A week after our Outdoor ADA trip to D.C., BLM Director Steve Pearce, standing at Lions Park in Moab with the red rock walls of the Colorado River canyon behind him, signed the All Americans Outside Initiative and explained why it was personal. His brother was paralyzed in an accident decades ago and has used a wheelchair for 50 years. Pearce gestured at the cliffs and said he'd want his brother to be able to see this.
Fighting for all Americans to be able to enjoy the benefits of public lands is why BRC exists, and we’ve been fighting for this for 40 years. After all these decades it is refreshing to see the top leadership at the BLM standing up for disabled Americans.
The initiative Director Pearce announced rests on four pillars: Explore, Learn, Serve, and Work. Its stated goal is promoting health, wellness, and outdoor access for people of all physical and mental abilities, with seniors and injured veterans named specifically. Pearce told The Times-Independent his target is to keep 99% of BLM land open to the public, and that the remaining 1% should carry signage explaining why it's closed. Imagine that: a federal land manager who thinks you deserve a reason.
Moab already has examples on the ground. The new Mud Springs mountain bike trail accommodates adaptive bikes, and the Highway 128 trail gap project is on schedule to finish before year's end. Of course the simplest way to guarantee meaningful access to public lands for disabled Americans is to stop closing the already existing motorized routes that have been used for decades.
Motorized access is meaningful access, and we hope to see the Moab Field Office release updated plans for their travel plans that reopen the hundreds of miles of motorized routes that were closed in that area.
The Other Side of the Lawn
Not everyone at Lions Park was celebrating. Several protestors from the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance were there to protest Director Pearce’s leadership. A spokesperson for Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance told reporters his criticism wasn't aimed at the initiative itself, but at the BLM's broader direction, including what he called "prioritizing off-road vehicle use."
That complaint deserves a closer look, because for millions of Americans with disabilities, a motorized route is the trail. A veteran with a spinal injury doesn't hike to an overlook. A grandmother with a replaced hip doesn't backpack into a canyon. They drive, on the thousands of miles of roads and trails SUWA has spent years in court successfully closing.
We’re calling it like it is. To show up and protest a major national initiative intended to expand access for disabled Americans to public lands is appalling. We’ve long said that SUWA and its members prioritize dirt over people. Their followers are always the first to come into our comment threads and remind our members — many of whom are disabled — that they can “just walk” to enjoy the public lands that they have successfully closed through their lawsuits and advocacy for abusive monument designations.
This is nothing more than rank ableism, and ableism is just a fancy word for bigotry. This discrimination should play no role in determining federal policy.
In just the last four years, SUWA has actively fought to close 317 miles of routes in Moab, 665 miles of routes in the San Rafael Swell, 612 miles of routes in the Henry Mountains, 1.2 million acres of the Grand Staircase, and nearly 700,000 acres of Bears Ears. That’s millions of acres where disabled Americans have been shut out.
You can claim support Pearce's vision for accessible public lands, or you can litigate thousands of miles of motorized access out of existence. You can't do both, and an initiative signed at a park in Moab won't survive a decade of closure lawsuits on its own.
Why We Went to Washington
That's why BRC recently traveled to Washington, D.C., alongside an inspiring team of disabled advocates, to push for the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act.
Executive initiatives matter, and Director Pearce's commitment is genuine. The momentum we have right now is real. But initiatives change with administrations. Statutes don't. The Outdoor ADA would put accessibility into law, so the next closure decision has to answer for the people it shuts out instead of pandering to the ableist protestors.
What the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act Would Do
When federal agencies close roads and motorized routes, they often treat the decision as a change in recreation management. For people with mobility limitations, it can determine whether the surrounding public land remains accessible at all.
The Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act would make accessibility a required part of federal travel planning.
The bill would:
- Require federal agencies to prioritize updates to travel management plans and motor vehicle use maps.
- Require those agencies to account for the amount of accessible road mileage available across public land.
- Direct agencies to work with state, local and tribal governments to identify routes that provide meaningful recreational access.
- Require accessibility to be considered when agencies make decisions affecting roads and motorized routes.
The legislation focuses on decisions involving existing roads and motorized routes while preserving protections for designated wilderness, national parks, temporary emergency closures and other excluded areas.
For people with mobility limitations, that distinction is not abstract. It shapes where they can go, what they can do and whether public land remains public to them.
The Next Steps Are Clear
We need to push hard through the end of the year to keep increasing support in the halls of Congress. We know there will be a heavy push during the final months of the year to pass a large number of bills. We can’t get lost in the noise.
This Is Where You Come In
We need to continue raising funds to keep the message resonating. We were able to bring Brent, Alyssa, Colton, Rick, Melissa, and Nate to Washington because of your generous support. It was this plan to bring these advocates to DC that motivated the sponsors of our Custom SXS sweepstakes to support the cause. It was because of the direct support of R1 Industries, Moab Tour Company, Karl Malone ADS, SLOREX and many others that we were able to offer this amazing prize to support this cause. These companies made this possible, and they should be proud of what their support has accomplished.
Our sweepstakes for our custom SXS & $10,000 ends on October 4! If you want to support our ongoing efforts to ensure the Outdoor ADA bill gets across the finish line, enter using promo code OUTDOORADA. With this promo code, we will give everyone who enters DOUBLE bonus entries— our biggest multiplier!
In addition, anyone who donates $50 or more will receive a FREE Operation: Accessible t-shirt, so you can show your support!
We are going to push hard to get this bill passed before the end of the year. But we know that it can sometimes take years to pass a bill through Congress. Every single one of our advocates has overcome challenges that were much more difficult than passing a bill in Washington D.C.
They won’t quit, and neither will we.
Or use code OUTDOORADA on the form
