Hands down, we live in the most beautiful state in the nation, and we are committed to protecting our natural resources. Utah is the home to over 1.8 million acres of Wilderness Areas, over 2.7 million acres of Wilderness Study Areas and over 4 million acres of U.S. Forest Service “Roadless Areas.” That means motorized vehicles of any type are prohibited in these protected areas.
Despite the fact that the vast expanse of Utah is already off limits to motorized vehicles, it’s still not enough for the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This federal agency continues to close motorized access to more and more of Utah’s public land, essentially creating de facto wilderness without congressional authorization. Just this last September, the BLM unilaterally closed 317 miles of roads and trails on public land near Moab, including the popular “Hey Joe Canyon” jeep trail and the legendary “Tubes” motorcycle trail.
All Utahns are harmed by this loss of access to our public lands, especially those with limited mobility who are unable to visit on foot or mountain bike.
That’s why the state of Utah is working to protect the balance between non-motorized and motorized recreation across Utah’s public lands.
Utah is not seeking to build more roads. That is misinformation and untrue, pure and simple.
Instead, Utah is fighting to preserve motorized access on the roads and trails as they currently exist on the ground, so that all types of recreation — both motorized and non-motorized — will have their place across Utah’s stunning landscape.
We’re working with Sen. Mike Lee on legislation that will protect that crucial balance. These bills include the Historic Roadways Protection Act, which would prohibit the BLM from closing existing roads where the state claims rights-of-way until those rights-of-way have been adjudicated. In addition, the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act prioritizes keeping existing roads open for mobility-limited people for whom hiking is not an option.
While the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act would provide a process for nominating new roads for future construction, that’s not our primary concern. Instead, Utah has always focused simply on maintaining the status quo, keeping roads open where they are and as they are now and ensuring that the roads and trails prized by hunters, motorcyclists, campers, ATVers and even hikers and mountain bikers traveling to favorite trailheads remain open for public use.
As Utahns, we are blessed to live in a big state with vast stretches of public lands open to everyone. All types of recreation have their place in Utah’s landscape, from backpacking in untrammeled wilderness like the High Uintas, to open ride OHV use in the Little Sahara Sand Dunes, and everything in between.
This balance shows there’s no need for existing user groups to be displaced from their favorite trails in order to give preferential treatment to other user groups. But the BLM’s current approach of shutting down, and cutting off access to, popular and well-maintained trails upsets this balance to appease special interest groups.
Utah will continue fighting to ensure that Utahns of all ages and abilities will be able to enjoy a diverse array of activities, both motorized and non-motorized, across Utah’s public lands.
Gov. Spencer Cox is the 18th governor of Utah.
Gov. Spencer Cox is the 18th governor of Utah.
Redge Johnson is the director of Utah’s Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office.
Redge Johnson is the director of Utah’s Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office.
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