Your Public Land Access Has a Legal Team

The case

The Bureau of Land Management closed 317 miles of trail across more than 300,000 acres near Moab under the Labyrinth Rims/Gemini Bridges Travel Management Plan. We argue that the closure exceeds the agency’s authority and that a decision of this scale must be made by a properly appointed officer of the United States, as the Constitution’s Appointments Clause requires, not by a lower-level employee.

Where it stands

The court has stayed the case while BLM revises the travel management plan to reopen many of the trails.

What’s next

If the reassessment does not restore access, we will press our claims in court.

The case

In January 2025, Proclamation 10881 designated Chuckwalla National Monument across approximately 624,000 acres of the California desert. We argue that the designation violates the Antiquities Act, which limits monuments to the smallest area compatible with protecting specific objects, and that it rests on an unconstitutional delegation of Congress’s power under the Property Clause.

Where it stands

Motions to transfer the case are pending before the court.

What’s next

The court has set a hearing for December 9, 2026.

The case

The San Rafael Swell Travel Management Plan closed 665 miles of motorized routes across more than 1.1 million acres of Emery County. These are the same canyons where Dick Brass built trails for 45 years. One closure cuts off access to the Wells family’s historic homestead. We argue that BLM’s decision was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and failed the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Where it stands

In April 2026, the court stayed the case while BLM reassesses the plan. BLM files status reports every 60 days.

What’s next

If the reassessment does not restore access, we will press our claims in court.

The case

BLM’s January 2025 Henry Mountains and Fremont Gorge Travel Management Plan closed 612 miles of motorized routes in Garfield and Wayne Counties. We argue that BLM relied on inconsistent reasoning, failed to consider historic uses, and violated the National Environmental Policy Act by issuing a decision of this size without a full environmental impact statement.

Where it stands

Pointing to the shifting regulatory landscape, BLM has obtained a series of 30-day extensions of the scheduling order, purportedly so it can revise the travel plan.

What’s next

We will move forward on the merits as soon as the court sets a firm schedule.

The case

In June 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the Forest Service under the Endangered Species Act to restrict off-highway vehicle use on the Oregon Dunes, citing the coastal marten. The Oregon Dunes are among the most visited OHV riding areas in the country and the home of events like DuneFest and the UTV Takeover at Winchester Bay. We represent Save the Riders Dunes, the local volunteer group that has defended the dunes for years.

Where it stands

In August 2026, the district court ruled for the Center for Biological Diversity and imposed interim restrictions. We are briefing the remedy in district court and have appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

What’s next

BRC’s Ninth Circuit opening brief is due November 19, 2026.

The case

President Biden’s 2021 proclamations restored Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante and expanded them to 3.23 million acres, an area twice the size of Delaware. We argue the Antiquities Act does not allow it. The Act limits monuments to protecting actual “objects of historic or scientific interest” and requires them to be “confined to the smallest area compatible” with that purpose. Landscape-scale designations that lock up millions of acres of multiple-use land meet neither test, and the management plans that followed put public access at risk.

Where it stands

On June 23, 2026, the Tenth Circuit vacated the dismissal of our challenge and held that federal courts can review whether a president exceeded the limits Congress placed on the Antiquities Act. The case went back to the district court to decide those questions. We are currently evaluating our future involvement in this case. On July 13, 2026, President Trump issued new proclamations shrinking Bears Ears to about 121,000 acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante to about 182,000 acres.

What’s next

The district court must define the Act’s limits and decide whether the 2021 proclamations exceeded them. We will press for that ruling so that future designations are held to the statute.

The case

Winter Canyon Ranch owns about 800 acres near Gunsight Peak and claims the canyon routes crossing it are private livestock trails. The county, which mapped them as public roads, says the public has used them for over a century and a half to reach public forest land. We argue the routes became public highways under Utah Title 72, which dedicates a road to the public after continuous public use. If the closures stand, a landowner could turn historic public routes into private property overnight.

Where it stands

After an April 23, 2026 hearing, the parties agreed to an interim arrangement. The public can again hike, ride horses, or drive vehicles under 50 inches wide in Winter, Lower Elbow, and New Quigley canyons while the case proceeds. Upper Elbow Canyon and Tom Buttars Spring remain closed to motorized use.

What’s next

We will keep building the record that these routes were dedicated to public use. If the court sides with the ranch, the interim access ends. The next hearing is scheduled for December 2026.

The case

In March 2026, BLM’s St. George Field Office ended free dispersed camping across nearly 14,000 acres along State Route 9 between La Verkin and Zion National Park, replacing it with fee campgrounds. These are the open sites that families, overlanders, and riders have used for generations on their way to Zion and the Hurricane Cliffs trails.

