Today, we took the next step to protect your access to public lands in Idaho’s Silver Valley.
BlueRibbon Coalition has officially filed an appeal and a petition to stay enforcement of the Bureau of Land Management’s recent “Map 4” update, which removes access hundreds of miles of long-standing motorized routes across the region. The BLM Project: 2026 Updates to Motorized Route Designations-Silver Valley Map 4, was labeled as a simple effort to correct clerical errors on BLM maps, but it will result in a significant loss of access to BLM lands in Idaho's Silver Valley.
What’s Happening
The BLM’s decision designates routes as closed that have been used for decades, cutting off entry to trails, dispersed camping areas, and vast portions of public land. Many of these routes were never formally closed and have historically been part of the public access network.
Despite these sweeping changes, the agency attempted to push this through using a Categorical Exclusion that classifies this action as a simple map correction. This is an abuse of the Categorical Exclusion process, which normally involves limited review for minor administrative actions — not major access reductions.
Why We’re Fighting
Our appeal makes it clear:
- This is not a simple map correction — it’s a large-scale elimination of routes that fundamentally changes access across the landscape.
- BLM failed to follow federal law (NEPA) by not fully analyzing the environmental and recreational impacts.
- Members are already being harmed — losing access to areas they’ve used for generations and facing confusion about what routes are still legal.
We also filed a petition to stay this decision, asking the Interior Board of Land Appeals to pause enforcement while the case is reviewed. Otherwise there is a risk that BLM will obliterate the routes.
A Tale of Two Maps
In 2007, the Bureau of Land Management published a map of the Silver Valley Map 4 area in Idaho. That map showed a network of "unimproved roads" open to motorized use. Those routes represented longstanding public access to public land for off-highway vehicle riders. One of our members happened to photograph this 2007 map which you can review below.
The result of the decision we are appealing is the BLM published an updated map of the same area. The unimproved roads are gone, referenced below. All the missing black roads are the access that was lost.
That photo is now one of the only documented records we have of what those routes looked like before BLM quietly removed them. We expected the original map to be part of the administrative record of this decision, but it has been very difficult to find reference to the old map from the BLM.
You can download high resolution images of each map here: Old Map | New Map
Why This Matters
This case goes beyond one map in Idaho.
If agencies can remove hundreds of miles of routes under the guise of “map corrections,” it sets a dangerous precedent for public land access nationwide.
Your access to ride, explore, hunt, camp, and enjoy public lands depends on holding agencies accountable to the law.
It is also important that BLM claims that the travel planning that was done in this area consists of two pages in the 2007 Resource Management Plan for this area. To put this in perspective, we have a federal judge in California claiming that 10,000s of pages of analysis for a travel plan were insufficient to prevent closure of 2200 miles of routes in the Mojave Desert. And, we have a field office in Idaho claiming a travel plan can be completed in two pages of another plan with almost no substantive analysis of the route network itself. But, this two page travel plan included errors that have only now been discovered and need to be corrected twenty years later.
We want the BLM to have a process for managing public lands that works, but it can't possibly be true that the California BLM got their 10,000s of pages process wrong while the Idaho BLM office got their 2 page process right.
This travel management policy needs aggressive structural reform. At the same time, we can't let administrative loopholes close significant access to our public lands.
What You Can Do
We’ll keep you updated as this appeal progresses, but right now you can help by:
- Sharing this update with fellow recreationists
- Supporting BlueRibbon Coalition’s legal efforts by donating to our legal fund
- Staying engaged as we defend access on your behalf
We are committed to ensuring that public lands remain accessible for responsible recreation—today and for future generations.
Thank you for standing with us.
You can download and review the Petition to Stay here.
