Bureau of Land Management Kanab Field Office Announces Record of Decision for Approved Resource Management Plan

Contact:  Harry Barber, 435-644-4600

Kanab, Utah—October 31, 2008—Bureau of Land Management Utah State Director Selma Sierra, announces the release of the Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan for the Kanab Field Office.  The Record of Decision was signed by Department of the Interior, Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, C. Stephen Allred on Oct. 31, 2008.  Signature of this document constitutes the final decision by the BLM and makes the Approved Resource Management Plans effective immediately.

"The Kanab planning process began about five years ago and has kept the staff at the Kanab Field Office incredibly busy as they worked within their respective resources to get the job done.  I see the Approved Plan as the culmination of these efforts providing us with a document that has been reviewed by the public and vetted by the State - a document that will address resource management in the Kanab Field office for the next 20 years, and one that will provide our users with appropriate levels of multiple use opportunities," said Kanab Field Office Manager Harry Barber.

This new plan represents important shifts in how BLM manages the public lands.  It took approximately five years to complete because BLM wanted to ensure that the commitments these plans represent were followed through.  Following are some of the major issues that were addressed and the key decisions that were made in the plans.

Travel management is considered to be one of the hottest issues on public lands today, and this is particularly true for the Kanab Field Office.  BLM Utah is shifting from allowing open, cross-country travel on nearly all public lands to allowing travel only on specifically identified routes.  The Approved Plan designates off-highway vehicle routes on 528,000 acres (95 percent) of the Field Office, and closes 25,000 acres (5 percent) to off-highway vehicle use.

Recreation on public lands in Utah is world renowned.  To minimize conflicts between different types of recreation enthusiasts (for example back-country hikers and jeep enthusiasts), BLM had to identify where recreation opportunities exist, then prioritize where these different types of recreation should be allowed, with public land protection being the primary goal of this exercise.  To achieve this delicate balance, BLM has designated six new Special Recreation Management Areas totaling 95,000 acres.  These areas focus different types of recreation in order to limit conflicts and protect resources such as sensitive plants, spectacular views, and cultural sites.  New special recreation management areas include Kanab Community, Paria, Moquith Mountain, Orderville Canyon, North Fork Virgin River and Escalante.

The plan also manages five areas for wilderness characteristics, designates one new Area of Critical Environmental Concern and found six river segments suitable for designation into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. 

The protest letters received on the plan were reviewed by the BLM Director in Washington, D.C. over the last couple of months.  After careful consideration of all points raised in these protests, the National BLM Director’s analysis shows that BLM Utah followed all laws, policies, and pertinent resource considerations in developing the plan. Minor clarifications resulting from this review are incorporated into the Approved Resource Management Plan and discussed in the Record of Decision.
 
Finally, the State of Utah Governor’s office exercised its right to review the plans and sent a letter concluding that the plan was consistent with State or local plans.  BLM is pleased with this outcome, because working with the State of Utah was of particular importance to Selma Sierra, the BLM Utah State Director.

Electronic copies of the Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan will be available beginning the week of November 3 on the Kanab Field Office web site at:
http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/kanab/planning.html