Daggett County approves FAA application and BLM right-of-way to reopen Taylor Flats airstrip

Daggett County commissioners voted to approve a Federal Aviation Administration application naming Daggett County as the airport owner and the Utah Backcountry Pilots Association as the airport manager and also approved submission of a United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) right-of-way grant, UTU-96282, intended to reopen the Taylor Flats Airstrip.

The action, taken during a commission meeting, directs county staff to sign and provide the paper forms so the information can be entered into the FAA’s electronic application system and to submit the signed BLM right-of-way grant to the BLM’s Vernal Field Office for final processing. "I put Daggett County as the owner of the airport ... and I put the Utah Backcountry Pilots as the manager," Wendy said of the FAA form.

The vote followed a discussion of who will manage and maintain the strip. Wendy said the Utah Backcountry Pilots Association has tracked other backcountry airstrips and will assist with maintenance; she described a volunteer work party planned for next spring after wildlife restrictions expire in April. Volunteers have offered heavy equipment to clear ditches and gather rocks to mark runway corners; volunteers also plan to paint markers so pilots can identify the strip from the air.

Commissioners reviewed the BLM right-of-way grant description, which references a primary runway 2,500 feet long by 70 feet wide and an administrative access route described in the packet as 860 feet by 30 feet. Commissioners noted a likely typographical error in the staff report on the smaller dimension and treated the 30-foot figure as a width for the access route. "The runway itself is 2,500 feet by 70 feet in width, and the 860 feet by 30 feet is kind of the driveway to access from the Main Street dirt road," Wendy said during the discussion.

Commissioners also asked staff to accept and forward an email and accompanying right-of-way offer from a BLM contact, identified in the meeting as Patrick Arnspreich, so the county can review and sign the lease/grant document in coordination with the FAA application. The commission approved both motions; the meeting record shows commissioners responded "Aye" to the calls for approval. The transcript does not record a roll-call vote or a numerical tally.

Next steps agreed by commissioners include scanning and emailing the signed FAA application and BLM right-of-way grant to Wendy and to the BLM contact, who will add the materials to the Taylor Flats file when he returns from furlough. The FAA application will then be entered into the FAA’s online system and the BLM grant will be submitted to the Vernal Field Office for final approval and execution.