Public Lands

County enters agreement with BLM, Forest Service

San Juan County has entered a Cooperating Agency agreement with the Bureau of Land Management and the National Forest Service. The National Forest and BLM are currently working together on a resource management plan for the Bears Ears National monument and invited San Juan County to be a...

Representatives from the BLM, Forest Service & the inter-tribal coalition pose after signing a co-managment agreement for the Bears Ears Monument. Pictured from left to right: Christopher Tabbee Representative Uncompahgre Ute, Malcolm Lehi, Councilman Ute Mountain Ute, Homer L. Wilkes Undersecretary Natural Resources and Environment, Tracy Stone-Manning BLM Director, Carleton Bowekaty Lt. Governor Zuni Tribe, Timothy Nuvangyaoma Hopi Tribe Chairman, Davis Filfred representing the Navajo Nation. DOI photo

Federal and Tribal agencies sign comanagement agreement for Bears Ears

Federal land agencies and tribal leadership formalized their co-management of the Bears Ears National Monument at a signing ceremony on June 18. The signing took place in White Mesa, afterwards, representatives traveled along highway 261 to unveil one of the new Bears Ears National Monument signs,...

Utah approves transfer of trust lands from Bears Ears

Members of the Utah Legislative Management Committee unanimously approved support for a deal that would swap over 130,000 acres of state trust lands in San Juan County for federally managed lands in the state at an interim meeting on May 17. With the approval from Utah legislators, the Utah School...

Screenshot from a SITLA DRAFT presented at the May 3 meeting of the San Juan County Commission. Pink squares are SITLA lands that may leave Bears Ears National Monument, green squares are BLM lands that could become SITLA lands

San Juan County grapples with transfer of state trust lands

Leadership with the Utah School and Institutional Trust Land Administration (SITLA) appeared before the San Juan County Commission on May 3 to hear input regarding the proposed land swap of 131,000 acres located inside the Bears Ears National Monument. Members of the public who spoke at the...

Burns planned in National Parks and Monuments

Vegetation Pile Burns Planned in Southeast Utah National Parks and Monuments Beginning February 21 and continuing through the end of March, park officials plan to burn piles of dead vegetation at various locations within Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Hovenweep and Natural Bridges...

New to the Edge: Pots from the Forest

This month the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum’s “New to the Edge” exhibit features several pottery vessels from a site in Woodenshoe Canyon on the Manti-LaSal National Forest. The site dates to the late AD 1100s/early AD 1200s, a period of time that is referred to as the Pueblo III period....

BLM advisory committee vacancies for Bears Ears National Monument

Bureau of Land Management seeks nominations to fill advisory committee vacancies for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments The Bureau of Land Management is seeking nominations for the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Advisory Committees to fill...

Outstanding Professional Award to BLM manager

Gary Torres recently received the 2021 Outstanding Public Lands Professional Award from The Public Lands Foundation. Torres has served in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for more than 30 years. He currently serves as the Manager of the Canyon Country District of the BLM, which covers millions...

Comment period extended for Lisbon Valley Mine request to use well water to extend mining

A Utah environmental regulatory agency is preparing a request to the federal government to allow a mine to inject diluted sulfuric acid solutions into a San Juan County aquifer. If approved, the Utah Division of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) aquifer exemption request to the federal Environmental...

Initial restoration work complete for BLM portion of Pack Creek Fire

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) fire personnel have completed the initial restoration work for the Pack Creek Fire on all 131 acres of BLM-managed lands impacted by the fire. The fire restoration project incorporated the application of native seeds to help stabilize soil and protect the area from...