Twelve Days of Legal Updates| Day 7: Keep Massacre Rocks Open For Recreation

Dec 19, 2022

Categories: Fundraiser | Legal Update | Rock Climbing

Why you should submit here, even if you already have elsewhere!

We keep them honest. If everyone only comments through the government/agency site, we have to take their word on how many comments were received. By submitting through BRC, we create an independent record of our community’s response that can’t be buried or under-reported.

We protect your voice. If this fight ends up in court, having our own record of submitted comments means we don’t have to wait a year or more for a government agency to turn over documents. We can move quickly with proof that thousands of you spoke up.
We keep you in the loop. When you comment through our site, we can send you updates on what comes next. If you only use the government/agency site, you’re depending on them to tell you what happens next — and they won’t.

Double coverage matters. Even if you’ve already commented through the government/agency site, submitting through ours makes your voice count twice — once in their system, and once in ours. That way they know the OHV community is watching and tracking every move.

For years, BRC has been trusted to run action alerts like this. Thousands of members and supporters have used this system effectively to defend access to public lands. This isn’t about collecting your info — it’s about building the strongest, most transparent record possible to hold agencies accountable.

Why you should submit here, even if you already have elsewhere!

We keep them honest. If everyone only comments through the government/agency site, we have to take their word on how many comments were received. By submitting through BRC, we create an independent record of our community’s response that can’t be buried or under-reported.

We protect your voice. If this fight ends up in court, having our own record of submitted comments means we don’t have to wait a year or more for a government agency to turn over documents. We can move quickly with proof that thousands of you spoke up.

We keep you in the loop. When you comment through our site, we can send you updates on what comes next. If you only use the government/agency site, you’re depending on them to tell you what happens next — and they won’t.

Double coverage matters. Even if you’ve already commented through the government/agency site, submitting through ours makes your voice count twice — once in their system, and once in ours. That way they know the OHV community is watching and tracking every move.

For years, BRC has been trusted to run action alerts like this. Thousands of members and supporters have used this system effectively to defend access to public lands. This isn’t about collecting your info — it’s about building the strongest, most transparent record possible to hold agencies accountable.

Massacre Rocks, ID

The off-road trails around Massacre Rocks near American Falls, Idaho were a favorite destination of Clark Collins, the late founder of BRC. In 2011, the BLM started a planning process that would close almost all of the routes in this area. In addition to closing the off-road routes, this plan would also close 500 out of 700 rock climbing routes. We recently filed an objection along with several local climbing organizations to oppose these closures. We should find out in the early spring whether the Bureau of Land Management will improve this plan based on the feedback in our objection letter.

This plan is part of a disturbing trend where recreation users, such as rock climbers, are seeing substantial restrictions in access that they have historically taken for granted. We believe there are reasonable management options to keep this area open for motorized recreation and rock climbing while also protecting the resources of the area, which include important cultural resources. From dispersed camping, to boat marinas, to rock climbing routes, to some of the most popular off-road trails in the world near Moab, it seems that our public land agencies don’t want the public to be able to use public land. BRC is leading the fight to support all users of public land and water to have access to the public benefit of outdoor recreation on our public lands.

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