Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

We’re disheartened to report that Garfield County has begun chip sealing (effectively paving) the first 10 miles of Hole-in-the-Rock Road within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Below we share some information about why this is happening—and why our fight to preserve the character of this rugged backroad at the heart of the monument matters.  

Hole-in-the-Rock Road runs from the junction of Highway 12, east of the town of Escalante, to the top of the cliffs above the Colorado River within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; it provides access to popular destinations like Spooky and Peek-A-Boo slot canyons, Devil’s Garden, and Coyote Gulch. Surrounded by wilderness-quality lands, 57 of the road’s 62 miles are within the monument (the remaining are in the recreation area) and 16 miles are in Garfield County. It is an unpaved, primarily dirt road that is core to the remote experience that defines the monument.  

In February, SUWA filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that Garfield County and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated federal law when the county began making unauthorized “improvements” to the road. While Garfield County has title to a right-of-way for the road, it does not own the road or the land beneath it (this remains federal public land) and it cannot lawfully take unilateral action to improve the road. Instead, the county is required to consult with the BLM before making any improvements, such as widening or realigning the road, installing new culverts, or chip sealing the surface.

The BLM, for its part, is required by law to protect the things that make the monument so special, and to make sure that activities like these do not cause unnecessary damage to public lands. Sadly, the agency entirely failed in those duties, idly standing by while the county conducted weeks of unauthorized work that will forever change the character of this area.  

When SUWA learned that the BLM had completed its consultation for the chip sealing and authorized the county to proceed, we immediately swung into action and sought a temporary restraining order from the court; late last Friday a federal judge denied our request. This week we’ve filed another motion seeking an emergency injunction to pause the county’s chip seal work. Meanwhile, the county is rushing to complete the paving before the court has a chance to rule on that motion.

Despite all of this, our pending case will continue to proceed in federal court on its merits, and we expect to prevail. But by then the changes to the road and damage to the monument will be done. Paving will lead to more, faster, and louder traffic, changing the remote, serene backcountry experience the monument was created to protect, and that draws visitors from around the world. 

In the future, we hope to share more positive news. SUWA’s work to Protect Wild Utah and the national monument—which is also currently at risk—continues on, thanks to people like you. At SUWA we take the long view, and we firmly believe that these places are worth fighting for. If you’re able, please consider a donation to support SUWA’s work.

For Grand Staircase-Escalante,

Hanna Larsen & Steve Bloch
Staff Attorney & Legal Director

The post An Update on the Hole-in-the-Rock Road appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah (on-site, full-time, exempt)
Salary Range: $70,000-$78,000, commensurate with experience
Application Deadline: June 15, 2026

Download the Legal Fellow Job Description as a PDF

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is the only nonprofit organization working full-time to protect Utah’s redrock wilderness—some of the most spectacular public lands in America. Since 1983, SUWA’s staff, board, and members have worked to defend this landscape from threats like fossil fuel development, unnecessary road construction, and destructive off-road vehicle use. With offices in Salt Lake City, Moab, and Washington, DC, and tens of thousands of supporters across the country, SUWA has secured lasting protections for more than 5.5 million acres of wild public lands.

Our mission is to preserve the outstanding wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau and ensure these lands remain in their natural state for the benefit of all. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our work and in our organization, knowing that the redrock is for everyone.

The legal fellow is a 2-year litigation position that will focus on defense of Utah’s wildest federal public lands. SUWA’s litigation docket includes cases involving national monuments, off-road vehicles, Quiet Title Act (R.S. 2477), energy development, and vegetation removal. The legal fellow works closely with other program staff in SUWA’s Salt Lake and Moab offices and is supervised by the legal director.

• 1-3 years of relevant experience, including familiarity with federal public land, environmental, and administrative law statutes and regulations.
• Demonstrated interest in environmentalism or conservation—passion for wilderness and public lands preferred.
• Excellent time management, analytical, legal research, and writing skills.
• Ability to handle a substantial workload that will, at times, require working nights and weekends.
• Commitment to wilderness preservation and SUWA’s mission.
• Utah Bar Licensure: (1) Utah bar membership, or (2) the ability to transfer UBE score; or (3) be admitted by motion

• Location: SUWA’s Salt Lake City Office. We work a hybrid schedule with at least 3 days per week in the office.
• Salary range: $70,000-$78,000, commensurate with experience.
• Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, retirement contributions, and general leave policies; details can be found online at suwa.org/careers

Please submit a cover letter, resume, law school transcript, 3-5 page writing sample, and 3 references to Steve Bloch, Legal Director, at hiring@suwa.org.

Application deadline: June 15, 2026

The lands SUWA works to protect are the ancestral homelands of many Tribes, including those that were forcibly removed at the hands of the U.S. government in an effort to exterminate their cultures, languages, and ways of life. These injustices are still felt today, but the quest to erase the Tribes failed: Indigenous communities continue their traditions and remain an integral part of the landscape and our community. We are committed to working toward understanding this history; to expanding present-day common ground, collaboration, and reconciliation with our Tribal neighbors; and to advocating that Tribes receive a seat at the table when others would exclude them.

SUWA is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

The post Now Hiring: Legal Fellow (Salt Lake City) appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Grand Staircase-Escalante Remains in the Spotlight

For months now, the fight to protect Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument’s management plan has been the number one priority at SUWA. Senator Lee and Representative Maloy are seeking to undo the plan using the Congressional Review Act (additional background can be found here) and their efforts may soon be coming to a head: we’re anticipating a vote in either the House or the Senate during the first two weeks of June.

If both chambers of Congress pass the measure by simple majority votes, the plan will be undone and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be barred from issuing another plan that is “substantially the same” in the future. Thanks to the Protect Wild Utah movement, opposition is growing nationwide—conveyed through phone calls, in-district meetings, letters to the editor, DC fly-ins, and so much more—and we know members of Congress are getting the message! 