Where it stands

We filed our statement of reasons in August 2026. BLM filed its response on October 19, 2026.

What’s next

BRC’s reply brief is due November 9, 2026.

The case

BLM’s Coeur d’Alene Field Office eliminated hundreds of motorized routes across Benewah, Kootenai, and Shoshone counties and called it a routine “map correction.” It used a categorical exclusion and a FONSI to do it, with no Travel Management Plan and no environmental analysis of what the closures would do. The 2007 Coeur d’Alene Resource Management Plan took the opposite approach. It supported motorized access and designated the Middle Fork Pine Creek Road, the Rollercoaster, for extreme 4WD use. We argue that BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act, that a categorical exclusion cannot be used to redesignate routes, and that our members face irreparable harm from the loss of access.

Where it stands

The appeal is pending before the Interior Board of Land Appeals.

What’s next

IBLA will decide whether to set aside the March 2026 decision. If it does not restore the routes, we will take our claims to federal court.

The case

The Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area South Travel Management Plan closes 220 miles of routes, nearly half of the access routes into the area. BLM’s Boise District signed the Record of Decision, Environmental Assessment, and FONSI on February 23, 2024. We argue the plan is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and that BLM failed to take the “hard look” NEPA requires.

On the APA claim, BLM designated Route 37NCA109.099 single track because it said the route was too narrow for ATVs and UTVs, even though photos show a full-size vehicle has driven it for years. BLM also closed Wees Road, a key connector, and limited the routes that link open trails to the only places a trailer can park. On the NEPA claim, BLM kept its route report out of the public project record, so commenters couldn’t see the reasoning behind specific closures. Most of the 496 comments our members submitted are missing from the administrative record. The plan also exempts tribal members from its restrictions, yet BLM’s own staff recorded that the Tribe gave no feedback on it, so BLM never determined which routes the exemption covers.

Where it stands

The appeal is fully briefed and awaiting a decision from IBLA.

What’s next

We have asked IBLA to vacate the Record of Decision, the Environmental Assessment, and the FONSI. If IBLA does not, we will take our claims to federal court.

The case

The Upper Snake East Travel Management Plan covers 126,378 acres of BLM land between Ashton and Idaho Falls. BLM reviewed about 783 miles of routes and closed 394 of them, more than half. Only 331 miles stay open, and 58 are open with limits. BLM’s Upper Snake Field Office signed the decision on May 31, 2024. We argue that the plan is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act, that BLM failed to give the public input the consideration NEPA requires, and that the closures are unconstitutional because an Acting Field Manager made them.

The record shows BLM closing routes against its own findings. The Route Report for the June Creek connector, UE1552, designated it open in every alternative, yet the decision closed it. BLM justified closing the adjoining UE1553 by saying it frequently crosses a stream, but UE1552 is the only route that crosses it. The two culverts that carried that crossing were removed before the decision was signed, and the EA never mentions it. BLM closed the Heise Overlook route, UE1715, under a wilderness-suitability standard that doesn’t apply to its parcel. For UE2050, it acknowledged that the resource concerns could be mitigated, then analyzed no alternative that kept the route open. Our members at Snake River Off-Roaders commented on each of these routes and never got an answer.

Where it stands

The appeal is fully briefed and awaiting a decision from IBLA.

What’s next

We have asked IBLA to vacate the Record of Decision, the Environmental Assessment, and the FONSI. If IBLA does not, we will consider taking our claims to federal court.

The case

The Black Canyon Corridor Travel Management Plan covers three travel management areas totaling 166,165 acres north of Phoenix, including the communities of Black Canyon City, Dewey-Humboldt, Mayer, and New River. BLM’s Hassayampa Field Office closed 317 miles of routes, 58% of the network. The closures include the Taylor Canyon Overlook, along with dispersed camping sites, rock crawling routes, and access to active mining claims.

We joined the Arizona State Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs, the American Mining Rights Association, and Arizona Backcountry Explorers to appeal. We argue that BLM failed to take the hard look NEPA requires. In the route reports, BLM found that impacts on many closed routes could be reduced or mitigated, but it analyzed closure as the only tool. It never considered signing, gating, patrols, or rerouting. Public comments that identified mapping errors and access problems went unanswered. Closing routes that reach active mining claims erases the evidence R.S. 2477 rights depend on and burdens the people who earn a living there. The closures also cut off access for people with disabilities who can reach this country only by motor vehicle.

Where it stands

BLM first signed this plan in October 2021 and withdrew it after we prepared our appeal. It reissued the plan in September 2022, and we appealed again. The appeal is pending before IBLA, and we are waiting for a decision.

What’s next

We have asked IBLA to vacate the decision.