Representatives from the Bureau of Land Management and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s office on Wednesday signed a “landmark” agreement to jointly manage the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area.
Under the 10-year agreement, Utah committed to provide hundreds of hours of law enforcement and trail maintenance annually throughout the recreation area, a 217,000-acre landscape that includes the gorge known as the “Little Grand Canyon.” Officials said the added resources should improve trails and visitor facilities, including popular off-highway vehicle, mountain biking, horseback riding and hiking routes through Wild Horse, Cow and Calf canyons.
The agreement is “unique,” acknowledged Christina Price, the BLM’s acting Utah director. She said the BLM and the state have a long history of working together. However, she noted that shared management is mandated by the Dingell Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump in 2019.
Critics agree that additional resources for those areas are needed but said they worry this is another attempt by Utah leaders to put federal lands under state control.
“It feels like a setup for the fox to be put in charge of the henhouse,” Steve Bloch, the legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, told The Salt Lake Tribune.
Read the full article by Julie Jag at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.