Here are a few recent materials we wanted to highlight:

• Executive Director Scott Braden has a piece—Congress is gunning for a National Monument in Utah—in Writers on the Range.
• Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert wrote an op-ed for the Salt Lake Tribune (which no longer has a paywall!)
• The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has issued a statement in opposition to use of the CRA.
• Over 150 scientists joined a sign-on letter in opposition, garnering stories in the Salt Lake Tribune, Outside, and other outlets.
• SUWA launched a “Love for GSE” Storymap of art inspired by the monument (and we’re still accepting submissions)

We’ll be in touch as soon as we know more about the vote timing. No matter where you live, our Grassroots Organizing Team can help you find the most effective ways to take action. Click here to learn more.

Photo © Jeff Foott

Speak Up for the San Rafael Swell and Desert!

Utah’s San Rafael Swell and San Rafael Desert are home to irreplaceable cultural and historic resources, important wildlife habitat, and unmatched recreation opportunities, including destinations such as Mexican Mountain, Buckhorn Draw, Tomsich Butte, Sweetwater Reef, designated wilderness areas, and the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area. Unfortunately, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering substantially expanding damaging off-road vehicle use across these unique landscapes.

As a refresher, the BLM completed travel management plans for these two regions in 2022 and 2024. Those plans were far from ideal, designating hundreds of miles of new motorized vehicle routes at the expense of natural and cultural resources as well as non-motorized recreationists. Now the BLM is planning to go even further with a proposal to open hundreds of miles of additional off-road vehicle routes in its latest quest to transform quiet, wild places into motorized playgrounds.

The agency is accepting public comments through Monday, June 8. While the comment deadline is the same for each plan, they are being analyzed separately. Please follow the link below to submit comments, especially if you have first-hand knowledge of one or both landscapes.

>> Click here to submit your comments by June 8.

Photo © Ray Bloxham/SUWA

Tell BLM: No Active Airstrip in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness!

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Price field office is proposing to authorize aircraft takeoffs and landings in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness by designating the unauthorized Keg Knoll backcountry airstrip as open for aircraft use. The airstrip is located on the west side of Labyrinth Canyon and north of Canyonlands National Park.

While the Wilderness Act gives the BLM some discretion to allow (or prohibit) continued use at airstrips that were legally established prior to wilderness designation, it does not allow the agency to authorize aircraft use when the airstrip was not legally open prior to the wilderness designation. That’s the situation here. And there are plenty of backcountry airstrips throughout Utah that don’t impact designated wilderness areas (only around 4% of BLM land in Utah is designated wilderness).

The BLM is preparing an environmental assessment (EA) and intends to issue a decision soon. Please follow the link below to submit comments as soon as possible. At the Trump administration’s direction, the agency is not planning to release a draft EA to the public or hold a formal public comment period.

>> Click here to submit comments now

Photo © Ray Bloxham/SUWA

Proposed Plan for San Rafael Swell Recreation Area Favors Development, ORV Dominance 

Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the final environmental assessment and proposed resource management plan (RMP) amendment for the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area and surrounding region. You may recall that this 117,000-acre recreation area was established under the 2019 Dingell Act, along with 663,000 acres of BLM wilderness and other conservation designations.

The BLM is required to update its management plan for each of the new designations. Unfortunately, for the recreation area, it’s choosing to reverse course and emphasize off-road vehicle use and extractive development over conservation. This includes removing over 12,000 acres of natural areas (wilderness-quality lands managed to protect their wilderness values), eliminating commonsense recreation management and resource protection requirements, and reducing or eliminating Areas of Critical Environmental Concern outside of designated wilderness.

“We’re disappointed that BLM, at the behest of the Trump administration, squandered this opportunity to set out a proactive, comprehensive vision for resource protection and recreation management in the incredible San Rafael Swell and instead focused its energy and limited resources on rolling back existing protections to allow for more development and off-road vehicle abuse,” said SUWA Wildlands Director Neal Clark.

>> Read our full statement

Photo © Ray Bloxham/SUWA

DC Update: The Good, Bad, and Ugly News from this Month

The Bad: Senate Confirms Steve Pearce as BLM Director. Yesterday, by a vote of 46–43 the U.S. Senate confirmed anti-public lands politician and former U.S. Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM) as the next director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

“Today’s vote is disappointing,” said SUWA DC Director Travis Hammill. “Anyone who cares about the future of public lands, national monuments, or the redrock knows that Steve Pearce has fundamentally disqualifying views—such as opposing the very existence of public lands—and should not hold the position of Director of the Bureau of Land Management.” >> Read our full statement 

The Ugly: Trump Interior Department Rescinds Public Lands Rule. We’ve known for a while that this was coming, and last week the BLM’s Public Lands Rule (aka the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule) was officially rescinded. Responding to the news, SUWA Legal Director Steve Bloch said, “The Public Lands Rule reiterated that the BLM had to put conservation on equal footing with other uses and laid out a framework for the agency to restore degraded landscapes and protect intact public lands for current and future generations. Americans and Utahns widely supported the Rule and we are deeply disappointed to see the Trump administration’s shortsighted effort to undo it. Our work to Protect Wild Utah continues, undeterred.” >> Read our full statement

The Good: House Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) Endorses ARRWA. Earlier this month, the SEEC endorsed 21 member-led bills—and America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (championed by SEEC member Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-NM-01) is among them! According to the coalition’s May 7 release, “The bills we are endorsing today reiterate that we must protect our nature and wildlife, invest in American science and clean energy innovation, hold polluters and corrupt corporations accountable, and safeguard our communities against rapidly worsening extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis. This is the future that the American people want and deserve.”

