317 miles of MOAB trails have been closed [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[MPMB]

Currently, those in charge in Moab, and other areas, have the ear of people that are closure minded, and some bad apples in SXSs, and I am sure some 4x4s too, are making it very easy for them. I’ve been a member of groups fighting this since 2008, but it’s been going on longer than that.

Whenever something new comes along or becomes popular, people revert to a NIMBY mindset.

My b-i-l's parents had a lakefront cabin. His dad *hated* jet skis and PWCs. Yet he had a couple boats and snow toys; to me it didn't make much sense for that position. He also hated ultralights.

In my hometown there have been a ton of NIMBYs active in the community over the years. They've tried to shut down a small airfield and a racetrack that's connected with the county fairgrounds. The airfield has been there since the '40s, the race track from at least the '60s.

"Did you people not see that when you drove to your new home? You literally had to drive right by it."

I actually like it when kids in the neighborhood ride around on ATVs and dirt bikes. Too many people are "it's too noisy!" yet they're the ones blasting Yacht Rock on a "Wino Wednesday," shouting at their kids to stop playing, etc.

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[howeitsdone]

I think a difference here is that most of the Moab population is people/families still there from the mining days. So they didn't exactly inhabit a city that had 3 million people a year visiting. The SXS are their biggest complaint which is understandable. But it's also a city that's growing in popularity at an exponential rate and they're trying to keep the tourism side happy, but also ensure the residents are taken care of. However, it's also important to remember that BLM isn't the city of Moab.

How many residents of Moab do you know that are pitching a fit that these regulations go in place or that some trails get closed to rebuild? Comparatively, I'd bet not a whole lot.

 

[Mbryson]

Just an FYI if you're concerned about the BLM and such.


https://www.sharetrails.org/add-you...-bureau-of-land-management-conservation-rule/


Worth reading and considering if you're interested in recreating on ANY BLM lands anywhere.

 

[Sweetums]

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local...hting-317-miles-of-blm-trail-closures-in-moab

Some have started to fight back about the closure.

 

[howeitsdone]

Interesting discussion on the closures

 

[Mbryson]

Interesting discussion on the closures

Rory is right on

 

[Dmag33]

The only constant is change, nothing is ever permanent.

 

[seven30]

Im not happy about some Moab trails getting closed but what percent does it represent?
More important is the ECO groups form a great firewall against those who would like to sell off our
public lands to private interests and deprive us of access forever.

Increasing national park lands and offroad trails would seem like a nice compromise.

 

[Mbryson]

Im not happy about some Moab trails getting closed but what percent does it represent?
More important is the ECO groups form a great firewall against those who would like to sell off our
public lands to private interests and deprive us of access forever.

Increasing national park lands and offroad trails would seem like a nice compromise.

The closure represents 317 miles of trails. That's 28% per the Moab newspaper, The Times-Independent.
https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/blms-labyrinth-rims-travel-plan-closes-28-of-ohv-routes/

Red is the closure.

Rough area of this travel plan.

https://suwa.org/urgent-protect-labyrinth-canyon-moab-area/
The SUWA perspective is in the link above.

This is on top of a 2008 decision where almost 2000 miles of trails were closed. Death by 1 thousand cuts. This is one of 11 travel plans that were legally established with SUWA input. SUWA then sued because they didn't get all the closures they wanted and won.

Utah Governor Cox' perspective
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2023/1...-updates-blm-gemini-bridges-labyrinth-canyon/

 

[seven30]

The closure represents 317 miles of trails. That's 28% per the Moab newspaper, The Times-Independent.
https://www.moabtimes.com/articles/blms-labyrinth-rims-travel-plan-closes-28-of-ohv-routes/

Red is the closure.

Rough area of this travel plan.

https://suwa.org/urgent-protect-labyrinth-canyon-moab-area/
The SUWA perspective is in the link above.

This is on top of a 2008 decision where almost 2000 miles of trails were closed. Death by 1 thousand cuts. This is one of 11 travel plans that were legally established with SUWA input. SUWA then sued because they didn't get all the closures they wanted and won.

Utah Governor Cox' perspective
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2023/1...-updates-blm-gemini-bridges-labyrinth-canyon/

Not good but not permanent. What is permanent would be selling it off.
We are stuck between two extremes. I pretty done with both.

 

[Mbryson]

Not good but not permanent. What is permanent would be selling it off.
We are stuck between two extremes. I pretty done with both.

Pending lawsuit by the BRC et all, it's pretty permanent for Hey Joe Canyon, 10 Mile Wash, Day Canyon Point, Mashed Potatoes, Ten Mile Canyon, Hell Roaring Canyon, Mineral Canyon, Hidden Canyon and almost any road that has access to a river over look.

UPLA is a land use ally if you're in the camp of keeping roads and trails accessible to motorized travel. They are a great organization based in southwest Utah. https://utahpla.com/update-on-moab-roads-and-trails/

The Labyrinth Canyon area trails/roads (and most trails/roads in/around Moab) have been in use for at LEAST 80 years for mineral exploration/extraction. There was a huge influx of exploration in the 40's for uranium mining.

If you're in the closure mindset, then this was pretty much a huge win.

 

[Marinertom]

This really sucks. These types of closures are going to keep happening because visitors to Moab (not capitalized, it's not an acronym) can't seem to follow the rules and stay on the trail. Over the last 20 years I've seen more and more destruction of people driving and walking off-trail both inside and outside the national parks.

I'm for open land access, but people destroying the fragile desert ecosystem is killing our past time. If you want to drive off-trail you can go to Sand Hollow and drive literally wherever you want on rocks or dunes.

Stay on the trail or stay home.

FYI this has nothing to do with how we treat the trails. It's the secretary of the interior is an extreme leftist and doesn't want people to be take to take vehicles off-road. These people making these rules don't follow logic or reason.
They don't realize if it wasn't for the off-road community these areas would not be as nice as they are. follow the blue ribbon coalition on social media they can provide lots of updates. They have lead the fight at the court house to keep these trails alive.
PS no affiliation with the Blue ribbon coalition

https://www.sharetrails.org/

 

[Sweetums]

I respectfully disagree, I've seen how trails have changed over the last 20+ years of driving them. Traffic is up, the type of traffic has changed, and there's a lot of destruction. SUWA uses photos and video of off-trail tracks, trash, and other damage to make their case in public hearings and to regulators; and it works.
If we don't make a change these areas will be closed down and we will have given SUWA all the ammunition they need to do it.

 

[Geoarch]

US Forest Service is under Dept of Agriculture.

 

[RudeJeepin]

I'll say it again, cause it matters...Tracy Stone-Manning, current director of the BLM is a former known member of Earth First, known eco-terrorists.

There is truth to what Sweetums says about off trail use, it's not good for anybody. It looks bad, does unneeded damage, and just gives SUWA easy ammo.
But on the other side, SUWA doesn't care about anything or anyone. They just want to shut stuff down. Eventually they want everything closed to everybody.

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