Need Help With Obtaining A Riding Area At Moab, Ut

[ridgrunr]

Hi Folks,

If you've ever ridden at Moab, you know what a terrific place it is. If you haven't yet, you have a treat in store. Unfortunately over the years, the areas where we can ride have shrunk till there is almost no "open" riding areas left.

But now we have an opportunity to actually obtain a Trials dedicated area where we can ride and hold Trials competitions. They are looking for comments. We need help to convince the BLM that they need to do this.

I got this late, and time is short. They need comments by November 30. There is more info on the WTA web page http://www.geocities.com/utahtrials

Please, take a moment to drop them an e-mail letting them know that we need this.

Be sure to put your name and address on it. Here's a copy of mine. Please, don't just copy, paste and send it. Use it as a template, but make it your own. Send it to:

UT_Moab_Comments@blm.gov

You can send hard copies too (I sent both):

Moab Field Office RMP Comments

Bureau of Land Management

Moab Field Office

82 East Dogwood

Moab, UT 84532

Dear BLM Managers,

I participate in off road vehicle sports, particularly Motorcycle Trials. For over twenty years the Wasatch Trials Association (WTA) has held a yearly Trials competition at Moab.

In the '70's, and '80'sand into the '90, the WTA used to hold annual events in the rocks just above the Slick Rock Trail parking lot, but a few years ago there was a push to close much of the rock area, and we were restricted from being able to use that area for our competitions. I would love to see the slick rock trail area expanded laterally to allow for exploration and allow us room to navigate around the bicycle riders.

Since the Slick Rock Trial area was closed to our events we have hunted, mostly in vain for an area where we could ride, and now a glimmer of hope has risen as I understand there is a proposal in the works to create a dedicated "open" Trials motorcycle/bicycle area at Pole mountain near the BFE area. I whole heartedly applaud this effort, and hope that you will do everything possible to make it happen. Although we enjoy the opportunities in Moab of riding on designated roads and trails, we also need "open" areas where we can set our competition sections as the sport requires rugged terrain that can't be found on marked roads and trails. Please don't make the mistake of trying to lock us into a small area. As I am sure you are well aware, OHV's are the fastest growing sport in the nation, and we need an area large enough that will accommodate those growing numbers. Now is the time to make this happen as you are the folks we rely on to ensure that our rights and needs are met too.

We understand that there are places where we should not go, places that do need protection, and we agree those places need to be protected. But the entire area does not need to be closed. It has been my experience that the tighter that you make the restrictions, the more problems you will create for everyone involved. This is exactly why we need an area like the proposed area at Pole Mountain. An area where we can go that is dedicated to our sport where we can recreate without fear of riding in an area where we shouldn't be. This open area also needs to be easily identifiable open area located along easily identified geologic features, or preferably along boundary roads of Ruby Ranch Road on the West, Blue Hills Road on the North, and Duma Point/Ruby Ranch (back way) on the East.

Please, allow us an area where we can be able to recreate too. After all, this is everyone's public lands. Thank you for your help.

Sincerely ,

[mikeid]

That's a very nice letter. I'll forward it to our group of riders up here in Idaho to help send some comments. I hope you are successful. We GPS'd some areas a few years back for the BLM with the idea of some trials designated areas being created, but it just ended up disappearing into the void. We probably ought to follow up and see where things are on that.