Settlement proposed for contentious land-use plans in 8 counties

Settlement proposed for contentious land-use plans in 8 counties

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SALT LAKE CITY — Under litigation for eight years and covering some 10 million acres, controversial travel plans in eight Utah counties may reach a negotiated settlement.

The Bureau of Land Management, a coalition of 10 environmental and conservation groups, as well as three off-highway vehicle associations, filed the proposal with the U.S. District Court on Friday.

The court needs to approve of the negotiation, which four energy companies and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration indicated they would not oppose.

Under the agreement — which does not meet the approval of the eight impacted counties or the state — the BLM agrees to revamp 13 travel plans over an eight-year period. The impacted counties are Carbon, Duchesne, Daggett, Emery, Grand, Kane, San Juan and Uintah.

The proposal requires the BLM to conduct an on-the-ground inventory of cultural resources on about half the land covered under the travel plans, but only survey those areas with a "high potential" for impact to cultural resources.

Environmental groups challenged the travel plans immediately after their option in 2008 under Bush-era management plans they complained were titled heavily in favor of oil and gas extraction and off-roading.

After protracted court battles, parties directly involved in the suit negotiated the compromise.

“This hard-fought compromise agreement will focus BLM’s time and resources on the places most at risk,” said Stephen Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “We look forward to working with the (off-highway vehicle) advocates and federal defendants to get this settlement agreement approved and in place so that BLM can turn its attention to the tasks at hand, including working with all stakeholders to minimize the impacts from off-highway vehicles on Utah’s remarkable federal public land."

The proposed settlement requires an additional analysis by the BLM on potential oil and gas impacts, and to offer mitigation strategies should they be warranted. The agreement does not identify any roads for closure, nor does it solve any of the state or counties' claims to RS2477 roads — those in dispute under an 1860s law that set up a transportation network in the unsettled West.

In addition, the agreement would not unravel the results of a November 2014 oil-gas lease sale under contention, and it does not designate any wilderness study areas. The BLM will also evaluate three areas of critical environmental concern proposed for designation under the 2008 plans, but not included.

The revised travel plans will be up for public comment as they roll out.

“After more than eight years of litigation, I'm pleased to see these legal challenges put aside,” said BLM Utah State Director Ed Roberson. “I look forward to focusing our attention and resources on managing Utah’s incredible public lands, unmatched opportunities for recreation, and responsible energy development.”

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