Federal Register Notice

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
(UT- 930-08-1210-00)

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior

ACTION: Notice of a temporary closure to off highway vehicle use for portions of the Moquith Mountain Wilderness Study Area including the Coral Pink Sand Dunes

SUMMARY: This notice closes to off highway vehicle (OHV) use approximately 14,140 acres of the Moquith Mountain Wilderness Study Area (WSA) including some 800 acres within the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. Areas within the WSA that will remain open to vehicle use include designated routes within closed areas and approximately 700 acres within the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. OHV access to the open portion of the dunes will be provided by three designated access routes. Five designated routes within the non sand dune portion of the WSA on Moquith Mountain will also remain open. Temporary fencing and signing will be used as necessary to facilitate this action. The authority for this action is 43 CFR 8341.2.

DATES: This closure will begin immediately and remain in effect pending amendment of the Vermilion Land Use Plan, which is expected to be completed by the end of April, 1999.

ADDRESS: Copies of maps are available at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Kanab Area Field Office, 318 North First East, Kanab, Utah 84741 BLM Utah State Office, 324 South State Street, P.O. Box 45155, Salt Lake City, Utah 84145-0155.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Verlin Smith, Kanab Area Field Office, at (435) 644-2672 ext. 2646 or Ronald Bolander, BLM, Utah State Office at (801) 539-4065.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: The 14,830-acre Moquith Mountain WSA was established in 1980 and includes the northern segment of the Coral Pink Sand Dunes (about 1,500 acres). The remaining 2,000 acres of the dunes are part of the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park which was established in 1963. The sand dunes are a historic and popular off-highway vehicle (OHV) and other recreational use area. Most of the WSA is currently designated as open to OHV use as documented in the Vermilion Management Framework Plan completed in 1981.

In 1994, BLM implemented management actions through the Moquith Mountain WSA Guidance and Schedule (Guidance), to protect wilderness resource values. In 1998, an interdisciplinary team was established to review the effectiveness of the Guidance and determine if impairment of wilderness values was occurring. BLM policy allows for an open OHV category in sand dune areas as long as impairment of wilderness suitability does not occur.

The team determined that no impairment of wilderness values is occurring on the majority of the dunes. However, impairment is occurring in peripheral areas of the northern portion of the dunes where vegetation is more prevalent. Therefore, BLM is temporarily closing to OHV use the sand dunes north and west of an existing allotment fence with the exception of a portion of a dry lake bed and designated OHV access routes which will remain open. The three designated OHV access routes are located as follows: (1) Sand Spring; (2) the dry lake bed east of the Yellowjacket Road and, (3) the Hancock Road near the Ponderosa Grove Campground.

BLM is also concerned that vehicle routes may be forming in other portions of the WSA. Therefore, the non sand dune portion of the WSA will also be temporarily closed with the exception of the following designated routes that will remain open: the Sand Spring Road, South Fork Indian Canyon Petroglyph Road, the Moquith Mountain Loop, Hell Dive and Lamb’s Point routes.

signed: Linda S. Colville, Acting State Director, July 7, 1998

Other OHV Information