|
In the introduction to a 1979 report by the United States Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) entitled "Off-Road Vehicles on Public Land," CEQ Chairman Charles Warren wrote: "The Council on Environmental Quality sees the off-road vehicle problem as one of the most serious public land use problems that we face." At that time, there were roughly 9,000 registered ORVs in Utah. By 2000, the number had skyrocketed 900% to more than 83,000. Today, it's over 120,000.
SUWA is committed to ensuring that the wild country within America's Red Rock Wilderness Act -- and the streams, wildlife, native plants, archaeological sites, and solitude found there -- are protected from the ORV use that has grown out of control in recent years. Toward that end, we will:
- Press the BLM to comply with its legal responsibility to designate specific ORV trails, and to do so in a way that minimizes conflicts with other users and protects the magnificent resource of Utah's wild redrock country;
- Provide the BLM and the public with information regarding the environmental impacts of ORV use and urge the agency to develop trail designations that make sense; and
- Assist in the clean-up and restoration of ORV-damaged areas through service trips with our members and other partners in the conservation community.
|
