- Location
- Sandy, Ut
Washington, D.C. - Agreeing with Utah Shared Access Alliance (USA-ALL), the
Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) has dismissed an appeal by the
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) that sought to close the Butler
Wash area of San Juan County to open motorized use.
_____
UTAH SHARED ACCESS ALLIANCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2004
Contact: Mike Swenson
801.465.1145
BOARD REJECTS SUWA BUTLER WASH APPEAL
Washington, D.C. - Agreeing with Utah Shared Access Alliance
(USA-ALL), the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) has dismissed an appeal
by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) that sought to close the
Butler Wash area of San Juan County to open motorized use.
In 2001 the BLM recognized that there was an expanding need for
an open area for motorized recreation use by residents of local communities.
BLM considered various areas and consulted with San Juan County and local
off highway vehicle (OHV) groups. BLM concluded that an area designated
open under the governing land use plan that already had a long history of
OHV use be used for this need. The only problem was that within the area
there were was a riparian area and areas that contained antiquities. To
protect the riparian and cultural areas, BLM approved the construction of
fences around the riparian and antiquities areas.
SUWA appealed the decision to construct the fences, even though
the fences would exclude OHV's from the areas that needed protection. True
to form, SUWA complained that the fencing decision should have been a
decision to totally exclude OHV use from the entire Butler Wash area. In
its brief SUWA "begged" (that was SUWA's word) the IBLA to reverse the
fencing decision and to order BLM to immediately close the entire area by an
emergency order.
To protect the continuing rights of motorized users to use an
area designated open in BLM's land management plan, Utah Shared Access
Alliance intervened in the appeal. USA-ALL successfully urged the IBLA to
reject SUWA's impassioned begging.
USA-ALL advised the IBLA that only BLM's decision to approve the
fencing could properly be considered in the appeal. At most SUWA's relief
could properly include only an order reversing the fence decision and
requiring the removal of the fences placed to protect the cultural and
riparian resources. USA-ALL's brief forced SUWA to admit that it really did
not want to reverse the fencing decision. USA-ALL then argued that SUWA had
no standing to appeal since SUWA did not want to overturn the decision.
The IBLA agreed with USA-ALL and dismissed SUWA's appeal for
lack of standing. The IBLA further agreed with USA-ALL's argument that the
IBLA did not have jurisdiction to consider SUWA's demands that BLM close the
entire Butler Wash area to OHV use since the governing land management plan
clearly provided that the area is open to OHV use.
"It's always gratifying to block absurd attempts to restrict OHV
use," said Mike Swenson, USA-ALL executive director.
Attorney Paul W. Mortensen represented USA-ALL. The IBLA appeal
number is 2001-288.
Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) has dismissed an appeal by the
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) that sought to close the Butler
Wash area of San Juan County to open motorized use.
_____
UTAH SHARED ACCESS ALLIANCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2004
Contact: Mike Swenson
801.465.1145
BOARD REJECTS SUWA BUTLER WASH APPEAL
Washington, D.C. - Agreeing with Utah Shared Access Alliance
(USA-ALL), the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) has dismissed an appeal
by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) that sought to close the
Butler Wash area of San Juan County to open motorized use.
In 2001 the BLM recognized that there was an expanding need for
an open area for motorized recreation use by residents of local communities.
BLM considered various areas and consulted with San Juan County and local
off highway vehicle (OHV) groups. BLM concluded that an area designated
open under the governing land use plan that already had a long history of
OHV use be used for this need. The only problem was that within the area
there were was a riparian area and areas that contained antiquities. To
protect the riparian and cultural areas, BLM approved the construction of
fences around the riparian and antiquities areas.
SUWA appealed the decision to construct the fences, even though
the fences would exclude OHV's from the areas that needed protection. True
to form, SUWA complained that the fencing decision should have been a
decision to totally exclude OHV use from the entire Butler Wash area. In
its brief SUWA "begged" (that was SUWA's word) the IBLA to reverse the
fencing decision and to order BLM to immediately close the entire area by an
emergency order.
To protect the continuing rights of motorized users to use an
area designated open in BLM's land management plan, Utah Shared Access
Alliance intervened in the appeal. USA-ALL successfully urged the IBLA to
reject SUWA's impassioned begging.
USA-ALL advised the IBLA that only BLM's decision to approve the
fencing could properly be considered in the appeal. At most SUWA's relief
could properly include only an order reversing the fence decision and
requiring the removal of the fences placed to protect the cultural and
riparian resources. USA-ALL's brief forced SUWA to admit that it really did
not want to reverse the fencing decision. USA-ALL then argued that SUWA had
no standing to appeal since SUWA did not want to overturn the decision.
The IBLA agreed with USA-ALL and dismissed SUWA's appeal for
lack of standing. The IBLA further agreed with USA-ALL's argument that the
IBLA did not have jurisdiction to consider SUWA's demands that BLM close the
entire Butler Wash area to OHV use since the governing land management plan
clearly provided that the area is open to OHV use.
"It's always gratifying to block absurd attempts to restrict OHV
use," said Mike Swenson, USA-ALL executive director.
Attorney Paul W. Mortensen represented USA-ALL. The IBLA appeal
number is 2001-288.
