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Agency reports: state OHV grants, state parks staffing, forest-service planning and DOGM carbon-sequestration primacy update
Summary
Agency reports covered a statewide OHV grant award to Emery County, state trail-crew work and staffing, State Parks staffing for local parks, forest-service plan cooperators meetings and timber/logging updates, and a Division of Oil, Gas and Mining report on pursuing state primacy for Class VI carbon sequestration
Several agency representatives delivered updates to the Emery County Public Lands Council on grants, staffing and planning that affect county recreation and land management.
OHV grants and trails: Wade from the Division of Outdoor Recreation reported the state OHV program issued about $1.7 million in awards; Emery County received $12,000 for MAPS work and will receive roughly $15,000 more via a contracted trail group for BLM trail work. Wade also said the division awarded more than $200,000 for search-and-rescue equipment statewide and described state trail-crew projects (Pole Canyon water bars, forthcoming non-motorized trail work); the division is considering a year-round heavy-equipment trail crew in the region.
State Parks staffing and local events: Tiffany Hanson, manager for Huntington and Millsite state parks, said both parks are fully staffed (four full-time staff across three parks) and reported strong Labor Day weekend use; she noted irrigation improvements have greened park landscaping and she is coordinating on water-rights and pump options to reduce reliance on culinary water.
Forest Service report: Darren (Forest Service) summarized cooperator meetings on forest-plan revision (Moab, Monticello, Manti and Price) with a regional review expected and a goal to publish a final document in early 2026. He discussed timber-sale preparation, road maintenance, engineer-group work, and management in previously logged or roadless areas; he also flagged fire-restriction coordination with the state and BLM and noted ongoing timber/wood-haul operations and trail repairs.
Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (DOGM): Bart reported that the Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining adopted a rule (R644) to regulate Class VI geologic carbon sequestration in July; the division is preparing a primacy application (including required letters from the governor and attorney general and an MOU with EPA) and expects a 30-day public comment window on the application documents, possibly in October. DOGM emphasized that the rule and primacy application govern how a future program would be administered by the state rather than the EPA. Bart did not specify project locations but said local geology and existing industry make some valley locations plausible.
Other notes: BLM and other federal staff briefed the council on upcoming RAC meetings, land-sale parcels in process (Millsite/ Hunter Power Plant), and planned Wedge implementation work. The BLM also noted staffing constraints and NEPA/EA schedules in several projects explained during the reports.
Ending: Council members asked agencies to share NEPA/EA mailing lists and to coordinate on implementation details; agencies agreed to follow up and to include the council on relevant distribution lists.
