Factory Butte

[Houndoc]

I read in this morning's paper about a BLM plan for the Factory Butte area.

Looks to be a reasonable compromise between land use and protection.

Designated trails (BLM says 220 miles worth) stay open along with a 2,600 acre open travel area (Swing Arm City). Camping along the designated trails is okay as long as not causing damage.

Not at all what SUWA wanted (can you smell anothe law suit?) and I bet more restricted than USA-All was after. But probably something we can live with.

 

[mbryson]

I read in this morning's paper about a BLM plan for the Factory Butte area.

Looks to be a reasonable compromise between land use and protection.

Designated trails (BLM says 220 miles worth) stay open along with a 2,600 acre open travel area (Swing Arm City). Camping along the designated trails is okay as long as not causing damage.

Not at all what SUWA wanted (can you smell anothe law suit?) and I bet more restricted than USA-All was after. But probably something we can live with.

Or not......... They're still closing trails that have been OPEN for YEARS. The open trails should stay open to the current types of travel. There could be some management of trails, but I don't think anything should get closed. BLM guys could shoot people off trail on sight.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

140,000 acres to 2600 acres is hardly a comprimise IMHO.

Keep in mind OHV registration and use is nearly 20 times what it was when the last travel plan was made. How does SUWA feel it responsilbe to corrall all of the motorized use onto little areas, rather then dispersed use???

 

[bobmed]

If they can concentrate it into a small area they can make it look worse and go for complete closure, the ultimate goal.

 

[wayfarerUT]

Guest Editorial, Deseret News

Road rules protect Factory Butte
By Cornell Christensen
Factory Butte has been enjoyed by photographers, adventuresome motorcyclists, ATV riders and windshield gazers from U-24 for decades — and Bureau of Land Management's new rules for off-highway vehicle use will keep it that way.
The new rules for motorized recreation are being put in place to protect two threatened cacti species that are only found in the Factory Butte area. To protect the cacti, riders will have to stick to a network of 220 miles of roads, except in the 2,600-acre area Swing Arm City where cross-country travel is still permitted.
Off-highway use continues to grow exponentially in Utah — registrations have more than doubled in the past 10 years. By taking these actions now it will protect riders' opportunities to enjoy this area for years to come. And, while this means some changes, Factory Butte has not been "closed" to OHV use. The implementation of some common-sense rules will prevent damages to the ecological resources of this area so Factory Butte can remain open to recreational use into the future.
As one of the most prominent land features in Wayne County, Factory Butte has also become a symbol. The striking landscape typifies the rural West, but it also represents the all too common battles that emerge from opposing opinions about public land use. As usual, the BLM has become the designated pinata.
Competing public land stakeholders are never shy about letting us know what they think. Spirited dialogue seems to come with the multiple-use mission, and we are happy to have the public become a part of the process — even if it does mean we take a few hits.
But in this case we are hoping that rather than becoming another battleground, Factory Butte can become a symbol of public land management cooperation and common sense compromise. This will be a "win-win" situation for both the cacti and the OHV users.
The lead-up to the decision to designate routes and limit cross-country travel began with BLM field work that found OHV use was affecting endangered cacti. Fifty-seven percent of the known cactus plants declined in population during the seven years of monitoring. We found that the cacti species at Factory Butte simply could not handle unrestricted OHV use.
After BLM recognized the problem, it drew upon the input of various stakeholders, including local government, OHV groups and environmentalists through the BLM's Resource Advisory Council. BLM listened to their input, and it was an important part of the process as BLM tried to reach a solution.
BLM determined that requiring OHV users to stay on designated routes in the Factory Butte area would prevent additional damage while allowing the area to remain open to OHV use. BLM took great care to ensure that a variety of OHV opportunities remain available, from challenging terrain to easy-riding scenic loops as well as a cross-country play area.
Factory Butte can be a model of sound OHV management based on the principles of balanced multiple use for the good of the land and the people who use it. BLM believes that Factory Butte can become a symbol of cooperation. If all visitors respect the natural resources of the area and riders follow the new designations, Factory Butte will continue to be enjoyed by all, and the natural resources will be sustained into the future.

