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Federal Court Rules Against BLM Management Plan

SUWA
The Factory Butte area of Wayne County, Utah is covered by the Richfield Field Office Resource Management Plan

  A federal court in Salt Lake City ruled against the Bureau of Land Management yesterday in a key case involving off-road vehicle use.

The B-L-M issued six Resource Management Plans for different areas in Utah during the final weeks of the Bush Administration.  Environmental groups challenged all of them, focusing particularly on their plans for off-road vehicle travel.  Ruling on the management plan for the Richfield Field Office, Federal Judge Dale Kimball invalidated B-L-M’s off-road trail designations and directed the agency to complete new surveys for historic and cultural sites.

Steve Bloch, an attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, applauded the ruling.

Bloch told KUER, “This landmark ruling from the federal district court here in Salt Lake City should be the writing on the wall for B-L-M about the viability of their off-road vehicle travel plans, not only for the Richfield Field Office, but for five more field offices across the southern and eastern parts of the state.”

The parties to the case have until December 6th to file briefs on how to resolve the issues.

A spokesperson for the B-L-M declined to comment on the ruling because the case is still in the courts.

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