For the past seven years federal experts have been monitoring the threatened cacti. The Winkler cactus and the Wright Fishhook cactus have been damaged by off-highway vehicles, she said.

"We've found that 57 percent of the known cactus sites in this area have declined in population," she said. The field studies showed that off-highway vehicles clearly caused damage to the plants.

A resource advisory group helping the BLM, including environmentalists, OHV enthusiasts and others, studied the issue, Babbitt said. They could not come up with a consensus but gave their perspectives.

Signs and fences are going up to inform the public which areas are open, she said. Kiosks in the Factory Butte region will hold maps showing designated routes, and a Web site through www.ut.blm.gov is to show the information.

When a huge area of Factory Butte was open to cross-country travel, Babbitt said, "what we've found is that ... ecologically it just can't handle that kind of use."

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