March 2, 2006
Contact: Rey Adame 307-352-0399
Jo Foster 307-352-0327

BLM Road Closure Reminder

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Rock Springs reminds recreationists that roads into the Wilderness Study Area are permanently closed. The annual reminder of road closure is designed to protect the Wilderness Study Areas.

“These roads have been closed for more that twenty years. In many cases, where the road closures have been effective, those roads have begun to heal and in some cases, they are completely healed over” says Jo Foster, Outdoor Recreation Planner assigned to the Rock Springs Field Office.

Foster explained, “It is critical that we protect these areas from human activity. The areas were set aside by congress in 1983, as a study to determine if these areas were worthy of protection as wilderness. Congress provided the protections and only congress can determine if these areas should either retain the protection as wilderness areas or be removed from protection. Until that designation happens, the BLM is mandated to protect the areas as Wilderness.”

The reminder is sent out each spring for about the past 23 years and includes the Adobe Town, Alkali Basin, Alkali Draw, Buffalo Hump, Devils Playground, East Sand Dunes, Honeycomb Buttes, Oregon Buttes, Red Creek Badlands, Red Lake, Sand Dunes, South Pinnacles, Twin Buttes, and White Horse Creek Wilderness Study Areas.

Maps of the protected area are available at the BLM Rock Springs Field Office located at 280 Highway 191 North in Rock Springs. BLM Rangers and other employees will be patrolling the area to advise the public of the closure and enforce the vehicle restriction. Signs are posted along the boundary roads and other methods of road closure will be affected if the existing measures are not honored.

“We appreciate the public’s awareness and continued support of this important closure,” said Foster. For more information, contact the BLM at 307-352-00327.

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