>> Please add your support today by asking your members of Congress to cosponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (or thanking them if they already have!).

The post May 2026 Redrock Report appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

May 18, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Washington, DC – Today, by a vote of 46 – 43 the U.S. Senate confirmed anti-public lands politician and former US Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM) as the next director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); the vote was part of an en bloc (multiple) nomination vote. Below is a statement from SUWA DC Director Travis Hammill and additional information.  

“Today’s vote is disappointing. Anyone who cares about the future of public lands, national monuments, or the redrock knows that Steve Pearce has fundamentally disqualifying views – such as opposing the very existence of public lands – and should not hold the position of Director of the Bureau of Land Management,” said Travis Hammill, DC Director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “While the Trump Administration continues its deeply unpopular efforts to undermine public lands protections, SUWA’s work continues to protect Utah’s redrock country for current and future generations.” 

Additional information: 

• SUWA’s 3.4.26 Statement on Senate Committee Vote re: Steve Pearce’s Nomination to Lead the BLM 

• SUWA’s Advocacy Action to members 

• SUWA’s 11.5.25 Statement on Steve Pearce’s Nomination to Lead the BLM 

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a federal agency, is part of the Department of the Interior, a Cabinet-level department headed by Secretary Doug Burgum. In Utah, the BLM manages 22.8 million acres of public land, ranging from “spectacular red-rock canyons and roaring rivers to high mountain peaks and expansive salt flats,” including Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (designated in 1996 and the first monument managed by the BLM) and Bears Ears National Monument (designated in 2017 and jointly managed with the US Forest Service).  

The BLM manages several congressionally-designated wilderness areas in Utah, including remarkable places such as Muddy Creek (Emery County), Canaan Mountain (Washington County), and the Cedar Mountains (Tooele County). BLM-Utah also manages more than 80 Wilderness Study Areas and other significant public landscapes including Nine Mile Canyon, Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, and the Desolation Canyon and Labyrinth Canyon stretches of the Green River (designated Wild and Scenic Rivers). SUWA’s signature bill, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, would designate more than 8 million acres of BLM land in Utah as wilderness.  

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post SUWA Statement on Senate Vote Confirming Steve Pearce as Director of the BLM – 5.18.26  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

May 15, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Salt Lake City, UT – Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the final environmental assessment and proposed resource management plan (RMP) amendment for the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area and surrounding region. As a result of the 2019 Dingell Act, which included new land management designations and established the Recreation Area, the BLM was required to update its management plan for each of the affected areas. Below is a statement from SUWA Wildlands Director Neal Clark and additional information.  

“We’re disappointed that BLM, at the behest of the Trump administration, squandered this opportunity to set out a proactive, comprehensive vision for resource protection and recreation management in the incredible San Rafael Swell and instead focused its energy and limited resources on rolling back existing protections to allow for more development and off-road vehicle abuse,” said Neal Clark, Wildlands Director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “What’s more, instead of meaningfully engaging the public throughout the process, the BLM instead held a general scoping period more than 4 years ago and then jumped to a final decision that cuts out any opportunity for the public to weigh in on the specifics of its plan. The Trump administration practice of intentionally avoiding meaningful input and scrutiny is undemocratic and a disservice to public land users and this world-class landscape” 

Additional information: 

The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, which was signed into law on March 12, 2019, designated 663,000 acres of BLM-managed wilderness within 17 new wilderness areas. In addition, the legislation established the 117,000-acre San Rafael Swell Recreation Area, added 63 miles of the Green River to the National Wild and Scenic River System, and designated the John Wesley Powell National Conservation Area and the Jurassic National Monument. Additional information can found here. SUWA members and supporters submitted comments to the BLM in late 2021 and early 2022 regarding the proposed RMP amendments. 

In part, BLM’s RMP amendments: 

• Remove over 12,000 acres of natural areas —wilderness quality lands managed to protect their wilderness values—located outside of designated wilderness to allow increased development and off-road vehicle use. 

• Eliminate the San Rafael Swell Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) and instead designate four new Extensive Recreation Management Areas (ERMAs), a less meaningful designation where recreation is not the primary management focus but instead is integrated into other land uses such as grazing and mineral development. 

• Eliminate commonsense recreation management and resource protection requirements to pack out human waste, use fire pans, and not collect firewood at dispersed campsites  

• Reduce or eliminate Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) outside of designated wilderness that will allow for increased development and associated impacts in those areas, even after noting in their scoping document that they would “prioritize the protection and designation of ACECs” 

• Reduce protections for visual resources in some areas to allow development that conflicts with maintaining scenic viewsheds. 

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post SUWA Statement on Proposed Changes to the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area – 5.15.26  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Utah’s San Rafael Swell and San Rafael Desert are known for their sinuous slot canyons, soaring redrock cliffs, and prominent buttes. These quintessential redrock landscapes are home to irreplaceable cultural and historic resources, important wildlife habitat, and unmatched recreation opportunities, including destinations such as Mexican Mountain, Buckhorn Draw, Tomsich Butte, Sweetwater Reef, designated wilderness areas, and the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area. Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering substantially expanding damaging off-road vehicle use across these landscapes.

Please speak up today for the San Rafael Swell and the San Rafael Desert.

As a refresher, the BLM previously completed travel management plans for the San Rafael Swell and San Rafael Desert in 2024 and 2022, respectively. Frankly, neither plan was particularly good because each prioritized off-road vehicle use at the expense of natural and cultural resources as well as non-motorized recreationists. Together, those plans designated hundreds of miles of new motorized vehicle routes. Now the Trump BLM is planning to go even further and is proposing to open hundreds of miles of additional off-road vehicle routes in its latest quest to transform quiet, wild places into motorized playgrounds.

