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Emery County trails committee approves minutes, reviews summer trail work and NEPA projects
Summary
The committee approved last month’s minutes and spent the meeting reviewing summer trail clearing, volunteer and agency projects, a proposed NEPA ‘drift fence’ at Salt Wash to curb off-road intrusions, airstrip repairs and fall volunteer plans; no new ordinances or budget votes were taken.
The Emery County trails committee opened its meeting by approving last month’s minutes after a motion from a committee member and a second, which the Chair declared carried.
Committee members and agency staff reviewed recent field work, including tree clearing on multiple routes (Catalin Mountain, Dead Horse Camp Trail, Staker Trail and others), repairs to the Price River crossing and improvements to access at several rock art panels. An agency official said the wilderness conservation crew has returned to follow up at multiple sites and that crews have done “follow-up work that that crew completes…which is really what makes the work successful.”
Agency staff described several near-term planning steps. They said the BLM has initiated an EPA document and a NEPA categorical exclusion (CX) project to install about a mile of what the speaker called a “drift fence” — barbed‑wire style rails intended to keep vehicles on designated routes and prevent widening of off‑road intrusions in the Salt Wash area. The official said the project is intended to be completed this fall and that trailheads and horse gates will be provided where needed.
Members also discussed airstrip work: one attendee said a Mexican Mountain airstrip “got graded” after equipment was flown in, and planning is underway to determine the length and width the county will maintain. The committee noted scheduling conflicts for a planned airstrip project; members asked that the work avoid Sept. 27 because of a statewide Wings & Wheels event and flagged Oct. 11 for a separate fly‑in.
Other planning items included a Littles Creek bridge project that will use gabion baskets (materials are staged and grant funding was reported as available for supplies), more frequent fall volunteer trail projects (the committee plans roughly one a month), and coordination with state trail crews and local OHV clubs. An agency official said the Jurassic National Monument construction has been pushed to September and that staff hope to release a complete environmental assessment for public comment in early August after reviewing thousands of public letters — the official said they received “over 5,000 form letters.”
The meeting ended with routine project coordination and an adjournment. No formal ordinances, resolutions or budget adoptions were recorded beyond approval of the minutes.
