Grasshopper Fire Lawsuit: Oregon Wild Stalled Mt. Hood Thinning Before 77,000 Acres Burned
Hug it, litigate it, and watch it burn. Oregon Wild’s serial litigation narrowed and stalled the Mt. Hood fuels work designed for this landscape, and sixteen days before the Grasshopper Fire started they served notice to sue over four more projects. The fire has since burned 77,000 acres and closed 50 trails through the end of the year, and BRC is documenting the pattern in its NEPA Jail tracker.
Grizzly Bear Recovery Shouldn’t Mean Road Closures: Comment on the FWS 4(d) Rule
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.
Bears Ears Recreation Restrictions: What the 2025 Monument Plan Actually Banned
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.
Post-2026 Colorado River Final EIS: What It Means for Lake Powell & Lake Mead Recreation Access
The operating rules for Lake Powell and Lake Mead are settled for about a decade, and recreation access survived the process in better shape than many expected. No operating rule adds an acre-foot to the river, so the reservoirs our communities depend on are still exposed to a deep drought. Here is what the Final EIS does, where it falls short, and what comes next.
Trump OHV Executive Order Explained: What It Means & What’s Next for WEMO, Moab, and Minimization Criteria
Trump’s OHV executive order rescinded the Nixon and Carter orders that agencies used to close trails for 50 years.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.
Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act Heads to Senate Vote July 29 With 38 Other Public Land Bills, Including New Wilderness
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.
EXPLORE Act Pilot Projects Will Count OHV and Dispersed Recreation, Help Shape How It’s Counted by July 29
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.
RELEASE: BlueRibbon Coalition Launches “NEPA Jail” Litigation Tracker, Exposing the Lawsuits Blocking Wildfire Prevention on Public Lands
New public database documents 273 forest and fuels-reduction projects delayed, reduced, or killed by litigation, and over $34.4 million in taxpayer-funded attorney fees.
H.R. 9248 Recreation Permitting Improvement Act Could End Years of Permitting Delays for Trails, Campgrounds, and OHV Facilities
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.
Tell NOAA: California Coastal Management Program Is Draining the Colorado River
California has spent twenty years blocking ocean desalination while pulling more water from the Colorado River instead, pushing the shortage onto everyone downstream and threatening the livelihoods of 40 million people. NOAA’s federal review is a rare opening to put that failure on the record. Submit your comment before August 22 and speak up for the reservoirs, fisheries, and recreation economy at stake.
Support Our Effort to Protect 10,000 Miles of Roads in Utah
We’re Fighting to Protect Dispersed Camping
We’re Challenging Abuse of the Antiquities Act
Join the Movement to Fill Lake Powell
