[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 14 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6659-6661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1595]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-062-01-1220-AA]


Notice of Travel Restrictions

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), DOI.

ACTION: Notice of Travel Restrictions, Moab Field Office, Utah.

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SUMMARY: This notice places restrictions on travel by off-road vehicles 
(ORV's) and mountain bikes on specific public land administered by the 
BLM Moab Field Office. These actions are necessary to halt ongoing 
impacts and prevent future degradation of resource values. They are 
being implemented on an interim basis to protect resource values and 
public safety, pending revision of the Resource Management Plan (RMP) 
for the area administered by the BLM Moab Field Office. This notice 
also affirms and describes previous travel restrictions that remain in 
effect.

DATES: This notice is effective January 22, 2001, and shall remain in 
effect until modified or the RMP is amended.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Russell von Koch, Resource Advisor, 
BLM Moab Field Office, 82 East Dogwood Avenue, Moab, Utah 84532 or 
telephone 435-259-2100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1985, the Grand Resource Area RMP left 
the majority of the public land currently administered by the Moab 
Field Office as ``Open to Off-road Vehicle Use.'' Since publication of 
the plan, specific public land areas administered by the Moab Field 
Office have become destinations for travel by off-road vehicles users 
and mountain bikers. Cross-country travel off established roads and 
trails by motorized vehicles and mountain bikes is causing damage to 
scenic, cultural, soil, vegetation, and wildlife habitat resources in 
the high use areas identified below and, in some cases, is causing or 
threatens to cause considerable adverse effects to those resource 
values. Short-cutting, making parallel routes, detouring around 
challenging segments, and widening routes threaten the integrity of 
existing routes, reduce their value for commercial recreation and 
special events, and make them less attractive for recreation use. The 
proliferation of multiple routes off long established roads and trails 
also contributes to confusion among users as to their location on the 
ground and has led to more frequent search and rescue activity.
    On several historic, interpretive, or recreational single-track 
trails, certain

[[Page 6660]]

uses are incompatible with the protection of significant resource 
values or involve safety or management concerns. Specific actions are 
necessary to manage these routes.

New Travel Restrictions, Moab Travel Management Area (MTMA)

    Travel by ORV's and mountain bikes, on public land in five areas 
administered by the Moab Field Office, is now limited to existing roads 
and trails, except where more restrictive designations apply as 
described below under Existing Designations. Cross-country travel in 
these five areas, collectively referred to as the Moab Travel 
Management Area (MTMA), is prohibited, except for travel by mountain 
bike and two-wheel motorcycle on established slickrock riding areas 
(Bartlett Wash slickrock area, Tusher Canyon slickrock area, and 
slickrock areas along the Monitor and Merrimac and Lower Monitor and 
Merrimac trails), where such use does not further disturb vegetation or 
soils. To protect public safety and enhance user experience, BLM will 
provide maps of, and sign and mark recommended routes.
    Under this action, approximately 245,642 acres currently designated 
as Open to ORV travel will be managed as ORV and mountain bike Travel 
Limited to Existing Roads and Trails. This change involves 25 percent 
of the land currently Open to ORV use and 13 percent of the total 
public land within the Moab Field Office. The intent of these year-
round ORV designation changes is to protect natural resource and scenic 
values from the adverse effects of cross-country travel, maintain the 
integrity of established travel routes, and provide for public safety 
until the RMP is revised.
    MTMA 1 (approximately 15,031 acres, in 3 parcels) is northwest of 
Moab along the boundary of Arches National Park. It includes all public 
land south of Township 22 S, west of Arches National Park, east of U.S. 
Highway 191 and north of the private land at the mouth of Moab Canyon.
    MTMA 2 (approximately 189,939 acres) is northwest of Moab. It 
includes all public land west of U.S. Highway 191; south of the 
Canyonlands Field Airport, the Mancos shale land already limited to 
existing roads and trails, the Levi Well Road, and the Tenmile Point 
Road; east of the public land already limited to existing roads and 
trails along the east side of the Green River rims, and north of the 
northern boundary of Canyonlands National Park, the block of State and 
Private land around Dead Horse Point State Park and Potash, and the 
land north of Utah Highway 279. Land inside this boundary (in South 
Sevenmile Canyon and the Colorado Riverway), where ORV travel is 
already limited to designated roads and trails remains so designated.
    MTMA 3 (approximately 28,266 acres) is west and south of Moab. It 
includes all public land west of U.S. Highway 191; north of the 
southern rim of Kane Creek Canyon and the land on Hatch Point already 
designated as limited to existing roads; and east and south of the 
Colorado River. Land in the Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study Area 
(WSA), which is closed to ORV use (subject to valid existing rights), 
and within the Colorado Riverway, where ORV use is limited to 
designated roads and trails, remains so designated.
    MTMA 4 (approximately 6,558 acres) is northeast of Moab along the 
Entrada Bluffs Road. It includes an area bounded on the south by a one-
half mile wide corridor along County Road 105 (Entrada Bluffs Road) and 
on the north by land already limited to existing roads and trails along 
the Dolores River.
    MTMA 5 (approximately 5,848 acres) is northeast of Moab along the 
Utah/Colorado border. The area, which includes May Flat, is 
approximately 8 miles long and 2 miles wide. It is bordered by areas 
where ORV travel is currently limited to existing roads and trails on 
the north and west; private land to the southwest; the Colorado River 
on the south, and the Colorado-Utah state line near Rabbit Valley on 
the east.

