The National Park Service is accepting public comment through November 15, 2024 on new guidance for off-road vehicle use throughout Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that encompasses Lake Powell. Due to a lawsuit from the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the National Park Service is required to re-visit OHV use to shoreline access and unpaved roads to make it more restrictive to users. The proposal will prohibit ORV’s and street legal ATV’s from using 24 miles of roads. The National Park Service can comply with the settlement agreement by simply managing the areas for use with their proposed speed limits and quiet hours. However, they are taking it too far with closure proposals that are likely going to violate recent court decisions related to RS 2477 roads..
NPS is proposing the following:
- Completely prohibit ORV use of the Poison Spring loop – Problematic
- Eliminate the superintendent’s authority to potentially allow ORVs and street-legal ATVs on the upper portion of the Flint Trail – Problematic
- Stricter quiet hours for Lone Rock Beach from 10pm-6am – Reasonable
- Specific lake elevation levels for shoreline access identified by the Glen Canyon Superintendent – We Have Questions
- Shoreline access only available at the following sites: Lone Rock Beach, Blue Notch, Bullfrog North and South, Crosby Canyon, Dirty Devil, Farley Canyon, Hite Boat Ramp, Red Canyon, Stanton Creek, White Canyon – Our Records Show Glen Canyon Has Contemplated up to 20 Different Shoreline Access Points
- Shoreline access is only permitted to travel from a road, to the shoreline and return – We Support Managed Access to the Shoreline, but Restrictions that are too Heavy Likely Won’t Meet Growing Demand for Shoreline Dispersed Camping
The Superintendent would only allow shoreline access in the 11 designated shoreline access areas if the water levels were within the water level access zone for 7 consecutive days. Lone Rock Beach, Lone Rock Beach Play Area, and Ferry Swale are not considered shoreline access areas and therefore allow additional camping or OHV opportunities.
The changes in management would also require ORV permits from the Park Service. We support paying entrance fees for National Parks, but requiring additional permits to use Park roads is onerous.
please leave tese areas open for me to enjoy
I’m this needs to be stopped no reason for this
I have enjoyed this area with OHV for many years and have many memories with friends and family. We all deserve to continue to use this area responsibly. Please reopen for us and our children.
Please do not close any more trails. We have had these routes ooen for years. We should not have to give up our access for a small well funded group of out of touch, out of state activists.
We the people would like to use are trails.
It’s simple! You close areas to ride and your state loses all the revenue from food, hotels, and anything else people might buy while they are there……….Don’t cry for money while you are closing trails down! America is just getting up and running with OHV. Closing it down is foolish!
Public lands are for the public!! We the people!! A small minority should not be telling the public how and where we should recreate on our lands!! Many of us have worked hard and paid our fair share of taxes, we have the right to recreate on our land as we please!! Keep America the land of the free!!!