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Articles: BLM
Nearly 14,000 acres of free dispersed camping outside Zion National Park are set to close under the BLM’s SR9 decision. BRC has filed a formal appeal with the Interior Board of Land Appeals, built out of the agency’s own record and impact statements from our members and supporters. Here is what we argued and how you can support the legal fight.
The BLM wants to formally designate ten backcountry airstrips in southeast Utah, the same dirt strips that have been around since the 1950’s and allowed search and rescue teams into canyon country when someone gets hurt. Anti-access groups have flooded the record with over 2,500 comments to shut them down. Tell the BLM you support keeping these airstrips open before comments close September 3.
The Equal Access to Justice Act was written to help ordinary Americans fight an overreaching government. It now bankrolls the litigation programs of anti-access organizations that stalls forest health work and locks up access on public lands. The FEES Act would put limits on those payouts, and your members of Congress need to hear that you support it.
Grizzly populations in Yellowstone and the Northern Continental Divide recovered and expanded for three decades with the existing forest road network in place, which is the opposite of what road-density models predicted. BRC is asking the Fish and Wildlife Service to write the revised 4(d) rule around that record instead of around formulas from the early 1990s. Submit your comment before August 17.
The Bears Ears recreation restrictions were real, they were written down, and almost none of them had been enforced yet. That gap is what lets groups defending the 2025 monument plan claim it never restricted recreation. See what the plan actually said about hiking, OHV, mountain bikes, camping, climbing and dogs across 1.36 million acres of public land.
Trump’s OHV executive order rescinded the Nixon and Carter orders that agencies used to close trails for 50 years. There will be no free-for-all, but the minimization criteria that shut down 2,200 miles in WEMO and 317 miles in Moab is gone. Here is how the reopening will actually play out, and where BRC needs your comments and support.
The Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act, a bill BRC helped write to keep existing roads open, goes before a Senate committee on Wednesday, July 29. The same agenda carries wilderness bills that would permanently ban motorized use across millions of acres. Contact your senators today to support the Outdoor ADA and oppose the new designations.
A new federal recreation monitoring program under the EXPLORE Act will decide how OHV riding, dispersed camping, and snowmobiling get counted on public lands. BRC supports better data but is telling the agencies that visitation counts must never become a standalone excuse for closures or permit systems. Submit your comment before the July 29 deadline.
Recreation projects that improve access to public lands, from trail systems to OHV facilities, often sit stuck in federal permitting for years before construction can start. H.R. 9248, the Recreation Permitting Improvement Act, would fix that by giving recreation projects the same predictable timelines Congress already provides to other infrastructure, without cutting environmental review. BRC Executive Director Ben Burr testified in support of the bill on July 1. Contact your members of Congress today and tell them to support H.R. 9248.
Trump reduced two sprawling Utah national monuments, a win for the ranchers, riders, and rural communities harmed by decades of Antiquities Act overreach. BRC is pairing the reduction with legal precedent so a future administration cannot simply redraw the lines. Donate to the Legal Fund and add your voice today to help make this win last.