BLM Moab Field Office Announces Two Purchases of Private Lands in the Colorado River Special Recreation Management Area

Contact: Shelley Smith, 435-259-2100

Moab, Utah—April 22, 2009—In partnership with The Trust for Public Lands (TPL) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Bureau of Land Management has purchased, with Land and Water Conservation Fund monies, 1,116 acres of private land, within or adjacent to the Colorado River Special Recreation Management Area. These lands are now under the jurisdiction of the BLM Moab Field Office in Utah.  Together, the two purchases will aid the BLM in the protection of valuable resources within the Colorado River Special Recreation Management Area.

This acquisition was accomplished in the following described two purchases.  With Trust for Public Lands administrative assistance, four parcels of land totaling 956 acres were purchased.  The parcels include 2.1 miles of riverfront property on the Colorado River between the Utah/Colorado border and BLM’s Westwater Ranger Station, a section of the river seen daily by passengers on the California Zephyr Amtrak trains and visited by approximately 32,000 visitors who boat annually through Ruby/Horsethief Canyons. This purchase will help protect the scenic and recreational values within the Colorado River canyon, it will enhance public access to the Colorado River between the Utah/Colorado state line and the BLM Westwater Ranger Station, and will provide land for the future expansion of public facilities at the ranger station. 

The private parcels are located within an important bird migration corridor along the Colorado River, providing excellent habitat for waterfowl, wild turkey, shorebirds and neotropical migratory birds, including the Southwestern willow flycatcher, the bald eagle and possibly the state sensitive yellow-billed cuckoo.

Bald eagles winter and nest near the newly-acquired lands.  Bald eagle nests are considered rare in Utah and the purchased lands offer forage and habitat for future nest sites. 

A second purchase of 160 acres from The Nature Conservancy in the Moab Rim area near Moab, will help BLM Utah protect scenic values within the Colorado River corridor, ensure public access to the Behind-the-Rocks Wilderness Study Area and other public lands on the Moab Rim, provide for consolidated management of recreation uses on the Moab Rim Trail, and ensure protection of other valuable resources. 

BLM-administered public lands adjacent to the Moab Rim parcel are managed to protect the following outstandingly remarkable values:  scenery, recreation, wildlife, fish, cultural, geology and ecological values.  The approximately one-half mile of Colorado River frontage on the Moab Rim parcel contains similar values to those on adjacent downstream public lands.

The parcel includes approximately 2900 feet of the Moab Rim Trail, a popular route for hiking, biking, fitness training, walking dogs, and jeeping.  BLM use data indicates that approximately 42,500 visitors annually recreate on the Moab Rim Trail. The trail through the 160-acre parcel provides access to BLM’s Behind-the-Rocks area.
 
The cliff walls on the parcel and adjacent BLM lands provide habitat for the following state sensitive plant species:  Canyonlands biscuitroot, alcove rock daisy, and alcove bog orchid.  There is also habitat for the western hophornbeam and alcove death camas, two narrowly-distributed plant species.  Protection of these species supported The Nature Conservancy’s purchase of the Moab Rim parcel in 2005.  BLM management will continue to protect these species.

Money for the acquisitions was provided through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).  The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 established an account in the U.S. Treasury derived from federal recreation fees, sales of federal surplus real property, the federal motorboat fuels tax and the Outer Continental Shelf mineral receipts.  The purpose is to support state and federal acquisition of lands and waters for recreational and conservation purposes.  For federal acquisitions, a project generally should be located within or adjacent to an established or proposed federal unit – park, refuge, forest, or federally-managed area, as is the case for the BLM acquisitions within the Colorado River Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA).

With the support of the Grand County Council, Moab City, The Utah Guides and Outfitters, National Wild Turkey Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Friends of Westwater, Trust for Public Lands, The Nature Conservancy and many other groups and individuals who supported the acquisitions, Congress appropriated funds in fiscal years 2006 and 2007 toward the acquisitions in the Colorado River Special Recreation Management Area.

The BLM manages more land – 256 million acres – than any other Federal agency.  This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska.  The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation.  The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.  The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.