Arizona & Utah new land management

[HappyJack]

I received the below info. Please take the time to respond. I have been to both of these areas. Many of the trails have been closed. Let's try to save what remains.


USA-ALL ACTION ALERT
Personal message from Brian:
This is the 3rd ACTION ALERT we've sent out regarding the Arizona Strip Planning effort. Frankly, response has been dismal. Recently, the BLM released some "preliminary management concepts" for public review and comment. It's clear that in spite of the recent court ruling that additional Wilderness Study Areas are illegal, the BLM intends to designate de-facto WSAs, and just call them by a different name.

The distressing part about the BLM's intent here is that the concept of Multiple Use/Sustained Yield management has been totally forgotten. Out of the millions of acres on the Arizona Strip, only a small fraction will be managed under the tested and proven management strategy of multiple use. The rest, sadly, will be locked up as de-facto wilderness or "primitive areas".

All of the talk about these ephemeral management concepts might not mean anything to a lot of you. Let me try and put this into perspective, and inject just a bit of selfishness into all of this. What the American people, and especially you as an OHV user, stand to loose is the ability to access a huge swath of unique and remarkable public lands. Most access to a giant portion of area overlooking the Grand Canyon will be forever closed. Hardworking desert motorcyclists stand to loose one of the most popular NATIONAL desert races, the Rhino Rally.

It's hard to imagine the scope of this loss unless you have been there. This is truly a remarkable area. The roads and trails in this are are National Treasures. We've got to keep them open!

USA-ALL needs your help on this. All we are asking for is a quick email. It won't take more than a couple of minutes.
Please, do it today!
Thanks,
Brian Hawthorne
Utah Shared Access Alliance



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USA-ALL ACTION ALERT
URGENT ACTION REQUESTED -- DEADLINE MONDAY, JULY 7 2003
COMMENT LETTERS VIA EMAIL NEEDED

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Situation:
BLM is formulating management plans for the Vermillion Cliffs and the Grand Canyon Parashant national monuments as well as revising the management plan for BLM lands on the Arizona Strip. BLM recently requested comments regarding several proposed 'management concepts'. BLMs preference is to designate much of the area as "primitive management areas".
What you need to do:
Comment letters are needed urgently via e-mail. Email address and information to help you with your comments are below. Deadline is close of business (4:30 pm MST) Monday, July 7, 2003.

Additional information is available on BLMs website: http://www.az.blm.gov/asfo/index.htm
Navigate to the relevant info by clicking on: "Arizona Strip Resource Management Plan Revision, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument Management Plan, and Vermilion Cliffs National Monument Management Plan"
Then click: "News/Events" (on the right)
Then click: "Public comment sought on Draft Preliminary Management Alternatives"

Send comments to:
Diana Hawks, Planning Coordinator, BLM Arizona Strip C/O this email address: Arizona_Strip@blm.gov

Comment Suggestions:

It's always a good idea to tell the BLM just a little bit about yourself and how much you and your family enjoys OHV use
on public lands in Utah.

BLM is attempting a Zone Management concept similar to the one use on the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. All comments must oppose this unwise and unfair management concept and strongly support multiple use/sustained yield management on ALL BLM lands.

Tell the BLM you DO NOT support the designation of additional wilderness study areas, or de-facto wilderness study areas.

Tell the BLM you DO NOT support "primitive management areas" or other 'zones' where multiple use management is minimized.

Tell the BLM you support the Multiple Use/Sustained Yield management concept on ALL BLM lands, including monuments!!

Tell the BLM you want all existing roads and trails left open.

Tell the BLM you really enjoy the rugged roads that give access to Grand Canyon overlooks.

Tell them the trails use for the Rhino Rally must be left open.

 

[unclemeat]

I am not not trying to start a political discussion. But it seems to me that the federal government, republician or democratic controlled, continues to close public land to off road vehicles. We seem to have the same problem with the George Washington National Forest, here in Virginia. My personal opinion is that it sucks. Closing one area puts more stress on another area, giving the government justification to close more areas.

 

[HappyJack]

I think that the Federal Gov. doesn't do anything without a large amount of $$$'s being spent somewhere. My understanding is that the Seirra Club and Earth First are behind all of this. We are the easy target for these groups. They raise large amouts of money to "save" the planet and use it to take our public lands from us. They have supporters in place in the BLM and US Forest Service. While having a Republican in office will slow them down a little, they are not going away. Monday is the deadline for you to respond. Please write an e-mail to Diana Hawks and tell her you support multi use/ sustained yeild management on all public land. Tell her to leave all roads and trails open. Tell her you do not support primitive management zones or any thing that restricts multi use. Well you get the idea. It doesn't take long. Be sure to include your full name and address. Let them know who we are and we are not going away either.

Thank you.