UPDATE 4/1/2025 - The BLM is changing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) status of the Trail Canyon Travel Management Plan (TMP) on ePlanning to CANCELLED. The CANCELLED status is necessary to allow the BLM to balance agency priorities and associated workloads, incorporate input from incoming agency leadership, and re-engage with cooperating agencies. The BLM is cognizant of its responsibilities under the 2017 Settlement Agreement in Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior, et al. and will continue working on a variety of non-NEPA tasks associated with the development of the Trail Canyon TMP. Future NEPA actions such as public input and review pertaining to the Trail Canyon TMP will be completed under a different NEPA number. 

02/01/2021: The BLM Utah Kanab Field Office published preliminary route evaluation documents and the supporting materials as required by section 16(d) of the 2017 settlement agreement. Subsection d. of the procedural requirements section of the settlement agreement requires the BLM to provide the public and stakeholder's a review of preliminary route evaluation information. In response to the settlements procedural requirement as set forth in section 16(d), The Kanab Field Office has prepared and made available to the public and stakeholders for review, (1) a Travel Management Plan Scoping Report, including an appendix with copies of all public and stakeholder correspondence received to date, unless prohibited by law; (2) preliminary alternatives maps; and (3) draft route reports. In addition to the items listed in 16(d), in accordance with section 20(a)(5c), the BLM has also made available for public and stakeholder review its draft baseline monitoring report, more information on the baseline monitoring report can be found in section 20 of the 2017 settlement agreement. All associated documents, maps, and applicable underlying GIS data have been published on the Trail Canyon Travel Management Plan EA (NEPA # DOI-BLM-UT-P020-2021-0002-EA) ePlanning project page.

Hard copies may be made available upon request by emailing [email protected] or calling 435-644-1244, due to the variety of data formats used only some documents are available in hard copy format, some may only be available in digital format. 

Although there will not be a formal comment period associated with this information release, the Kanab Field Office encourages the public and stakeholders to review and compile comments for submission. The next formal comment period will commence at the time of the release of the Preliminary EA (environmental assessment) and associated Draft Travel Management Plan (TMP). The BLM anticipates the release of the Preliminary EA/Draft TMP early 2021. 

If the public or any stakeholder is determined to provide feedback on the released documents, it would be most helpful if received by 02/16/2021. Feedback can be emailed to the email address referenced above, or sent by mail to BLM KFO, ATTN: Trail Canyon TMP, 669 South Highway 89A, Kanab, Utah, 84741.

Project Background

In accordance with the May 31, 2017 settlement agreement reached in Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior, et al., U.S. District Court (D. Utah) Consolidated Case No. 2:12-cv-257, the BLM must issue a new TMP for the Trail Canyon TMA. Moreover, the proposed TMP will also help the BLM comply with Presidential Executive Order 11989, which states that TMPs be developed to protect the natural resources of public lands while minimizing conflicts among the various users of those lands. This Executive Order amended and strengthened Executive Order 11644. 

As part of its 2008 Resource Management Plan (RMP), an interdisciplinary team (IDT) of BLM specialists and cooperators completed a travel plan for the entire field office (see 2008 RMP, Appendix 7). In the 2008 travel plan, the BLM designated 501 miles of routes for OHV use in the Trail Canyon TMA while closing 11.5 inventoried route miles to all motorized use and earmarking them for reclamation, offering protections for the area’s natural and cultural resources. The 2017 Settlement Agreement required the BLM to take a revised look at the designations assigned in 2008 and consider any additional travel-related impacts within the TMA (including route proliferation, increased recreation use conflicts, habitat fragmentation, and erosion).