In the Fall of 2020, the Price Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management released their decision to open hundreds of miles of roads in the San Rafael Desert. The San Rafael Desert is South of Green River Utah, and features terrain similar to what you
find in Moab without the crowds.
This decision was part of a settlement between wilderness advocates, the BLM, and included multiple defendant intervenors - including BlueRibbon Coalition. The wilderness groups weren’t happy that the BLM recognized and opened hundreds of miles of roads
in this spectacular desert riding area, so they appealed the decision. Their administrative appeal was rejected, so they filed an appeal in federal court.
We joined this appeal as defendant intervenors to ensure that the interests of our members were represented in this legal challenge. We’ve spent time in this area ground-truthing the trails. We’ve reviewed the administrative record. All of this was to prepare
to respond to the complaint filed by the wilderness advocates. The wilderness groups asked for numerous extensions, and months became years.
In January 2022 we learned that BLM released a categorical exclusion to close 35 miles of roads in this travel area. By closing these roads through a categorical exclusion, BLM wasn’t required to solicit public input. In short, this was a devious way to
close roads that had just been analyzed through an extensive process and were the subject of active litigation. We are currently working on appealing this closure, but this closure was the first indication that things were moving in an unexpected direction.
The day after the 30 day window to appeal the 35 miles of closures in the categorical exclusion, our attorneys received notice that the BLM, the Department of Justice, and the wilderness groups had drafted a settlement and motion to dismiss the federal appeal.
This was turning into a classic sue and settle case, where these environmental groups were manipulating the legal process to put themselves in a position to make a backroom deal. Surprisingly, the Defendant Intervenors were left out of the process of negotiating
the terms of the settlement.
Last week BlueRibbon Coalition, the State of Utah, and Ride with Respect submitted our opposition to this sham settlement.