Don’t Get Tired of Victory Laps
On June 3, President Trump signed a resolution that reversed the closure of high-value OHV routes in Glen Canyon. BRC had been working alongside local OHV advocates for years to prevent the closure of the popular Poison Springs trail and the access routes to Lake Powell. Through a sue-and-settle agreement with National Park Service, wilderness advocates pressured the agency to close these routes, and a rule to close these routes was rushed out the door during the final days of the Biden Administration.
Our staff attorney immediately filed an administrative appeal of these closures, but we knew that this last minute action made the rule vulnerable for review under the Congressional Review Act. Utah’s Representative Maloy, Senator Lee, and Senator Curtis succeeded in getting a resolution reversing this rule passed out of Congress. This was one of the issues we regularly brought up on our trip to DC, and we know BRC members put on the pressure by contacting their representatives to support this resolution.
Together, we got it done!
The best news? The NPS is prohibited by the Congressional Review Act to introduce any similar resolution in the future.
After our collective win, we were contacted by a reporter from the Washington Post wanting to cover the story. We had no illusions that a national news outlet would set aside the heavy bias they usually reveal when reporting on land and the environment. However, we believed adding our perspective to the story would be better than not as they were sure to print the perspective of the other side.
BlueRibbon Coalition’s Executive Director spent the entire day with the WaPo reporter on trails, with ample time to unpack the nuanced details of the fight that has been unfolding for years.
Unsurprisingly, the printed WaPo piece misrepresented facts and left out important details. The article paints the issue as a culture war — wilderness conservation versus reckless recreation. But the real story is much more grounded than that. For our full thoughts on the WaPo article, read here.
Fighting for Access to our National Forests
A 59-Million-Acre Win For the Grand Reopening of our Public Lands
Since 2001, The BlueRibbon Coalition has been fighting the implementation of the Roadless Rule— one of the last outgoing actions by the Clinton Administration at the request of anti-access organizations. It essentially designated 59 million acres of national forests as de facto wilderness through a regulation instead of an act of Congress.
After 24 years of challenges, we scored a major win in June when the USDA announced their intention to rescind the Roadless Rule.
The announcement is the culmination of a long fight. Underscoring it in our team’s D.C. trip earlier this year, we informed Congress and the Administration that one of our top priorities was to rescind the Roadless Rule. They listened.
However, our fight is not over. The Rule has faced extensive legal and regulatory scrutiny throughout existence, and BlueRibbon Coalition has taken numerous actions against it as referenced in the timeline on the page here. It’s been plagued by lawsuits since its inception and this action is sure to result in many more legal challenges from anti-access groups.
We haven’t quit since 2001. With momentum on our side, we are ready to defend this action for access and our lawyers are ready to continue this fight. Right now, we need your support more than ever. Consider a donation today so we can get this rescission across the finish line.
Saying Goodbye to Conservation Leases
We are also excited to announce that the Conservation Leasing Rule was also rescinded. This was the rule introduced by the BLM in an effort to sell-off BLM lands in the form of conservation leases. For over two years we were one of the leading organizations to oppose this rule, and with your support we prevented it from ever going into effect.
Support initatives like these with a tax-deductible donation.
Future Victory Laps
Late last year we hired a full-time attorney to join our staff and build a robust litigation program. Since that time we are leading three new lawsuits to challenge the closures of our public lands.
Lawsuit #1: San Rafael Swell
We are challenging the closure of 665 miles of off-road trails in the San Rafael Swell in Utah. In this challenge we are asking the court to determine whether the BLM created illegal wilderness buffer zones by closing numerous routes that access recently created wilderness areas. The outcome of this case will have national significance that will impact our fight to keep lands near wilderness areas open for multiple-use recreation.
Lawsuit #2: Henry Mountains
We are challenging the closure of 612 miles of off-road trails in the Henry Mountains in Utah. This case will also have national significance, because it was the first travel plan that was completed after passage of the EXPLORE Act.
The EXPLORE Act contains provisions that require agencies to increase opportunities for motorized recreation, and the Henry Mountain plan reduced opportunities. We don’t believe the BLM made efforts to comply with this new law, and a ruling from the court will help us better understand how this new legal protection can be applied to all of the work that we do.
Lawsuit #3: Chuckwalla
We have partnered with Texas Public Policy Foundation and a local mining claim owner to challenge the lame-duck designation of the Chuckwalla National Monument in California— a sweeping executive order that affects 624,000 acres and hundreds of miles of trails. While we believe that it is possible that the current Administration will reverse national monument designations, we need a permanent solution to the abuse of the Antiquities Act that would come from the courts.
Our legal and policy team is currently doing due diligence on additional cases in Oregon, Idaho, and California, and we will share more information on these when we’re ready.
All of this work is made possible by your generous donations, and, historically, we see a dip in donations during the summer. We have too much work to do to slow down right now, so we are hoping we can count on you to keep us throttling forward.
CFR was cited to close this trail in San Rafael Swell
Leading the Fight To Rescind Executive Orders & Regulations
Our members often point out that it seems like the land management agencies are hardwired to close and restrict access. It’s like a one way ratchet. This ratchet is the result of Executive Orders and regulations that were written by agency bureaucrats. Many of these orders and regulations have a weak basis in law.
We identified 28 Executive Orders that have been used to shut down our public lands. So far 7 of these have already been rescinded, including the Executive Order that prioritized complying with the 30×30 agenda to lock up 30% of our lands and waters by 2030.
When the current Administration made requests for which regulations need to be rescinded — otherwise known as CFRs — we answered the call.
We identified over 40 CFRs that we’ve recommended for rescission or revision. Many of you have already submitted your comments— thank you!!
If you’ve yet to comment on these CFR’s, you can easily do so at the link here.
We Still Need Your Support
There has never been a better time to be fighting for the Grand Reopening of our public lands. We are still working through federal court to reopen 317 miles of trails in Moab. We are still waiting for a decision from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals for our challenge to the expansion of two national monuments in Utah.
These fights often take years to complete, and we can only make these kinds of long term investments because of your generous and sustaining support.
It is both humbling and encouraging when our members and supporters tell us that we are doing some of the best work they have seen from BRC in the 38 years we’ve been in operation. We’ve built a strong team that inherited a strong foundation that was built before us. We’re doing everything we can to rise to the challenge of our current window of opportunity.
Our biggest fear right now is that we will have to pull back because of lack of resources.
If you send us the resources to keep us in this fight, we commit to exhaust ourselves as we fight every day to make sure we are securing long term victories that will keep our public lands open for you and future generations to enjoy.
With deepest gratitude,
The entire BlueRibbon Coalition Team
Now is not the time to take our feet off the gas. Your continued support allows us to keep pushing for regulatory changes and challenges.
Let’s not miss this crucial window of opportunity.
Articles & Action Alerts
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