June 22, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUWA Statement on Approval of 10 New Backcountry Airstrips in Southern Utah’s Redrock Country – 6.22.26
None of the airstrips were previously designated or open to use and many were reclaimed
Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Salt Lake City, UT – Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a decision approving 10 backcountry airstrips in the BLM’s Canyon Country District, which includes the Moab and Monticello field offices in the heart of Utah’s redrock country. These airstrips, many of which show no signs of recent use and none of which were open to use, are scattered across some of the most remote and ecologically sensitive landscapes in southern Utah—including the Gemini Bridges/Labyrinth Canyon area and the remote backcountry immediately adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument. Below is a statement from SUWA Wildlands Director Neal Clark and additional information. Clark and additional information.
“The BLM continues to push motorized use in remote, wilderness-quality landscapes, to the benefit of a handful of private pilots and the detriment of wildlife, native vegetation, and public lands users seeking quiet, backcountry experiences,” said Neal Clark, Wildlands Director at the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “The unwillingness of both BLM and the backcountry pilots to acknowledge the reality of conditions on the ground and remove six of the airstrips from consideration – including those adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument – is unfortunate. We’ll be exploring all options to stop new and intrusive backcountry airplanes in these areas.”
Additional information:
Based on recent on-the-ground fieldwork, SUWA called on the BLM to reject six of the ten proposed airstrips: Spring Canyon, Big Flat, Castle Creek, Nokai Dome, Piute, and Red Canyon; a map of those six airstrips can be found here. None of these airstrips have ever been officially designated, and despite unauthorized past use, many of these locations will require extensive clearing and ground disturbance as they have begun reclaiming and are not functional for takeoff or landing. Reopening them would require removal of mature native plants like blackbrush and junipers, fragmenting habitat and degrading wilderness characteristics. Several locations are within BLM-identified wilderness-quality lands or directly adjacent to Bears Ears National Monument, where aircraft noise and visual intrusions would diminish the solitude, natural soundscapes, and cultural landscapes these areas were meant to protect.
The Spring Canyon and Big Flat airstrips lie within crucial bighorn habitat along the Green River corridor and near Canyonlands National Park—the same landscape where the BLM already restricts other recreation activities to protect these important species during lambing season. Similarly, raptors nesting near Big Flat, Nokai Dome, and other sites are highly sensitive to aviation noise, which discourages use of otherwise suitable nesting habitat.
SUWA’s members submitted over 2,500 comments in opposition to the decision. This decision comes on the heels of BLM approving the Keg Knoll airstrip in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness on June 12, 2026.
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