Cornell Christensen is the Richfield field office manager of the Bureau of Land Management. He has 29 years of public lands management experience.

 

[Houndoc]

One common topic on certain reptile trails is the damage done when people travel off the designated route. So, it seems to me that limiting open travel areas is not all bad.

 

[TigerStripe40]

Both sides of the table went away pissed off.

That's usually the best compromise.

 

[wayfarerUT]

DesNews Op-Ed Today

Did folks see this today? Rainer sounds off...

Radicals taking over off-road policies
By Rainer Huck
The tradition of motorized recreation and travel at Factory Butte has been under attack for years by the radical environmentalists, ever since they first set their greedy gaze upon these public lands and lusted for them to be wilderness.
They launched three major initiatives to displace the people who have recreated here for generations, suffering failure after failure with one knockout punch being delivered by no lesser entity than the U.S. Supreme Court.
Their effort to kick us out in the RAC subcommittee was failing because the USA-ALL plan to maintain the status quo had gained massive support from the local population as well as elected officials. Sensing defeat, they employed the nuclear option of public land dominion, the Endangered Species Act, and found able allies in the Bureau of Land Management to do their foul work.
Cornell Christensen and his spinmeisters at the BLM tried to make this sow's ear look like a silk purse, telling us his implementation of the radical environmentalist's plan through the act is a "win-win" situation. Perhaps he can explain how the reduction of 200,000 acres to 2,300 and the closure of ALL recreation trails around Factory Butte is a "win" for our people. He warns that even the measly 2,300 acres he so generously bestowed will be soon forfeited if the rabble doesn't behave.
He makes the extraordinary statement that his edict does not "close" Factory Butte and that he has just applied some "common sense" rules for the benefit of the traditional users. Such nonsense can only spring from the mind of a bureaucrat detached from reality or blindly driven by a special interest agenda. How convenient for this cacti to emerge just in time to implement an exact duplicate of the radical environmentalists' failed RAC plan.
Let's keep in mind that Cornell had a whole galaxy of possible management options available short of total closure. Since no direct harm to the cacti from vehicle recreation has been shown, he could have simply done nothing. He could have fenced populations in the vicinity of recreational routes. Or he could have closed selected areas where the populations were dense. He did none of these because the cacti are irrelevant to the grand agenda, which is to prepare this area for future wilderness designation.
Despite his claims to the contrary, the process leading to the new "road rules" (meaning emergency closure) was shrouded in secrecy. USA-ALL got its first look at the plan 11 days before its publication. We were amazed that the super-secret cactus map showed none at all around Factory Butte itself, yet this area had to be closed as well. The fix was in on this deal from day one!
The local population has developed a new acronym for the Bureau of Land Management: SOS — Subsidiary of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Cornell, in word and deed, has shown this to be appropriate, and this action has further asserted SUWA's hegemony over Utah's formerly public lands.
The economic impact of the "win-win" on little Caineville and nearby Hanksville will be profound. The Caineville Cove Motel has already lost all of its advance fall bookings. Much of the early spring and late fall business at Hanksville comes from OHV recreation at Factory Butte.
The BLM's congressional mandate of multiple use is withered and dead after years of evisceration by environmental succubi. BLM managed public land is looking more and more like National Park Service managed land. We might as well merge them into one and save the taxpayers a little money.

Rainer Huck is president of the Utah Shared Access Alliance.

 

[utahmike]

I read in this morning's paper about a BLM plan for the Factory Butte area.

Looks to be a reasonable compromise between land use and protection.

WOW! If this statement doesn’t underscore the lack of understanding of some in our community I don’t know what does.

I recognize that houndoc probably is commenting on the article only and doesn’t know about all the facts, so please don’t think I am bagging on you, it's just hard for me to have been involved in this issue heavily and listen to people in our community read some BS spin in a news article and not see the writing on the wall. That being...We have been screwed.