The San Rafael Swell and Desert are too special to meet that fate.

The BLM is accepting comments through Monday, June 8. While the comment deadline is the same for each plan, they are being analyzed separately. Follow the links below to comment on each plan.

These beloved landscapes offer endless opportunities for hiking, camping, and spending time with family and friends. They should be known for stunning vistas, abundant cultural sites, and opportunities for solitude, not off-road vehicle damage.

Do you know the San Rafael Swell or Desert especially well? Comments that draw from first-hand knowledge and experiences in these areas are the most effective. Have questions? Reach out to our Utah Organizer, Mimi Ortega, and she’ll be happy to help guide you through the process.

Thank you!

The post Take Action: Speak Up for the San Rafael Swell and Desert! appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

ADVOCATES FOR THE WEST
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
CONSERVE SOUTHWEST UTAH
CONSERVATION LANDS FOUNDATION
SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
WILDEARTH GUARDIANS 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

May 11, 2026

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Washington, DC – Conserve Southwest Utah, along with six Utah-based and national conservation organizations, amended their February lawsuit today over the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s failure to adequately protect the threatened Mojave desert tortoise when reapproving the Northern Corridor Highway in January 2026. The long-opposed highway would tear through critical habitat for the Endangered Species Act (ESA)-protected tortoise within Red Cliffs National Conservation Area near St. George, Utah. 

In addition to other laws, the newly filed complaint alleges new violations of the ESA by the Fish and Wildlife Service and BLM — including for the unlawful disposal of lands purchased using federal funding intended to protect the tortoise to make way for the highway. Fish and Wildlife Service’s final environmental analysis supporting the land disposal was issued on the same day in February 2026 that the conservation groups, represented by Advocates for the West, filed their lawsuit challenging the illegal highway’s reapproval. The amended complaint was filed now to comply with the required 60-day notice to federal agencies of ESA violations. 

“The proposed Northern Corridor Highway would carve through one of the last strongholds of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise, permanently destroying the very habitat this species needs to survive,” said Stacey Wittek, Conserve Southwest Utah’s Executive Director. “St. George can have smart economic growth without accelerating the irreversible loss of a species already on the brink of extinction.”

The Mojave desert tortoise is a keystone species, providing the supporting structure and stability for its desert environment. Its population decline signals significant risk for the overall ecological health of the desert. The number of tortoises within the core of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve has declined over 50% since 1998, and the proposed Northern Corridor Highway would bisect the only remaining high-density cluster of tortoises in the Reserve. 

“The federal agencies’ environmental analysis has shown that punching a high-speed highway through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area would permanently eliminate designated tortoise habitat and increase threats like wildfire and invasive species,” said Hannah Goldblatt, staff attorney at Advocates for the West and counsel for the conservation groups. “Moving forward anyway ignores both science and the law — and pushes the Mojave desert tortoise closer to extinction.”

Conservation groups’ amended complaint follows the U.S. District Court’s issuance of an injunction this March prohibiting the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) from starting construction-related activities that would cause irreparable harm to the ESA-protected tortoise.

A Route Rejected Seven Times

The Department of the Interior has rejected the controversial Northern Corridor Highway route seven times, determining that it would be “biologically devastating” to the threatened Mojave desert tortoise.

Since 2006, local residents have also strongly opposed the highway, pointing out transportation alternatives outside of Red Cliffs National Conservation Area that would do a better job of relieving traffic congestion, supporting economic growth and protecting wildlife, scenic beauty and local access to trails. 

Despite the immense local opposition, the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service approved a right-of-way for the Northern Corridor Highway in the final days of the first Trump administration. Conservation groups sued, arguing that the approval violated multiple federal laws. 

In 2021, 6,800 acres west of St. George designated “Zone 6” were added to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve as mitigation for the Northern Corridor Highway. Zone 6 contains the Greater Moe’s Valley outdoor recreation area, and its ownership is split between the BLM and the state Trust Lands Administration. While conservation groups support protection of the Moe’s Valley area for both recreation and conservation, they agree with federal agencies’ assessment that its geographic isolation from the rest of the tortoise’s protected habitat, along with other factors, diminishes its conservation value and does not adequately offset the damage caused by the Northern Corridor Highway. 

Conservation groups’ 2021 lawsuit resulted in a settlement agreement and a U.S. District Court decision sending back the project’s right-of-way approval for reconsideration. Agencies acknowledged that the approval did not comply with the law and required additional environmental analysis in light of recent wildfires that further degraded Mojave desert tortoise habitat and native vegetation. After updating its environmental analysis, the BLM rejected the project in late 2024.

The agency’s2024 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement found the project would permanently eliminate designated critical tortoise habitat, increase wildfire probability and frequency, spread noxious weeds and invasive plants, and harm more cultural and historical resources than any alternative considered.

In October 2025, the BLM said it would reconsider the highway right-of-way application after UDOT argued that the federally endorsed alternative was not economically viable, despite documented environmental and community costs associated with the Northern Corridor.

Abandoning their previous scientific findings, the BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service reapproved the Northern Corridor Highway in January 2026. The decision reverses federal agencies’ December 2024 rejection of the same proposal and marks the eighth time the controversial highway has been considered. 

Conservation groupssued in February 2026, challenging federal agencies’ reapproval of UDOT’s highway proposal for violating multiple federal laws, including the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act.

About Red Cliffs National Conservation Area

The 44,724-acre Red Cliffs National Conservation Area overlaps the larger Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, which is jointly managed by the BLM, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the state of Utah, Washington County, and local municipalities. The reserve was established under a 1995 Habitat Conservation Plan as a compromise to protect roughly 61,000 acres of public lands for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise while allowing development on about 300,000 acres of state and private land. Congress designated the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in 2009 to “conserve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources” of the public lands within the unit.

