Q3 2026 · BlueRibbon Coalition Member Update
81% Is Closed.Now They’re Suing Over the Rest.
The Center for Biological Diversity is in court over riding in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, and BlueRibbon Coalition has entered the case on behalf of the riders.
Save the Oregon Dunes
Double Your Donation
Our friends in the Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association are matching all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $20,000. Donate $50 and our fight will receive $100.
Oregon Dunes NRA: Who Gets Access
Off-roaders access only 19% of the dunes. The lawsuit targets what’s left.
71 Martens
The entire population estimate the 2020 case rests on. No study ties OHV use to the marten’s decline.
The Center sued the Forest Service in June 2024, arguing that riding in the Oregon Dunes expanded and that large riding events were permitted without enough weight given to the coastal marten. That same year, the Fish and Wildlife Service designated nearly the entire recreation area as marten critical habitat, even though martens live in dense inland vegetation and riders ride open sand.
Save the Riders Dunes, a volunteer group of people with day jobs, fought this case largely on their own. BlueRibbon Coalition has now formally entered the lawsuit on their behalf with our legal team and our resources, because a ruling that requires new federal permits for riding events in critical habitat would reach every riding area in the country that shares ground with a listed species.
Stand With the Riders on the Dunes
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Same Plaintiff, Same Playbook
The Dunes Are Not Their First Target
The Oregon Dunes case follows a pattern California riders already know. The Center for Biological Diversity picks a listed species, argues that riding harms it, and asks a judge to close what the public process kept open.
WEMO, CA
2,200 Miles
In Center for Biological Diversity v. Culver, a federal judge vacated BLM’s 2019 route plan over a tortoise. On January 23, 2,200 miles of routes the original plan had kept open were closed. A 15,235-mile network is down to 4,047 miles.
Oceano Dunes, CA
Shut Down
A CBD lawsuit over the snowy plover led to a federal ruling against riding, and Oceano was closed to vehicles and camping for more than a month this spring. It reopened in May under a new habitat plan, and CBD sued again in June to overturn it.
Oregon Dunes, OR
19% Left
Riders already reach only about 19 percent of the dunes, and the CBD’s 2024 lawsuit uses the coastal marten to challenge riding in it. This time the riders have BRC in the courtroom with them.
Beyond the Sand
Two More Fights, and What You Helped Us Do
Free Camping Outside Zion
In March, BLM limited 13,943 acres along the SR9 corridor to designated camping, ending free dispersed camping outside of Zion National Park. The plan offers up to 260 unfunded campsites, while BLM’s own estimate puts about 544,500 Zion visitors a year camping outside the park.
What we did: Thousands of you commented, and many of you sent adverse impact statements after the decision. On August 19, BRC appealed to the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA-2026-0142) to fight this decision.
Locked Canyons on Clarkston Mountain
After the land changed hands, a private landowner gated Winter, Elbow, Green, New Quigley, and Old Canyons, which have carried families onto Forest Service land for generations. His argument is that a century of public use counts for nothing because the routes were never paved.
What we did: BRC joined Winter Canyon Ranch v. Cache County on the side of access. In August, the State of Utah joined our side, arguing that primitive routes are highways under Utah law. The State was not required to enter this case. It chose to.
Every Case Is Funded by Members
Donate TodayWhy Access Matters
A Cement Pad Is Not Access
Every closure in this update causes the most harm to the riders who can’t walk to what is left, and we learned that in court 25 years ago on a California beach. In 2001, BRC joined a federal lawsuit over 3.5 miles of beach closed to motor vehicles. Our co-plaintiff Robert Gamsby had crushed his right leg in 1961 and could walk only on flat, even ground, so a vehicle was the only way he could still reach the surf to fish and camp.
When BLM pointed to a new cement pad overlooking the beach, Mr. Gamsby told the court under oath that he couldn’t cast a fishing line from it to the surf even with a rocket gun. The court ruled that a ramp and a viewing area were meaningful access, and we lost. For 25 years, no law required agencies to weigh what a closure does to people who can only reach public land by vehicle.
Operation:Accessible in Washington
Six Advocates Took That Argument to Congress
Operation:Accessible Advocates
Alyssa
Bilateral BK amputee
Brent
Incomplete quadriplegic
Colton
Born without arms
Nate
Disabled veteran
Rick
Quadriplegic
Melissa
Diagnosed with CIDP
In September, six Operation:Accessible advocates went to Washington to make the case for the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act. Your donations and your entries in the custom SXS Sweepstakes paid for the trip, with help from sponsors Moab Tour Company, Karl Malone ADS, R1 Industries, and SLOREX. Brent Oliver broke his neck in a motorcycle wreck in northeastern Oregon at 20, and he told Congress what a closed gate does to a man like him.
“A closure, a gate, a fallen tree, or rough terrain that is a minor obstacle for someone else can be the end of the road for me. When access is denied, it does not stop at one gate. It trickles down. Every layer of access denied compounds the last, until the person who needs it most is the one left out entirely.”
Brent Oliver, Advocate
What the Bill Does: It makes accessibility a required part of federal travel planning. Agencies would have to count accessible road miles, work with state, local, and tribal governments on routes that provide meaningful access, and weigh accessibility before closing existing roads.
What We Heard: Everyone we met with told us our meeting was the most inspiring meeting of their week, and we left with commitments from multiple offices. The bill is advancing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Mike Kennedy of Utah has agreed to champion it in the House.
Help Us Get It Across the Finish Line
Donate TodayFrom Our Executive Director
We Don’t Get to Pick One Fight
Dear Friend,
The Oregon Dunes, the canyons on Clarkston Mountain, and the campsites outside Zion are all being decided right now, and each one needs briefs, expert testimony, and hearings that a volunteer group can’t pay for alone. At the same time, Congress will try to move a large number of bills before the year ends, and a bill with no one pushing it gets lost in that pile.
We are fighting 8 active legal cases while we keep our advocates’ stories in front of lawmakers, and every one of those cases is funded by members and donors, not grants. After 2001, we had nowhere to send the riders of Black Sands Beach who kept telling us the system was stacked against them. We intend to have an answer for them from now on.
Please give today. A gift of $50, $100, or $250 keeps our attorneys in the Oregon Dunes case, our appeal moving outside Zion, and our advocates in front of Congress through the end of the year.
Will you help us fight for access by donating $100 today? Give securely with the form at the top of this page.
And together, we can continue protecting the places we all love to ride.
Ben Burr, Executive Director, BlueRibbon Coalition
Save the Oregon Dunes
Double Your Donation
Our friends in the Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association are matching all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $15,000. Donate $50 and our fight will receive $100.
Active Legal Cases
Yes, I Want to Defend Our Access
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