I grew up in Utah at a time when off-roading on public lands was completely unregulated. Before the ATVs, side-by-sides and other machines we recognize today as “off-highway vehicles” (OHVs), many Utahns simply drove their trucks, jeeps and motorcycles right across our public lands. We weren’t required to stay on designated roads or trails, and there were almost no rules. This had to change.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon recognized the growing popularity of OHV recreation and the potential environmental and safety risks. He issued Executive Order 11644 to regulate off-road trucks and dirt bikes while Congress worked on more robust public lands policies. Nixon’s order — later reinforced by President Jimmy Carter’s companion Executive Order 11989 — led to what is now referred to as the “minimization criteria,” requiring federal agencies to establish designated areas and trails for OHV use.
Recently, some have sounded the alarm that President Donald Trump’s new executive orders repealing the Nixon and Carter executive orders and taking a hard look at the minimization criteria will lead to single-use monopoly of Utah’s public lands — resulting in unfettered and unregulated OHV recreation that damages our iconic landscapes and disturbs other recreationists.
This is simply not true. Reforming or rescinding the minimization criteria does not mean OHVs will suddenly be allowed to drive anywhere, nor will new routes open without public input. The protections intended by those executive orders in the 1970s were long ago superseded by comprehensive environmental laws passed by Congress, leaving the old criteria outdated and subject to abuse by groups wishing to deny certain recreationists access to their public lands.
Today, less than 1% of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Utah are designated as “open” to cross-country travel. Many of these areas are sand dunes that bear little visible long-lasting impact by OHV use, like Little Sahara or Sand Mountain. For the remaining 99.4%, or 22.6 million acres, of BLM-managed land in Utah, OHVs are confined to designated roads and trails.
These routes undergo rigorous, case-by-case analysis to balance Congress’s mandates for multiple use and preventing unnecessary degradation. With public input, the BLM regularly updates its “Travel Management Plans” to balance recreation with natural and cultural resource protection. If a route impacts sensitive wildlife or plants, the Endangered Species Act triggers stringent protections to prevent harm.
Unfortunately, litigious groups have weaponized the minimization criteria to close roads and trails that access our public lands. Land managers struggled to determine what the subjective standard of “minimize” meant in practice, since the former executive orders came with no clear thresholds or benchmarks for implementation. As a result, the rule has often tipped the scale toward “non-use” and closure without requiring any scientific or quantitative data to support the decisions.
In recent years, litigious groups opposed to motorized recreation used the minimization criteria’s subjective standards to pressure BLM into closing routes. This nefarious use of the minimization criteria resulted in more route-closure decisions rooted in fear of litigation. Utahns without the means or physical ability to recreate on foot also unfairly lost access to their public lands due to these route closures.
With over 33 million acres statewide, our public lands are inextricably tied to our way of life and shared culture. Enjoy, experience and recreate responsibly on all the public lands our state has to offer. After all, they are yours.