- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
By Partick McKay on FB...
The BLM has released the final management plan for Bears Ears National Monument. Overall it's better than it could have been.
Despite seeming like a done deal earlier in the process (with environmental groups bragging that the BLM had already committed to closing it before the comment period even began), Arch Canyon will NOT be closed to motorized use after all. Instead, the BLM will develop a limited entry permit system for it at some future date during travel planning, which will apply to all users, both motorized and non-motorized.
The plan explains this would allow for a compromise such as having dedicated motorized and non-motorized days, and potentially limiting vehicle types. We'll have to keep a close eye on how that develops whenever the travel planning process happens, but the important news for now is that the Arch Canyon road will remain open. The downside is Arch Canyon will no longer be available for organized event permits like Jeep Safari or Jeepers Jamboree. That will be a major disappointment to people who have enjoyed driving it during these events (though I understand it hasn't been used for Easter Jeep Safari for many years). But at least individuals and small groups will still be able to drive it.
Another victory is that drone flying will not be banned in the entire monument, only in the Forest Service portion. No real reason is given for the difference besides claiming that Forest Service rules work differently, but at least in the BLM portion drones can be launched and landed from roads designated in the travel plan, which is the same rule adopted in the recent final management plan for Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Those are the good points. The bad points include the fact that several additional road closures were added to the final plan that were not in the original alternative E. Most of these are minor spur roads adjacent to Canyonlands in the Indian Creek and Lockhart Basin areas. The most notable is that about half of the Dry Fork Canyon trail (a spur trail off the Lavender Canyon trail) will be closed, so you will no longer be able to drive to the double arches at the end. I wonder if these additional closures were added in part as a consolation prize to anti-motorized groups for not closing Arch Canyon.
Other bad points remain, such as closing the interior of Moon House and limiting dispersed camping in multiple areas to designated sites. But they removed the previously proposed seasonal total area closure of Fable Valley for Mexican Spotted Owl habitat that would have banned all entry for most of the year, and also removed the rule requiring the use of metal fire pans at all dispersed campsites. So again, not as bad as it could have been.
One notable thing in both this plan and the other two recently released plans for Grand Staircase and the Henry Mountains travel plan is that the BLM appears to be completely ignoring the recent court ruling that the BLM cannot unilateral close roads claimed by the state as RS 2477 roads. I would have thought that would force them to change course, but they are continuing to claim that travel management decisions have no bearing on RS 2477 claims -- an argument that has been completely rejected by the court. Because this plan will still close a few claimed RS 2477 roads, that sets it on a collision course with the new precedent set in the RS 2477 bellwether case, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the inevitable legal challenges that follow.
The BLM has released the final management plan for Bears Ears National Monument. Overall it's better than it could have been.
Despite seeming like a done deal earlier in the process (with environmental groups bragging that the BLM had already committed to closing it before the comment period even began), Arch Canyon will NOT be closed to motorized use after all. Instead, the BLM will develop a limited entry permit system for it at some future date during travel planning, which will apply to all users, both motorized and non-motorized.
The plan explains this would allow for a compromise such as having dedicated motorized and non-motorized days, and potentially limiting vehicle types. We'll have to keep a close eye on how that develops whenever the travel planning process happens, but the important news for now is that the Arch Canyon road will remain open. The downside is Arch Canyon will no longer be available for organized event permits like Jeep Safari or Jeepers Jamboree. That will be a major disappointment to people who have enjoyed driving it during these events (though I understand it hasn't been used for Easter Jeep Safari for many years). But at least individuals and small groups will still be able to drive it.
Another victory is that drone flying will not be banned in the entire monument, only in the Forest Service portion. No real reason is given for the difference besides claiming that Forest Service rules work differently, but at least in the BLM portion drones can be launched and landed from roads designated in the travel plan, which is the same rule adopted in the recent final management plan for Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
Those are the good points. The bad points include the fact that several additional road closures were added to the final plan that were not in the original alternative E. Most of these are minor spur roads adjacent to Canyonlands in the Indian Creek and Lockhart Basin areas. The most notable is that about half of the Dry Fork Canyon trail (a spur trail off the Lavender Canyon trail) will be closed, so you will no longer be able to drive to the double arches at the end. I wonder if these additional closures were added in part as a consolation prize to anti-motorized groups for not closing Arch Canyon.
Other bad points remain, such as closing the interior of Moon House and limiting dispersed camping in multiple areas to designated sites. But they removed the previously proposed seasonal total area closure of Fable Valley for Mexican Spotted Owl habitat that would have banned all entry for most of the year, and also removed the rule requiring the use of metal fire pans at all dispersed campsites. So again, not as bad as it could have been.
One notable thing in both this plan and the other two recently released plans for Grand Staircase and the Henry Mountains travel plan is that the BLM appears to be completely ignoring the recent court ruling that the BLM cannot unilateral close roads claimed by the state as RS 2477 roads. I would have thought that would force them to change course, but they are continuing to claim that travel management decisions have no bearing on RS 2477 claims -- an argument that has been completely rejected by the court. Because this plan will still close a few claimed RS 2477 roads, that sets it on a collision course with the new precedent set in the RS 2477 bellwether case, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the inevitable legal challenges that follow.
