The Bureau of Land Management is drawing closer to finalizing a plan in remote Utah that seeks to balance the thorny issue of off-highway vehicle use and natural resource protection. But off-highway vehicle advocates remain dug in, saying the proposal is too restrictive.
It’s another in a series of travel management plans from BLM that have been the source of years of litigation and debate.
BLM this week released a draft environmental assessment of proposed off-highway vehicle routes in the Henry Mountains and Fremont Gorge plan covering, collectively, 2,200 miles in parts of remote Garfield and Wayne counties in southern Utah.
There is no preferred alternative in the draft environmental assessment, which is now open for public comment through Oct. 26. But each one of the proposed alternatives would keep more than half the current 1,800 miles of routes designated as open or open with some limited use restrictions.
