Plan finalized for 1.8 million acres in southeastern Utah

A federal resource management plan has been finalized for 1.8 million acres in far southeastern Utah where the Bureau of Land Management says it is closing 393,895 acres to motorized vehicle travel and making 493,400 acres unavailable for oil and gas leasing.

Utah BLM state director Selma Sierra said the Interior Department gave its approval Monday of a finalized resource-management plan for the BLM's Monticello field office. The plan created seven recreation management areas on 560,000 acres to "focus activities, limit conflicts and protect resources."

In the plan, the BLM prohibited surface mining on over 66,000 acres. But the agency said 740,594 acres are open to oil, gas and mineral leasing under "special conditions," and 484,217 acres are open to leasing with "standard" conditions.

"The new plan opens no new acreage to oil and gas leasing," the BLM said in a statement.

As a result of the new plan, 35.7 miles of the Colorado and San Juan rivers and a portion of Dark Canyon were found to be "suitable" for recommendation to Congress as deserving of federal protection as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The Utah Rivers Council last month was critical of the BLM for not doing nearly enough in the BLM's six new land-use plans to protect certain rivers and streams from dams, diversions and encroachment.

More than 73,000 acres have been designated in the plan as needing "special management attention" to critical environmental concerns in seven areas. Watchdogs have said the BLM's planning for the 1.8 million acres isn't doing enough to protect Indian cultural resources and ruins.