Water district board of trustees asks BLM to leave Sand Mountain out of proposed land trade

ST. GEORGE — Last week, the Washington County Water Conservancy District Board of Trustees passed a resolution asking the Bureau of Land Management to exclude a portion of land overlapping part of Sand Mountain from a proposed trade to preserve outdoor recreational use of the area – particularly for off-road vehicles.

The area outlined in orange is the area of an original land exchange proposal between the BLM and Washington County Water Conservancy District for the site of a proposed reservoir in the Warner Valley area | Map courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management, St. George News

The water district proposes to trade over 1,000 acres of public land in the Warner Valley area for 89 acres of landlocked private property in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. The potential trade would pave the way for a new reservoir the district has long planned for.

However, part of the original proposal overlaps the southwestern corner of the Sand Mountain area, which is well-known and heavily used by OHV riders and dispersed campers. Fearing the trade could erode and possibly destroy outdoor recreation in the area, off-roaders and outdoor enthusiasts packed a BLM open house at the St. George Library to voice their opposition in March.

The Utah Public Lands Alliance, one of the groups whose members swarmed the open house, estimated that nearly a thousand people attended to learn about the proposed trade and how they might protect access to the area of Sand Mountain they worried they could lose.

At the time, they said they could lose access to the West Rim Trail, the restroom facilities on Pipeline Road, dispersed camping areas and the Ridgeline Trail. The latter was built to counter the loss of a preexisting trail that will be destroyed when the reservoir is built.

However, representatives from the water district who attended the open house said the district had no desire to remove recreational access or develop the area beyond the infrastructure needed for the reservoir.

In this file photo, people pack a scoping meeting covering a proposed land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management and the Washington County Water Conservancy District, St. George, Utah, March 21, 2013 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

“What we really want is a reservoir,” Zach Renstrom, general manager of the county water district, told St. George News during the March open house. “That’s the main goal.”

Last Wednesday, the district’s Board of Trustees passed a resolution supporting the land trade while also requesting “the removal of a portion of the Federal Parcel boundary overlapping the Sand Mountain Open OHV Area added by the Bureau of Land Management.”

“Sand Mountain is a popular area for off-highway vehicle recreation and we want to preserve that established use,” Ed Bowler, chair of the Board of Trustees, said in a press release. “The district is committed to ongoing work with the BLM and outdoor recreation groups to minimize any potential impacts to the area’s well-established trail system.”

If the proposed boundary modification isn’t accepted, the district will request the BLM place a restriction on the eastern portion of the land when it’s transferred. The restriction would preserve recreational uses and restrict development, except for improvements related to water operations and recreation activities.

The proposal also states that the water district will develop access points if trails in the western rim are impacted by water operation development.

Loren Campbell, president of the Utah Public Lands Alliance, wrote in a post on the organization’s website that the resolution was the result of his and other off-road groups negotiating with the water district, BLM and other parties involved to find a compromise that didn’t involve losing overall outdoor recreational use.

Off-road vehicles in the Sand Mountain OHV Area during the Winter 4×4 Jamboree, Jan. 20, 2017 | Photo courtesy of Desert Roads and Trails Society, St. George News

“This has been an excellent example of how difficult land use decisions can best be worked out when everyone sits at the table and work together to find a solution,” Campbell wrote. “Is it a solution that everybody got everything they wanted? No, that only happens in fairy tales. Is the work over? No, there’s still work to be done in the coming months — but this was a very important milestone for us because BLM will insert these conditions into the terms of the Land Exchange if it is approved.”

The exchange will protect critical habitat for the federally threatened Mojave desert tortoise and consolidate federal ownership within the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, resulting in more efficient management of the BLM-administered lands and reducing the risks of habitat loss through private land development.

The 89-acre parcel in question is located east of the Middleton Bench, approximately 1.5 miles east of Cottonwood Springs Road and adjacent to the Green Spring master-planned community east of Washington City. The western boundary of the property follows the right of way for the Northern Corridor.

The proposed trade is still undergoing an environmental assessment required under the National Environmental Protection Act. A preliminary assessment draft is anticipated to be released for public review in December.

Learn more about the proposed land exchange on the BLM’s National NEPA Register site.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

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