The Bureau of Land Management Moab Field Office has announced it is considering new rules to deal with increased impact in the Klondike Bluffs area north of Moab.
Dispersed camping and increased visitation to the popular bike trails in the area have led to problems with human waste, wood collecting and damage to natural, cultural and paleontological resources.
“The establishment of supplementary rules, coupled with the decision to establish designated camping sites, will not only improve access to the Klondike Bluffs Mountain Bike Focus Area, but also revamp the visitor experience for mountain biking, hiking, trail running, camping, paleontological resource viewing, solitude, and wildlife viewing,” said BLM Moab Field Manager Nicollee Gaddis-Wyatt in a press release.
In 2019, the BLM announced that the Klondike Bluffs area would move toward developed campgrounds instead of dispersed camping. The proposed rules under consideration now would “limit camping to developed campgrounds and designated campsites within the Klondike Bluffs Mountain Bike Focus Area and a nearby isolated 160-acre Bureau of Land Management parcel” as well as prohibit collecting wood and requiring portable toilets at campsites where constructed toilets are not provided.
“If the proposed rule is implemented, 1,662,581 acres or 91 percent of the field office would remain available for dispersed camping,” the BLM press release noted.
The proposed supplementary rules are available online at: http://go.usa.gov/xFf6n.
The office is seeking public comment on the proposed rule changes; comments will be accepted through Oct. 18, 2021. Written comments may be mailed or hand-delivered to the BLM Moab Field Office (Attn: Katie Stevens, 82 East Dogwood, Moab, UT 84532) or emailed to kstevens@blm.gov.
