| Contacts: | David Boyd, Public Affairs Specialist, (970) 876-9008 |
Motorized travel limited to existing roads and trails in Little Snake (02-16-12)
CRAIG, Colo.— With a mild winter continuing and spring fast approaching, the Bureau of Land Management’s Little Snake Field Office is reminding the public that motorized-use within the majority of its boundaries in Moffat, Routt and northern Rio Blanco counties is now limited to existing roads and trails.
Under the Little Snake Field Office Resource Management Plan signed in fall 2011, motorized access is allowed on the majority of the lands managed by the field office, but motorized vehicles need to stay on existing roads and trails unless they are marked otherwise. Prior to this updated plan, motorized users could travel cross-county over about 73 percent of the 1.1 million acres managed by the field office.
To continue to provide the opportunity for off-road recreation, the field office specifically manages nearly 20,000 acres in the South Sand Wash Basin as an area open to off-road motorized use.
“These decisions allow us to continue to manage the majority of the field office for motorized access while also protecting sensitive resources,” said Wendy Reynolds, Little Snake Field Manager.
Some areas within the field office are closed to all motorized travel, including all Wilderness Study Areas; the Serviceberry, Fly Creek, and Emerald Mountain Special Recreation Management Areas; the Maybell Uranium Pit; and the Irish Canyon Area of Critical Environmental Concern.
Over the next several years the field office will undergo a specific travel management planning effort to identify a designated road and trail system. This effort will involve significant participation from the public. The field office will begin inventorying roads and trails as part of this effort this summer.
For more information, call the Little Snake Field Office, (970) 826-5000.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
455 Emerson Street Craig, CO 81625