The region supports key populations of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise and other at-risk plants and animals, including the Gila monster, burrowing owl, and kit fox. Researchers say the Mojave desert tortoise is on a path to extinction, and its habitat in southwest Utah –– which houses some of the densest tortoise populations –– is especially vulnerable amid rapid growth in the region.

Additional Information and Resources:

• Informational website: protectredcliffs.com
• Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Highway Through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – February 4, 2026
• Federal Agency Re-Approves Highway Through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, Abandons Own Scientific Findings – January 21, 2026
• BLM Again Considering Four-Lane Highway Through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – October 7, 2025
• Decades-Long Highway Fight Ends with Victory for Red Cliffs NCA – December 20th, 2024
• Local and National Organizations Applaud Plan Signaling Denial of Highway Right-of-Way – November 7, 2024
• Conservation Organizations Respond to Washington County’s Continued Attacks on Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – August 7, 2024
• Federal Agencies Release Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on a Highway Right-of-Way Through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area – May 9, 2024
• BLM and FWS Press Release – November 15, 2023
• Report – Washington County at a Crossroads: An analysis of the proposed Northern Corridor Highway project in Southwest Utah
• Summary of Desert Tortoise Study in Red Cliffs NCA: Population Trends, Threats to Persistence, and Conservation Significance

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post Northern Corridor Highway Risks Irreversible Harm to Mojave Desert Tortoise – 5.11.26 appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

May 11, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Washington, DC – The Department of the Interior has announced the rescission of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Lands Rule. Among other things, the Rule reiterated that conservation is a key component of the BLM’s multiple-use mission and ensured that the agency consistently managed for that use. Below is a statement from SUWA Legal Director Steve Bloch and additional information.  

“America’s wildest public lands face unprecedented threats from the Trump administration and its repeated decisions to prioritize fossil fuel development and extractive industry over clean water, wildlife habitat, and wild open spaces. This is especially the case in Utah, where Trump’s policies are having direct and irreversible impacts on the nation’s redrock wilderness,” said Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “The Public Lands Rule reiterated that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had to put conservation on equal footing with other uses and laid out a framework for the agency to restore degraded landscapes and protect intact public lands for current and future generations. Americans and Utahns widely supported the Rule and we are deeply disappointed to see the Trump administration’s shortsighted effort to undo it. Our work to Protect Wild Utah continues, undeterred.” 

Additional information:  

The Public Lands Rule established a “… framework to ensure healthy landscapes, abundant wildlife habitat, clean water, and balanced decision-making on our nation’s public lands.” It did not preclude any uses on BLM-managed public lands; it puts conservation on equal footing with grazing, mining, and energy production, and promoted restoration, provided for responsible development, and conserved intact healthy landscapes. The Rule was the product of an extensive, years-long public process with multiple in-person and online meetings and opportunities for public comment. 92% of the comments received by BLM supported the Rule. 

The Public Lands Rule is the subject of litigation brought by Republican-led states and industry groups in several federal district courts around the country; additional information can be found here. In February 2025, Congresswoman Celeste Maloy (UT-02) and Congressman Russ Fulcher (ID-01) re-introduced the Western Economic Security Today (WEST) Act; this federal legislation would require the Director of the BLM to withdraw the Rule. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) is an original co-sponsor of S.530 (WEST Act of 2025), companion legislation in the Senate, which was introduced in February 2025.  

• BLM’s webpage on the Public Lands Rule.  

• SUWA’s 9.10.25 Statement on the Trump Administration’s Plan to Rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Lands Rule; Advocacy Action from SUWA during the public comment period 

• SUWA’s 4.16.26 Statement on the Trump Administration’s Plan to Rescind the Landmark Public Lands Rule 

• SUWA’s 2.11.25 Statement on the WEST Act and its Impact on the Public Lands Rule 

• 10.1.24 Press Release – Utah and National Conservation Groups Move to Defend Balanced Management of Public Lands from Mining and Oil Industry Lawsuit 

• SUWA’s 4.18.24 Statement when the Final Rule was announced.  

• “The BLM Public Lands Rule is a common-sense solution” June 25, 2023 Editorial from the Salt Lake Tribune 

• 3.30.23 SUWA Statement on the Proposed Rule; Advocacy Action from SUWA during the public comment period 

• Information regarding public comments received by BLM  – 92% of which were supportive.  

• Utah-specific polling data from the 2024 Conservation in the West Poll, which shows a clear and resounding preference for conservation when voters are given a choice over how public lands are used.  

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post SUWA Statement on the Trump Administration’s Rescission of the BLM Public Lands Rule – 5.11.26    appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Last week we asked you to take action to protect the Labyrinth Canyon area from a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposal to authorize the Keg Knoll backcountry airstrip for private aircraft takeoffs and landings. Now, the BLM’s Canyon Country District is proposing to designate ten additional backcountry airstrips in the Moab and Monticello areas and authorize periodic machine maintenance in remote locations. Once again, we need your help to keep these quiet, wild places free of aircraft noise and mechanical intrusions.

These airstrips, most of which show no signs of recent use, are scattered across some of the most remote and ecologically sensitive landscapes in southern Utah—including the Gemini Bridges/Labyrinth Canyon area and the remote backcountry immediately adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument.

Please tell the BLM to protect wilderness-quality lands, wildlife habitat, and Bears Ears National Monument by rejecting six of the ten proposed airstrips: Spring Canyon, Big Flat, Castle Creek, Nokai Dome, Piute, and Red Canyon.

