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CAÑON CITY, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management’s Royal Gorge Field Office is issuing final supplementary rules for the Arkansas River Travel Management Plan area. The rules were published in the Federal Register on Feb. 13, and become effective March 15.

Travel management plans designate uses and travel routes to protect natural resources while still providing various recreational opportunities. The Federal Register notice addresses decisions made through the ARTMP, which was developed with extensive public participation over a period of two years.

“The BLM worked with many groups to designate areas for a variety of uses, and these rules are the result,” said Kalem Lenard, BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner. “For example, the rules limit mountain bikers to designated routes only. By respecting the rules, the public can enjoy these public lands in a balanced and safe way.”

The ARTMP rules include:

1. All motorized travel is limited to designated roads and trails.  For the purposes of parking, including camping, travel is allowed up to 100 feet from the centerline of a designated road or trail only if this travel does not cause or is unlikely to cause significant undue damage to or disturbances of the soil, wildlife, wildlife habitat, improvements, cultural, or vegetative resources or other uses of the public lands.
2. Bicycle riding is limited to designated roads and trails marked open to such use by a Bureau of Land Management sign or map.
3. Recreational target shooting is prohibited on all public lands within the Methodist Mountain Area south of Salida (2,314 acres) and the Turkey Rock area near Howard (361 acres).  These areas are identified as closed to recreational target shooting by either a BLM sign or map.
4. Operation of a motorized vehicle within the area known as Turkey Rock Trials Area (52 acres) is limited to motorcycles specifically designed for observed trials riding.
5. Motorcycles specifically designed for observed trials riding are prohibited within the Turkey Rock Trials Area after sunset or before sunrise.

Exemptions to these rules include: federal, state, local and military persons acting within their duties; organized rescue or firefighting forces performing their official duties; and individuals holding an existing special-use permit who are operating within the scope of their permit.

In the coming months, the BLM will begin installing signs throughout the area to reflect the travel management rules.

For further information and maps log on to: www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo/recreation0.html or contact Kalem Lenard, BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner at 719-269-8500.