Law & Order

Off-Roaders Welcome Utah Public Lands Initiative

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

Leaders within the Utah Congressional Delegation released their draft Public Lands Initiative (PLI), a locally sourced legislative solution impacting more than 18 million acres of land in seven eastern and southern Utah counties. Spearheaded by U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the proposal is the product of three years of work and more than 1,200 meetings with divergent stakeholder groups, including local communities, off-road groups, environmentalists, logging, grazing, energy interests, etc.

Of particular interest to the off-road community, the PLI creates motorized recreation zones in San Juan and Grand Counties encompassing more than 375,000 acres, along with a 93-mile red rock OHV trail connecting towns in Emery, Grand and San Juan Counties.

SEMA is reviewing the draft legislation to confirm that any unprotected existing trails were replaced with trails of equal or better value. The legislation will be formally introduced in the coming weeks.

For more information, visit www.utahpli.com or contact Eric Snyder at erics@sema.org.