None of these airstrips have ever been officially designated, and despite past use, many of these locations are essentially reclaimed and no longer functional for takeoff or landing. Reopening them would require removal of mature native plants like blackbrush, rabbitbrush, and junipers, fragmenting habitat and degrading wilderness characteristics that took years to recover. Several locations sit within BLM-identified wilderness-quality lands or directly adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument, where aircraft noise and visual intrusions would diminish the solitude, natural soundscapes, and cultural landscapes these areas were meant to protect.

The Spring Canyon and Big Flat airstrips lie within bighorn habitat along the Green River corridor and near Canyonlands National Park—the same landscape where the BLM already restricts other recreation activities to protect these important species during lambing season. Similarly, raptors nesting near Big Flat, Nokai Dome, and other sites are highly sensitive to aviation noise, which discourages use of otherwise suitable nesting habitat.

Click here to urge the BLM to reject designation of the most sensitive airstrip locations.

These remote canyon country landscapes deserve protection, not rubber-stamping of aircraft use that degrades recovering ecosystems and introduces chronic noise into some of Utah’s last remaining quiet, wild places. The BLM has decided not to open a formal public comment period on this action, so please submit your comments as soon as possible to ensure they’re taken into account.

Thank you for your support!

P.S. If you haven’t taken action yet on the Keg Knoll backcountry airstrip, please click here to submit a separate comment to the BLM’s Price field office.

The post Tell BLM: No More Airstrips in Utah’s Wild Places! appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

May 7, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Washington, DC – Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that it would be reconsidering the San Rafael Desert and San Rafael Swell Travel Management Plans. Those two plans were finalized in 2022 and 2025, respectively, and guide where motorized vehicle use is allowed across more than 1.5 million acres of BLM-managed lands in central Utah’s redrock country.  Those plans designated hundreds of miles of new motorized vehicle routes and authorized public motorized use on them. Now the Trump Administration’s BLM plans to go even further, increasing motorized recreation at the expense of all other public lands users. Below is a statement from SUWA Staff Attorney Laura Peterson and additional information.  

“This is yet another naked political decision to appease radical off-road vehicle groups and Utah politicians. Their vision for public lands in Utah is one where landscapes are blanketed by off-road vehicle routes, transforming quiet, wild places into motorized playgrounds and ignoring significant damage to cultural sites, desert waterways, and wildlife habitat,” said Laura Peterson, Staff Attorney with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “The San Rafael Swell and Desert are beloved southern Utah redrock landscapes with endless opportunities for hiking, camping and spending time with family and friends. These areas should be known for their stunning vistas, cultural sites and opportunities for solitude, not off-road vehicle damage.” 

The San Rafael Swell: 

The San Rafael Swell Travel Management Area (TMA) encompasses roughly 1,150,000 acres of BLM-managed lands within the Price and Richfield field offices. A much-loved backcountry area, the Swell is home to irreplaceable cultural and historic resources, important wildlife habitat, and outstanding recreation opportunities. The Swell’s sinuous slot canyons, soaring red rock cliffs, and prominent buttes provide countless opportunities for hikers, canyoneers, campers, river runners, climbers, bikers, photographers, and other visitors. This TMA also encompasses designated wilderness areas and the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area.  

In December 2024, the BLM released the final San Rafael Swell Travel Management Plan. Rather than selecting an alternative that would have balanced motorized recreation and non-motorized recreation while also minimizing damage to natural and cultural resources, the agency chose an alternative that prioritized motorized vehicle use. The plan designated nearly 1,500 miles of routes and opened a substantial number of new routes to motorized vehicle use. While the BLM’s plan got many things wrong, one thing it did right was not opening roughly 650 miles of trails in places like stream corridors and wash bottoms, cultural sites and where use would lead to serious documented environmental damage. It also included “routes” that are simply lines on a map that do not exist on the ground.  

Despite a plan that expanded ORV use in the Swell, the Idaho-based BlueRibbon Coalition and others sued the BLM in March 2025 alleging the agency did not go far enough. The group sought a preliminary injunction to stop the BLM from implementing the San Rafael Swell plan. The court has not granted the preliminary injunction. The case has been stayed at the request of the Trump Administration.  

The San Rafael Desert: 

The San Rafael Desert Travel Management Area (TMA) encompasses more than 375,000 acres of sublime Utah backcountry, including the designated Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness and wilderness-quality lands such as Sweetwater Reef and the San Rafael River. It features stunning redrock canyons, important cultural sites, and an outstanding diversity of native bee species, many found nowhere else but this corner of Utah.  

In the last few months of the first Trump Administration, the BLM approved a destructive travel management plan that—by the agency’s own account—emphasized maximum mileage available for off-road vehicle recreation and more than doubled the miles of dirt two-tracks and trails for motorized use from 300 miles to more than 765 miles. SUWA challenged that unbalanced plan in federal court. SUWA and the BLM ultimately settled that lawsuit in February of 2022 and the BLM agreed to reconsider the designation of certain routes. The BLM eventually took corrective action and revised the San Rafael Desert TMP to close 120 miles of erroneously designated routes – routes the BLM acknowledged were reclaimed, redundant or non-existent on the ground and with no public purpose or need.  

In 2024, the state of Utah and others challenged BLM’s San Rafael reconsideration decision in federal court. That case has been stayed for over a year. 

Travel Management Plans:  

The San Rafael Swell and San Rafael Desert Travel Management Plans are two of 11 travel plans the BLM is completing as part of a court-supervised settlement agreement between the agency, conservation, and ORV groups. Covering more than 6 million acres of BLM-managed lands in eastern and southern Utah, these plans will determine where motorized vehicles will be allowed on some of Utah’s wildest public lands. Including this plan, the BLM has completed five of the 11 plans. Read more about SUWA’s litigation to ensure these travel plans follow federal laws to protect public lands and resources. 

