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Planning will now move forward for the Ragged Mountain proposed wilderness in Southern Utah.
(Ray Bloxham / SUWA)
Press Release: Victory November 8, 2018

Court Rejects Utah’s Efforts To Undermine Off-Road Vehicle Planning On 6 Mil Acres

Environmental groups have fought off an attempt by Utah to derail protections for public lands, including lands surrounding Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Dinosaur National Monument

The Ragged Mountain proposed wilderness in the Henry Mountains and Fremont Gorge travel management area, one of the proposed wilderness areas in new “travel management areas” contemplated by the settlement agreement.
(Photo © Ray Bloxham / SUWA)
Press Release: Victory May 31, 2017

BLM-Utah Will Revisit Decisions Regarding Off-Highway Vehicles And Oil And Gas Development In Red Rock Country

Longstanding litigation over six BLM-Utah land use plans and travel management plans brought to a close

Yampa River at the Dinosaur National Monument.
(Photo courtesy of Chris M. Morris)
Press Release January 25, 2017

Settlement Reached on Utah Land Use Plans

Bush era land use and off-highway vehicle travel plans will be updated

Factory Butte in Utah is among the 2.1 million acres of public lands managed by the BLM Richfield Field Office.
(Photo courtesy of Ray Bloxham and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance)
Article January 12, 2016

Court Says BLM Must Survey Utah’s Red Rock Country for Cultural Artifacts

After decades of foot dragging, the Bureau of Land Management must finally take necessary steps to protect Utah’s world-renowned archeological sites from off-road vehicles.

Factory Butte in Utah is among the 2.1 million acres of public lands managed by the BLM Richfield Field Office.
(John Buie / CC BY 2.0)
Press Release: Victory December 30, 2015

Court Rejects Controversial Request to Delay Cultural Resource Surveys in Utah's Red Rock Country

First of six legal challenges to federal land use plans that put priceless cultural artifacts and some of the most spectacular landscapes in America at risk

Factory Butte
(Photograph courtesy of Ray Bloxham and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance)
Article: Victory June 17, 2015

Utah Court Protects Thousands of Acres of Scenic Land from ATV, Dirt Bike Riders

Earthjustice and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance recently won a court case that will force the Bureau of Land Management to minimize the impacts of off-road vehicles and to conduct detailed inventories of Native American cultural sites on over 2 million acres of scenic public lands.

Factory Butte in southern Utah.
(Photo courtesy of Ray Bloxham / SUWA)
Article November 13, 2013

A Victory for Utah’s Red Rock Country

Signaling the end of an era in which off-road vehicles like ATVs and jeeps were allowed to run roughshod over public lands, a federal judge in Utah has struck down a Bureau of Land Management ORV plan for 2.1-million acres of central Utah. Earthjustice attorneys and a coalition of conservation groups spent five years challenging…

document November 4, 2013

Utah BLM Richfield Decision

Press Release November 4, 2013

Court Strikes Down Controversial Federal Land Use Plan

BLM plan designated thousands of miles of ORV routes, placing iconic western landscapes at risk

Utah's treasured and iconic landscapes—including Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park and Dinosaur National Monument—are wonders that were formed by natural forces acting over millennia.
(Darren J. Bradley / Shutterstock)
Article October 18, 2013

Supreme Court Preserves Victory Over Oil/Gas Development

It is rewarding to successfully wrap-up a case. This can be especially true when our work protects special places, preserving them for future generations. It is a pleasure to be able to point at a map and say, “Those are the places that were saved.” The U.S. Supreme Court took action last week that did…

Press Release July 3, 2013

Federal Court Hears Conservationists Challenge to Bush-Era Land Use Plan

BLM plan designated thousands of miles of ORV routes, placing iconic western landscapes at risk

Article February 12, 2013

Oil Derricks Won't Be Spoiling The Parks' View

Thanks to a recent federal court decision, visitors to Utah’s public wild lands can continue to raft the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument without seeing oil derricks around the river’s bends. They can continue to enjoy the outlook from Canyonlands National Park’s Grand View Point without drill rigs littering the landscape. And they won’t…

Press Release: Victory January 24, 2013

Door Closed to Drilling in Iconic Utah Parks

The 10th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals today put an end to the energy industry’s attempt to force Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to issue 77 oil and gas leases at the doorstep of some of Utah’s most treasured and iconic landscapes, including Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Dinosaur National Monument. The…

Press Release December 21, 2012

Conservationists File Opening Brief in Longstanding Challenge to Bush-Era BLM Land Use Plans

Richfield resource management plan designated over 4,200 miles of route for ORVs; short-changed iconic western landscapes including Dirty Devil, Muddy Creek, and Factory Butte

Press Release: Victory September 6, 2012

Federal Court Upholds Decision Not to Permit Oil and Gas Leases on Sensitive Utah Lands

Energy industry’s challenge denied

Press Release February 17, 2011

Interior Department Agrees to Take "Fresh Look" at Oil Shale Leasing Policies on Public Lands

Coalition sees potential for new rules to benefit taxpayers, environment

Dinosaur National Monument in Utah.
(Photo courtesy of Jpoage / Flickr)
case: Victory October 9, 2009

Protecting Utah Wild Lands from Off-Road Vehicles

In late 2008, the Bush administration attempted to cement its pro-development philosophy in the BLM’s land management plans applicable to Utah’s public lands for decades to come. These public lands include areas adjacent to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, and Ninemile and Desolation Canyons. The development authorized under these plans will have…

Press Release October 8, 2009

Federal Report Confirms Problems with Last Minute Bush-Era Oil and Gas Lease Sale

Interior Secretary yanks oil and gas leases from lands near national parks