With out writing a dissertation on this fiasco let me say the closures at Factory Butte are absolutely unnecessary and wrong. both sides didn’t leave the table, no one left, USA-ALL simply had the overwhelming political support and as such compromised some but not all of what we wanted. SUWA didn’t budge. Had the RAC subcommittee been allowed to vote democratically by majority the plan presented by USA-ALL would be OVERWHELMINGLY approved. In the end BLM gave SUWA what they wanted, although BLM denies this. BLM new SUWA would sue and BLM fears lawsuits. If the plan is so balanced why is SUWA so happy? "Both sides of the table went away pissed off. That's usually the best compromise."
Both sides are not pissed, only one side is. Why is that a good compromise when ALL of the local elected officials and nearly all the local citizens want the USA-ALL proposed plan? We didn’t get anything even close to what we proposed. Why did they need to close the area with lighting like speed? Couldn’t it wait to go through a public process in an upcoming RMP? Why is every time the feds look for this cactus they find more unknown populations? Why is it many are around roads and trails? Why didn’t they look in "protected" areas like the WSA's? Why only look in the areas we want open? The notion of a designated trail system in this area makes about as much sense as a trail system at Little Sahara. It would be impossible to manage. The idea of a designated trail system in this area has the effect of closing all routes except for mostly county roads. The mileage BLM is claiming is open is mostly that of county roads. The play area is relatively small and mostly compromises the EXISITING play area.

Lastly consider that YOU have just lost access to around 160,000+ acres much of which is as barren as the moon. consider directly to the south is large WSA's protecting identical badland topography, 1.9 million acre National Monument where you have VERY limited travel, BLM Price Field Office (San Rafael) to the north were there are NO open areas and too any closed routes, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area were other than a couple of route you cannot go on or off road with an OHV, Capitol Reef NP directly to the west were you cant go off the few roads that exist and NO OHV's are allowed. And now this small island of dirt where open travel was allowed is now closed. further tightening the noose around the motorized community's neck and one step closer the complete monopoly of public land by radical environmentalists. And some people call that fair, balanced, reasonable, multiple use?!!!?!?!?

We'll see how "reasonable" that is when an endangered species comes to a play area near you.

We know that Factory Butte is not the only area in the state we should worry about, we will continue to work in all areas across the state. But we are concerned about the precedent this further entrenches. This will likely affect many of you sooner or later. We are working on a lawsuit to challenge these actions, many of the local counties will join us as plaintiffs and they have offered to help shoulder the cost. Stay tuned.

 

[Houndoc]

I understand the fact that so much (far too much) of southern Utah is closd to just about everything. No question that SUWA and the like would be happy to close everything south of I-70.

I guess I am not a huge fan of open travel areas. I think many here would agree that off-trail driving can cause damage.

If the designated trails include little beyond county roads, I will agree that is a big loss.

 

[utahmike]

I agree with you. we do not largely support large open areas. but this is one exception. The terrain and lack of resource issues allow for such a designation. With out getting too technical we werent calling for an unmanaged open area. We wanted it to be designated a special recreation management area (SRMA) and have it be an open but managed area. There is a difference. The problem is there are no trails in this area because wind and water erase much of the tracks. True, some remain but to maintain a trail system in this area is simply not possible or managable. The notion of designtaed trails in this area sounds reasonable to those unfamiliar with the terrain, but those who know it see this for what it is, a blatant land grab.

 

[Houndoc]

If I misfired by lack of full knowledge of the case, I will accpet that.

And much thanks to USA-ALL and others who put in the time on the land use issues.

 

[utahmike]

Houndoc,

You have nothing to apologize for. The mere fact that you surf, read, and post in the land use forum tells me you’re AWSOME! I hope you don’t feel I was shooting you or your ideas /opinions down, I just wanted to tell our side of the story. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and we respect that. And we know that USA-ALL is not right 100 % of the time...unfortunately. Thanks for your appreciation.