On January 18, 2021 we joined Rally on the Rocks to send a demand letter to the leaders of Moab and Grand County, UT to ask them to end their unlawful ban on OHV users, enthusiasts, and events. Rally on the Rocks is an annual gathering of OHV users in Moab that has enjoyed enormous success as off-roading has exploded in popularity in Moab. Rally on the Rocks is attended by vendors, advocacy organizations, government agency representatives, and hundreds of veteran and beginner OHV enthusiasts. Events like this are where many new participants in off-roading learn how to ride responsibly from guides and industry veterans.
In Utah, street legal OHVs are legally allowed to ride on any roads where other street legal vehicles are allowed to drive. In Moab this has led to complaints by residents that they don’t like the noise of OHVs driving on their roads even though other loud vehicles also use the roads. Leaders in Moab and Grand County have unfairly discriminated against OHV users and passed a series of unlawful ordinances that violate state law and the U.S. Constitution. In short these actions ban OHV events, ban new OHV-related businesses, and create separate traffic laws for street-legal OHV users.
These actions by Moab and Grand County are unlawful and wrong, and they must be challenged!
>>Support Our Legal Defense Fund to Challenge These Actions<<
We have always been willing to work with local leaders to find ways that we can better-educate OHV users to be responsible visitors when they visit places like Moab. We are still willing to play this role.
While in a county meeting discussing these bans, a professional anti-access advocate called OHV-users the “worst of the worst.” Unfortunately, leaders of Moab and Grand County have legitimized and adopted this hateful rhetoric as their justification for unlawfully violating the rights of OHV users.
We believe these actions by Grand County leaders violate state laws, which do not allow for unfair discrimination against street-legal OHV users. They have also violated State Zoning laws. The Utah and U.S. Constitutions protect freedom of speech and freedom of association, which are violated by these actions. The U.S. Constitution also offers due process protections to prevent citizens from being penalized when they haven’t broken any laws. Finally the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution protects against local government interference of interstate commerce. We invite you to read the demand letter we sent to fully understand the numerous ways Moab and Grand County are threatening not just the rights of Rally on the Rocks – but all OHV users:
We need your help
We hope that Grand County will reverse course and approve the permit for Rally on the Rocks, and we can continue working with them to find solutions to the challenges that come from explosive growth in tourism in a way that doesn’t violate fundamental, Constitutionally protected rights. However, we also recognize that if they don’t willingly cooperate, our only recourse is to challenge their actions in Court.
We hope we can count on your support. If we don’t fight, the ban on Rally on the Rocks won’t stop at Rally on the Rocks. The actions by Grand County threaten all of us, and we must challenge them together.