April 14, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUWA Statement on Litigation over the Final Henry Mountains/Dirty Devil Travel Management Plan – 4.14.25
Contacts:
Laura Peterson, Staff Attorney, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) (801) 236-3762; (laura@suwa.org)
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Salt Lake City, UT – Last week, the Idaho-based Blue Ribbon Coalition and others sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over the Henry Mountains/Dirty Devil Travel Management Plan, which was finalized in January 2025. Below is a statement from SUWA Staff Attorney Laura Peterson and additional information.
“Motorized recreation groups are relentless in their desire to turn the remote and stunning areas in the heart of Utah’s redrock country into an off-road vehicle free-for-all. We’re not going to stand by and let that happen,” said Laura Peterson, SUWA Staff Attorney. “While BLM’s Henry Mountains/Dirty Devil travel plan got many things wrong, one thing it did right was not opening many so-called “routes” to motorized vehicles – routes that do not exist on the ground, damage cultural sites or cause serious environmental harm. BlueRibbon’s repeated lawsuits over these recently-completed travel plans have nothing to do with public lands access or seeking balance between motorized and non-motorized recreation; they have everything to do with wanting every inch of Utah to be a motorized playground.”
Additional information:
Conservation groups challenged BLM’s 2008 Henry Mountains/Dirty Devil Travel Management Plan and a federal court ruled that the 2008 plan failed to minimize damage from motorized vehicles and failed to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The Henry Mountains/Dirty Devil litigation ultimately led to the 2017 court-supervised settlement agreement.
The plan covers roughly 1,450,000 acres of BLM-managed public lands primarily within the Richfield Field Office’s Henry Mountains Field Station. It is made up of several distinct and renowned landscapes, including the Dirty Devil Canyon complex, the Henry Mountains, and the stunning badlands surrounding Factory Butte.
In September 2024, the BLM released a draft motorized vehicle travel management plan and accompanying environmental assessment, which analyzed the varying impacts of each alternative travel network under consideration. Of those alternatives, only Alternative B would have provided some balance between motorized recreation and non-motorized recreation while also minimizing damage to natural and cultural resources.
Alternative B would have allowed motorized vehicles on more than 1,300 miles of routes, ensuring access to motorized and non-motorized recreation opportunities, scenic overlooks, and trailheads, while also preserving this stunning backcountry area. The BLM selected a travel plan that designates 1,670 miles of motorized vehicle routes, opening 114 miles of routes that were previously closed to vehicles. This includes new routes in areas that BLM is supposed to manage to protect wilderness values.
On March 28, 2025, Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT-02) introduced H.R.2376, legislation that would nullify the Henry Mountains/Dirty Devil Travel Management Plan. The legislation has no cosponsors and has not yet received a hearing.
The Henry Mountains/Dirty Devil Travel Management Plan is one of 11 travel plans the BLM is completing over the next few years as part of a 2017 court-supervised settlement agreement between the agency, conservation organizations, and ORV groups. Covering more than 6 million acres of BLM-managed lands in eastern and southern Utah, these plans will determine where motorized vehicles are allowed on some of Utah’s wildest public lands. To date, the BLM has completed four of the 11 plans, with others underway. Read more about SUWA’s litigation to ensure these travel plans follow federal laws to protect public lands and resources.
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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 this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.