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post SUWA Statement on BLM’s Intent to Expand Destructive Motorized Use in the San Rafael Swell and San Rafael Desert – 5.7.26  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

April 29, 2026

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), grant@suwa.org, 319-427-0260
Ben Finzel, RENEWPR, ben@renewpr.com, 202-277-6286
Annette Larkin, RENEWPR, annette@renewpr.com, 703-772-6427

Washington, DC – Leaders from the affordable housing and public lands communities today unveiled a joint principles framework rejecting the fallacy that selling off America’s public lands is a solution to the housing affordability crisis, while highlighting the need for real, equitable housing solutions.

Shared Ground: Aligning Affordable Housing & Public Lands Priorities is a policy framework endorsed by a broad coalition of national, regional, and local organizations. The effort underscores that protecting public lands and expanding access to affordable housing are complementary, not competing priorities. Shared Ground brings together leaders from both communities to advance real solutions, reject false tradeoffs, and promote policies that engage local communities and support strong, livable communities nationwide.

This partnership comes amid escalating pressures on both issues, including continued underinvestment in federal housing programs, increasing proposals to sell or transfer public lands without public benefit, and growing bipartisan frustration with ineffective, politically driven solutions.

The joint framework outlines key principles to guide policy decisions:

• Rejecting mass public land selloffs as a housing solution
• Prioritizing proven strategies, including increased funding, zoning reform, and community-based development
• Ensuring any use of public land for housing is limited, targeted, and includes enforceable affordability requirements
• Protecting public lands as shared resources that support recreation, local economies, and community well-being

The principles are endorsed by a diverse coalition of housing advocates, conservation groups, and community-based organizations nationwide—reflecting the shared stakes and urgency of this issue.

Learn more about Shared Ground and read the principles here. 

Quotes from participating organizations below:

“The affordable housing crisis is serious but placing the blame on public lands will not solve it. Instead of focusing on actual solutions, shortsighted politicians keep pushing public lands sell off under the guise of affordable housing as they simultaneously cut effective and proven housing programs. There’s no need for a false choice: we can keep and protect public lands while also investing in creative housing solutions.” Neal Clark, Wildlands Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance 

“Protecting our public lands and ensuring every American has a safe, affordable place to call home are complementary goals. We must reject the false choice between conservation and housing. Any use of public land must come with legally enforceable requirements to ensure it serves the public interest, providing permanent affordability and equitable access for local communities.” – Donald Whitehead, Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless

“Americans love public lands and the freedom they provide to hunt, fish and hike—and we want them to stay as they are, public and accessible, for future generations. Backed by more than 60 organizations, these principles reject the false choice the administration is trying to force between protecting these places and addressing the housing crisis. Americans deserve real solutions on both.” – Tracy Stone-Manning, President, The Wilderness Society

“National Low Income Housing Coalition’s (NLIHC) research finds a gap between wages and rental housing costs in the U.S. Affordable rental homes are out of reach for millions of low-wage workers, seniors, families, and other renters. Governments often turn to public lands to build affordable housing in an effort to safely house residents amid shortages. These efforts are viable but must align with responsible public lands stewardship. NLIHC joins our partners in environmental and conservation spaces in opposing the mass sell-off of federal land without key guardrails or affordability requirements. Many proven solutions exist to increase housing affordability without sacrificing public lands, including preserving existing affordable housing. We encourage policymakers to adopt balanced solutions to the affordable housing crisis that advance long-term affordability and protect irreplaceable natural and cultural resources while safeguarding America’s public lands.” – Renee M. Willis, President and CEO, NLIHC

“The housing crisis demands urgent, evidence-based action, not the short-sighted liquidation of the country’s remaining natural and wild landscapes. This framework looks beyond political ideologies and prioritizes proven strategies to ensure that any use of public land is strictly targeted, limited, and bound by enforceable affordability requirements. It recognizes the reality that most of these public lands lack the infrastructure and accessibility required for viable development, and their true value lies in the clean water, recreation, and economic stability they provide to our communities.” – Chris Hill, CEO, Conservation Lands Foundation

“Land is necessary to the development of affordable housing and local governments should look to well-located surplus lands as a resource for building housing. However, preserving public land for conservation and recreation is a critical priority for our country. Current federal proposals to sell off public land are thinly veiled attempts to line the pockets of politicians’ friends and to undermine public parks, public forests and other public lands. The National Housing Law Project is pleased to release this framework that advances our shared interests in preserving public lands and making housing more affordable.” – Shamus Roller, Chief Executive Officer, National Housing Law Project

“Veterans and military families understand that strong communities require both stable housing and protected public lands. We have seen how these resources support local economies, create jobs, and improve quality of life for the people who live there. We can and should pursue practical solutions that expand housing while keeping public lands in public hands.” – Janessa Goldbeck, CEO, Vet Voice Foundation

“A powerful model during a particularly challenging time – public interest advocates from different sectors coming together to both affirm our shared values and to commit to finding ways to mutually support real solutions to expand affordable housing and to preserve the American birthright of public lands ownership. We stand together to reject the transparent attempt by cynical politicians in DC to divide us through false choices.”-  Mark Allison, Executive Director, New Mexico Wild and former Chair of the Board, National Low Income Housing Coalition

“Solving one crisis doesn’t mean creating another. The national housing crisis should not be used as a stalking horse to sell off our public lands to private developers and industry. Our communities thrive when they have both abundant housing and abundant access to the nature that unites us. Sierra Club supports the common-sense policies that increase our country’s supply of affordable housing while preserving the public lands that are our true common ground.” – Dan Ritzman, Conservation Campaign Director,  Sierra Club