Interpretive Trails Closed to Motorized and Mountain Bike Travel

    The Sauropod Dinosaur Trackway Interpretive Trail, and the Mill 
Canyon Dinosaur Interpretive Trail are closed to motorized travel and 
mountain bike use to prevent resource damage to paleontological 
resources, scenic values, vegetation, and soils.

Single-Track Trails Closed to Motorized Travel

    The following single-track trails are closed to motorized travel to 
prevent further damage to scenic values, soils, and vegetation along 
these narrow trails and to provide for public safety: (1) The entire 
Portal Trail from Jaycee Park to the top of Poison Spider Mesa; (2) the 
Hunter Canyon Rim Trail from the drill hole at the end of the Hunter 
Canyon Rim ORV route to the Kane Creek Road; (3) the Hidden Valley 
Trail from its trailhead in Spanish Valley to the boundary of the 
Behind the Rocks WSA.

Implementation

    Maps showing all current Moab Field Office ORV designations are 
available for public review at the Moab Field Office. The designations 
are also shown on a map on the Moab Field Office's website at http://www.blm.gov/utah/moab. BLM will provide public land users with 
information about travel restrictions using brochures, signs, and 
bulletin boards with maps at major entry areas. It will protect key 
areas from further cross-country travel using signs and simple barriers 
as appropriate. Enforcement actions will be taken as necessary. BLM 
will provide maps of, and mark and sign recommended routes.

Future Planning

    These travel restrictions are an interim measure to protect 
resource values and route integrity by prohibiting cross-country use 
and use on the specific single-track trails identified above until the 
RMP is revised. Revision of the RMP will address long term travel 
management across a range of management options.

Existing Designations

    Except for those formerly Open areas where travel is now Limited to 
Existing Roads and Trails, this notice does not change the ORV 
designations made through the RMP or previously published Federal 
Register travel notices covering the public land administered by the 
Moab Field Office. These designations are affirmed and described below. 
The travel designation map on the Moab Field Office website shows all 
applicable travel designations.

Closed Areas

    The Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study Area, Negro Bill Canyon, and 
the east side of Westwater Canyon are closed to ORV use subject to 
valid existing rights. The Windwhistle and Hatch Point Campgrounds, the 
Canyonlands, Needles, and Anticline Overlooks, and the Onion Creek 
sensitive plant site are closed to ORV use off developed roads. The 
Black Ridge Wilderness Area is also closed to ORV and mechanized travel 
by act of Congress through the Colorado Canyons National Conservation 
Area and Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Act of 2000.

Limited to Designated Roads and Trails Areas

    ORV Travel in the Mill Creek and East Mill Creek areas and the 
Colorado Riverway is limited to designated routes. ORV and mountain 
bike travel in the Sand Flats Recreation Area, the Kens Lake area, the 
Sevenmile Canyon

[[Page 6661]]

area, and the NW \1/4\ of Section 24 and the SW \1/4\ of Section 13, T. 
25 S., R. 20 E. S.L.M. in the Little Canyon area is limited to 
designated routes.

Limited to Existing Roads and Trails Areas

    The 1985 RMP designated the Mancos shale areas in the Cisco and 
Green River desert areas; the Colorado, Green, and Dolores river 
corridors; portions of the Canyon Rims Recreation Area, and the area 
between Dead Horse Point State Park and the Colorado River as limited 
to existing roads and trails.

Exceptions

    The travel restrictions in this notice do not apply to wheelchairs, 
water craft, military, fire, emergency, or law enforcement vehicles 
used for emergency purposes, vehicles expressly permitted by the BLM, 
or BLM vehicles required for official use, and are subject to valid 
existing rights.

    Authority: Pub. L. 94-579, E. O. 11644, E. O. 11989, 43 CFR 
8341.2, 43 CFR 8364.1

    Dated: January 12, 2001.
Sally Wisely,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 01-1595 Filed 1-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-U