Interesting article about Moab closures: https://1ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2...be-canceled%2F Crossposted to a few different forums for attention so folks are informed.

 

Being in the West I am grumpy about this. I have been watching them close access (to public) over a good portion of my life. One trail/road at a time.

 

A tragedy of the commons for sure. As the off roading community grows and grows the ability to manage the land has not grown with it and has lead to major damage to that area. It's easy to look at the landscape and feel like its timeless, rugged, and indestructible but in fact it's extremely fragile. The top layer (called cryptobiotic crust) is a thin "living skin" which keeps the desert ecosystem alive, and you can kill it just by walking on it, to say nothing of a side by side ripping across it at 50mph. Yes, it's obviously not fun that 1/3 of the trails are being closed (interestingly 98% of the trails used for the "Easter Jeep Safari" which folks are using as a rallying cry, are still open) but the reality is that that land belongs to more than just the folks who want to drive there (which includes me) and the BLM has an obligation to all parties.

My solution? If folks want to drive there, make sure they are managing the land. That might mean paying a fee for environmental remediation, it might mean a rotating schedule of trail closures, it might mean GPS trackable speed limits or use limits, it might mean that we set aside a portion just for off roading consequences be damned as long as other areas can be preserved, it could mean lots of different things. The off road community (to say nothing of the town itself) benefits tremendously from the fact that Moab exists with very little official obligation towards it, perhaps that needs to change.