CALL TO ACTION: BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT – WE NEED YOUR HELP TO PRESERVE 18 OF UTAH’S SCENIC BACKCOUNTRY AIRSTRIPS
The BLM has progressed in the process of revising its Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) and invites public comments to guide their final decision.
The BLM is proposing that aircraft only be allowed to take off and land at the Bluff Airport and the Fry Canyon Airstrip. By placing this limitation, it serves to essentially close the other 16 airstrips in the Bears Ears NM until someday when the BLM puts together their implementation-level travel plan and perhaps these airstrips might be reopened. All 18 of the airstrips have existed and been in use for the past 40-70 years and we request that none of them be closed or banned arbitrarily without first evaluating the merits of each.
RAF Utah Liaison and Utah Back Country Pilots board member Wendy Lessig says, “It is essential that we submit positive comments about preserving these recreational assets. Your voice counts!”
Please submit your BENM comments directly via this button:
The deadline to submit public comments is JUNE 11, 2024.
Here are talking points for reference. Please submit your own individualized comments, and include positive, personal reasons for allowing access by private, non-commercial, fixed-wing aircraft:
· Access by GA aircraft for private, non-commercial use protects the objects and values of the National Monument.
· In addition to Bluff Airport and Fry Canyon, access should be provided for the other 16 airstrips by private, non-commercial, fixed-wing aircraft for recreational use, the same use that has been ongoing for the past 40-70 years.
· These existing airstrips are recreational assets, and provide for dispersed primitive camping, especially with increased use of the backcountry by “boondocking” road vehicles.
· Aviation has a very small environmental footprint, the lightest footprint form of access to these lands.
· Access by air requires NO road, nor infrastructure like bridges or corrals.
· Access by air eliminates miles of dusty road traffic.
· Most Utah backcountry airstrips predate the 1964 Wilderness Act. Access and use of these airstrips should be retained.
· Noise from aircraft is transient and of short duration.
· Airstrips are situated on natural flat land features, such as level, open meadows with little occurrence of soil disturbance or erosion.
· Airstrips provide vital access to aid Search and Rescue, emergency response, and firefighting.
· Airstrips offer possible life-saving options when small aircraft encounter mechanical problems or deteriorating weather conditions while flying over the relatively unforgiving terrain in southern Utah.
· Peer-reviewed research substantiates that small aircraft noise has no detrimental impact on wildlife.
· Backcountry airstrips offer recreational access to the disabled and those with limited mobility and without the need for strenuous physical activity to enjoy our public lands.
· Airstrips are trailheads: aviators are non-motorized recreationists, participating in hiking, camping and other low-impact activities. These users practice “Leave No Trace” ethics.
· The Recreational Aviation Foundation and the Utah Backcountry Pilots work in collaboration with the BLM and USFS to provide cooperative maintenance of backcountry airstrips, saving administrative resources that can be used elsewhere.
Your public comments count.
Thank you for helping preserve these unique and priceless backcountry aviation assets.
These 18 airstrips are in the BENM and could potentially be affected:
Airstrip | Latitude | Longitude | Documented Existence Year |
Brown’s Rim | 37.854 | -110.299 | 1952 |
Fry Canyon South | 37.613 | -110.139 | 1952 |
Sipapu Bridge | 37.6255 | -110.034 | 1952 |
Deer Flat | 37.6654 | -110.027 | 1954 |
Dry Fork Canyon | 38.0933 | -109.616 | 1954 |
Hammond-Kigalia Point | 37.6843 | -109.773 | 1954 |
Bluff | 37.2535 | -109.636 | 1962 |
Mule Canyon | 37.4739 | -109.71 | 1962 |
Red House Spring | 37.4815 | -110.184 | 1963 |
Dark Canyon North | 37.89585 | -110.089 | 1980 |
Dark Canyon South | 37.8242 | -110.09 | 1980 |
Fry Canyon | 37.6515 | -110.171 | 1980 |
Long Canyon | 37.7817 | -110.159 | 1980 |
Clay Hills Crossing | 37.317 | -110.367 | 1987 |
Lockhart Basin | 38.3268 | -109.706 | 1987 |
Lockhart Road | 38.3292 | -109.681 | 1987 |
Polly Mesa | 37.3877 | -110.124 | 2006 |
Valley of the Gods | 37.2531 | -109.92 | 2006 |
Photo credit: Bureau of Land Management
Please do not restrict access to the existing airstrips in the BENM. General aviation has one of the smallest environmental impacts of any transportation mode, and these strips have been open for many decades without incident. Access to the backcountry out west is being restricted on a daily basis. What good is creating all of this wilderness if no one can enjoy it? Public land should be available to the public! JG
Great comment, John! Would you copy/paste it to the BLM’s ePlanning web site? The link is in the body of the article, just below the quote from the RAF Utah Liaison. Thank you so much for your support and participation!
[…] RAF officials have put together a list of “talking points” to help pilots put together their comments, as well as a list of all 18 airstrips in the BENM here. […]
Submitted save Utah
On behalf of the 150 members of EAA Chapter 1241 in the Florida Keys, I urge BLM to keep all 18 backcountry airstrips in Bears Ear National Monument open for public access.
Although EAA Chapter 1241 is located in the chain of islands below Miami at the very southeast corner of the US and far away for BENM, you may be interested to know that we have members who tour literally all across the United States every year, taking advantage of publicly owned backcountry airstrips to enjoy the scenic beauty and spectacular natural outdoors that are unique to our great nation’s public lands.
The nature of aviation is that it shrinks distances and travel time while creating access to lands all across the US that would be inaccessible otherwise.
As a personal note, my wife and I spend about three months every year touring the US and we absolutely treasure our extensive visits to the marvelous scenery and backcountry strips in Utah.
Please visit AOPA.org/PILOT/Kitfox for a featured article in the world’s most widely read aviation magazine, AOPA PILOT, for a better understanding of what my comments above can not adequately describe.
Sincerely
Dr & Mrs Robert D Jones
Advocacy Committee Chair
EAA Chapter 1241
326 Stirrup Key Blvd
Marathon, Fl 33050
443-480-1023 drjones7788@gmail.com