits...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[peesalot]

X2 on what Oldcarsmell posted about the all too common sighting of entitled folks doing things that cause access to the general public to be restricted or closed due to the actions of those whom do not care or know better. It's irritating, regulate at will I guess.

 

[ajordan1975]

How about a big thanks to the swelling numbers of SxSers and the hordes of off roaders who have little to no regard for Leave No Trace standards? Everywhere I go there’s ding dongs in expensive machines shredding up beautiful places bc they think it’s their birthright. It’s disgusting and shameful and it’s tiring. I know many - maybe even most - off-road enthusiasts out there know and act better, but enough don’t that access is now rightfully being restricted. This country’s great outdoors were revered more in years past, looked upon as something to care for, protect, enjoy, explore, and to steward for use by many future generations. Now people want to conquer and dominate and pay no mind to the impacts of their choices. Well this is the consequence. If you don’t take care of your things they get taken away. I don’t blame anyone in charge for doing the responsible thing, blame falls 100% on the culture of tearing sh** up and having fun at the expense of other people and our natural resources. I’ve seen it in every western state I’ve traveled to in the last 10 years and the past two years it’s worse than ever before on account of jerks with no conscience combined with public lands touristas driven in new directions by Covid lockdown from a few years back. If we’re lucky some people will return to international airline travel and resort vacations and CanAm will go bankrupt.

most of the trails here are like the ones mentioned above in colorado... not much traffic, rarely used, etc so "why not close them" is their thought process.

 

[OldCarSmell]

most of the trails here are like the ones mentioned above in colorado... not much traffic, rarely used, etc so "why not close them" is their thought process.

I don’t buy that. People don’t make decisions like this for arbitrary reasons. And most of the time it isn’t to punish anyone, even if some people feel victimized. There’s no way this was done without good cause. There’s been months of public discourse, including feedback sessions and a variety of plans pitched. Not liking the decision doesn’t mean it’s done without reasonable cause. I’m not saying I agree with it, but I am saying that portraying it as baseless doesn’t do justice to the reality on the ground.

The facts are that everywhere you go on public land, for every 1 respectful citizen there’s another that is oblivious or doesn’t give a care. The amount of illegal dumping, squatting, abuse of land, people creating their own trail, wildly reckless use of weapons that I’ve encountered in just the last two years makes me less inclined to go out. Too many people think that because the word PUBLIC is in Public Lands, they’re entitled to go out and do what they please. They ignore that PUBLIC means shared. Shared use and shared responsibility. In the case of Utah, the area is shared between those who off road there, those who recreate with their bodies, those who live nearby, those whose habitat people are shredding all over, those for whom the land is a historical/cultural heritage site. The responsible among us need to hold the irresponsible among us to account. They’re the reason everyone is losing privileges.

 

[ajordan1975]

Good listen here with Ben from Blue Ribbon

440: 1/3 Of The Trails In Moab GONE! (Blue Ribbon Coalition) - Snail Trail 4x4

Almost 1/3 of the Trails in Moab are now closed. Tyler sits down with Ben Burr from Blue Ribbon Coalition to talk about the trails we lost.

www.snailtrail4x4.com

 

[peesalot]

Look at what happened on Rubicon 20 years ago, one of the most highly used, pictured, inspected trails.( Spider closed, still is, bypasses changed, major continual efforts to keep access open) If you would think there would be good behavior when watched, wrong, used & abused, LOTS of work ongoing to correct & mitigate these issues. Closure is the first step & it was no small feat to keep Rubicon open.
Now take that example and apply to trails with much less eyes on and much less effort when it goes bad, not suprised more have not been shuttered. Not agree but the closure is the land manage saying, stop, things need to be changed. Yes , some trails get reopened, some dont. I never had a chance to run suprise cayon for one and I wish I was more involved back then, may have had no effect but it is situations like these that the posting, follow up, and general knowledge spread really does help to keep trails open or reopen closed trails, thanks for posting and following up.

And for what its worth, IMO, there are places vehicles dont NEED to go, like Suprise Canyon, IMO, just cause you can........