The federal government owns nearly 57% of the land in Utah. How that land is designated and managed has been a source of contention, uncertainty and lawsuits for decades. Since 2012, Rep. Rob Bishop and Rep. Jason Chaffetz have been leading an effort to bring all the stakeholders together to reach agreement on a final status for the land. Eight counties in eastern Utah are now participating in the “Utah Public Lands Initiative” (PLI). Grand County and Moab are a focal point. To follow is the current status.

-ORBA is working closely with Rep. Rob Bishop, Rep. Jason Chaffetz and others in pursuit of a successful PLI.

-Both Congressmen are long-time champions of keeping public lands open for public usage, including motorized recreation.

-Hundreds of meetings have been held on the PLI. Grand County and the other counties are now in the process of making land-use recommendations to be compiled into legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress.

-Only Grand County appears to be considering road/trail closures, or closures without a net positive trade-off.

-Previous versions of the Grand County proposal were far more balanced especially recreationally but not approved by the previously elected Commissioners.

-All eight county proposals sent to Washington will be reviewed and subject to revision.

-ORBA will be working with the lawmakers to address any onerous closures during the review process. We ask that you contact us now if you have specific closure concerns so that we can help coordinate the effort and work in a collaborative process. Toward that goal, please contact Fred Wiley (fwiley@orba.biz) or Stuart Gosswein (stuartg@sema.org) with comments, questions and inquiries.

ORBA is a national non-profit trade association of motorized off-road related businesses formed to promote and preserve off-road recreation. ORBA proactively protects recreation access and opportunities by ensuring that America’s families are not arbitrarily denied the right to responsibly recreate. ORBA provides leadership in addressing land use issues by advancing policies that conserve the environment while at the same time providing off-road recreation opportunities.