“People across the country have stood up time and time again to reject the sell-off of our public lands and the notion that they are simply a corporate asset on a balance sheet. Our public lands are our shared inheritance and our legacy. They are vital to sustaining our local economies, wildlife, and communities. Anyone suggesting we must sacrifice them to solve the housing crisis is offering a false choice. We need real, community-based housing solutions, and we need to keep public lands in public hands.”- Brien Webster, Senior Public Lands Campaign Manager, Conservation Colorado 

“Large-scale sell-off of public land is not the solution to the affordable housing crisis. In Wyoming, public lands strengthen our communities and are part of our way of life. We stand behind the idea that protecting public lands and addressing the affordability crisis need to be simultaneously prioritized by those in our nation’s leadership.” – Gabrielle Yates, Public Lands Program Manager, Wyoming Outdoor Council

“Our public lands are a part of our nation’s shared resources—offering unmatched opportunities to enjoy outdoor experiences, protect natural ecosystems, and bring tourism revenue to our towns. This administration and its industry allies are attempting to create a false choice between our spectacular public lands and affordable housing. SELC is proud to join in this broad coalition of organizations that reject the idea of an unnecessary conflict between those values and to stand in solidarity with both public lands protection and common sense housing reforms.” – Alyson R. Merlin, Staff Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center

“Addressing the real need for affordable housing in our communities and opposing ongoing efforts to sell off our federal public lands are both issues with broad and bipartisan support,” said Tom Uniack, Executive Director for Washington Wild. “Advocates for both of these important issues have found common ground that solutions for both can be achieved but not at the expense of the other.”

“Our nation’s public lands are largely remote, far from any infrastructure, often steep, and if human encroachment occurs in them, they are highly susceptible to fire. Rather than proposing housing which would inevitably be expensive and risky in the Wildland/Urban Interface, the principles we adopt here will lead to real affordable housing in the places where it belongs. The highest and best use of our public lands is as wildlife habitat, places for recreation and cultural experience, and as the engines that create clean water and air for all of us.”—Mark Green, Executive Director, CalWild.

“Our national public lands belong to all Americans, providing opportunities for recreation, preserving wildlife habitat, supplying clean water, and more. While affordable housing is a critical need, selling off our common heritage is not the answer. Cities and states need to look to infill development and appropriate local lands. Furthermore, simply increasing the housing supply is not enough; strategies must be employed to ensure that the housing built is actually affordable. There is no need to sacrifice our public lands to do this.”—Michael J. Painter, Coordinator, Californians for Western Wilderness

“Over 95% of Idahoans want public lands to stay in public hands. Proposals to sell off large tracts of public lands don’t meet affordable housing needs or public desires to protect open space. By encouraging infill and by building up – and not out – we are protecting the trailheads and trail systems that make Idaho communities great places to raise families. We are also creating opportunities for our kids and future generations to stay in Idaho and enjoy the same quality of life we do today.” – John Robison, Public Lands and Wildlife Director, Idaho Conservation League

 “While access to affordable housing should be one of the highest priorities in the US, it does not need to come at the cost of despoiling public lands.  We can balance the need to provide housing without causing irreparable harm to the environment for future generations.” – Michelle Taylor, Vice President of Social Health Services, Community Care Alliance 

Government agencies at the federal, state and local level often own land within urban boundaries. These properties can and should be considered for affordable housing, if not serving other needed functions. Urban properties usually have needed infrastructure like roads and utilities, and accessibility to community services such as jobs, schools, shopping and health care for future residents. However, public lands outside of urban areas should be preserved for wildlife, recreation, domestic drinking water resources, and climate mitigation. – Darlene Chirman, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Cascade Volcanoes Chapter

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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post Unprecedented Alliance Highlights Need for Real Affordable Housing Solutions Without Sacrificing Public Lands – 4.29.26  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Price field office is proposing to authorize aircraft takeoffs and landings in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness by designating the unauthorized Keg Knoll backcountry airstrip as open for aircraft use. The airstrip is located on the west side of Labyrinth Canyon and north of Canyonlands National Park.

Please tell the BLM to protect the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness area by not authorizing aircraft use at the Keg Knoll backcountry airstrip.

The Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness was designated by Congress in 2019. While the Wilderness Act gives the BLM some discretion to allow (or prohibit) continued use at airstrips that were legally established prior to wilderness designation, it does not allow the agency to authorize aircraft use when the airstrip was not legally open prior to the wilderness designation. That’s the situation here.

The Price office’s 2008 management plan—the land use plan in effect when the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness was established—specifically lists five “existing and currently used backcountry airstrips” for continued noncommercial and limited commercial aviation use; Keg Knoll is not on the list. And for good reason, as it was unused and reclaiming at the time. The agency’s 1999 wilderness inventory of Labyrinth Canyon confirms as much, noting “abandoned airstrips” in the Keg Knoll area. The airstrip was also never identified on the legislative map that accompanied the 2019 bill designating the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness.

Click here to tell the BLM that aircraft use at Keg Knoll is unnecessary and unlawful.

Backcountry airstrips and aircraft use conflict with the reasons most people seek out wilderness in the first place: solitude, natural soundscapes, wildlife, and an experience of remoteness that often can’t be found on other public lands. What’s more, there are plenty of backcountry airstrips throughout Utah that don’t impact designated wilderness areas (only around 4% of BLM land in Utah is designated wilderness).

The BLM is preparing an environmental assessment (EA) and is intending to issue a decision in mid-May. At the Trump administration’s direction, the agency is not planning to release a draft EA to the public or hold a formal public comment period—so please submit your comments as soon as possible.

The Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness is a gem of the American West and should be managed for the benefit and enhancement of the wilderness values it was designated to protect. With your help, we can ensure that the BLM takes seriously its obligation to protect this world-class wilderness area.

Thank you for your support.

The post Tell BLM: No Active Airstrip in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness! appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.