Red Tops Wilderness Character Submission Submitted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance August 19, 2016

Red Tops Wilderness Character Unit Submission

A. Red Tops Wilderness Character Unit Boundary Maps and GIS Data

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) submits this new information regarding the wilderness characteristics of the Red Tops wilderness character unit (Red Tops unit or unit), including a detailed map (Attachment A) to assist the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in meeting its mandates under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), 43 U.S.C.

§§ 1711 - 1712, the Wilderness Act of 1964, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1131 et seq., and BLM Manual 6310 –

Conducting Wilderness Characteristics Inventory on BLM Lands (Public) (March 15, 2012)

(BLM Manual 6310). The attached narrative description, map (Attachment A), photographs

(Attachments B and C), and analysis provides BLM with significant new information regarding the size, naturalness, outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive recreation and supplemental values present within the unit.

B. BLM’s Duty Under Manual 6310 to Act on the Significant New Information Presented in this Submission

BLM’s wilderness character inventory for the Red Tops unit, as submitted, must comply with BLM Manual 6310 and Appendices A – D, which superseded all previous agency guidance on this topic. See BLM Manual 6310.01; id. § 6310.06(B)(4)(a) (stating that “in order to complete the inventory, District or Field Managers must document wilderness characteristics inventories according to attached Appendices A – D”) (emphasis added). BLM guidance specifically states,

[r]egardless of past inventory, the BLM must maintain and update as necessary, its inventory of wilderness resources on public lands. In some circumstances conditions relating to wilderness may have changed over time, and an area that was once determined to lack wilderness characteristics may now possess them.

BLM Manual 6310.06(A).

1 Red Tops Wilderness Character Submission Submitted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance August 19, 2016

Based on BLM’s most recent wilderness inventories, it appears that the Red Tops unit, as submitted here, has never been inventoried for wilderness characteristics under the procedures contained in BLM Manual 6310 and Appendices A – D. See Attachment A.

BLM guidance and the new information contained in this wilderness characteristics submission affirm that BLM must conduct an on-the-ground wilderness characteristics inventory that adheres to the boundaries and descriptions contained herein. See 43 U.S.C. § 1711(a)

(requiring that BLM keep its inventories current to reflect changes in conditions and to identify new and emerging resources and other values); BLM Manual 6310.06(A). Additionally, BLM must base its wilderness characteristics inventory on the terms, procedures and definitions contained in Manual 6310, regardless of past inventories.

C. Detailed Narrative – Red Tops Wilderness Character Unit

1. Area Description

The Red Tops wilderness character unit is an area where the Earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. See 16

U.S.C. § 1131(c). The unit is located in central Millard County, Utah, approximately sixty miles from the Utah-Nevada border. It is part of the Great Basin geologic formation. The Red Tops unit is bounded by Steamboat Pass Road (3c Rd) to the south, Red Canyon to the east, Utah

Highway 6 to the north, and Ibex Well Road to the west. The unit provides outstanding views of the Cricket Mountains, , the , , the Barn Hills, and some of the West Desert’s most brilliant Basin and Range landscapes uninhibited by human interference.

See Attachment C. The overall impression created is one of a wild and rugged geologic region that has captured the hearts and minds of adventurers and explorers for hundreds of years. Id. 2.

2 Red Tops Wilderness Character Submission Submitted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance August 19, 2016

Substantially noticeable human-made features and impacts have been excluded from the unit and are used to form the unit boundary. BLM cannot disqualify the unit for lack of naturalness or outstanding opportunities for primitive and unconfined types of recreation based on these or other excluded impacts. See BLM Manual 6310.06(C)(2)(b)(iii) (stating that “human impacts outside the area will not . . . be considered in assessing naturalness of the area.”).

Similarly, human impacts outside of the unit boundary can only be considered in regards to their affect on opportunities for solitude if they are “pervasive and omnipresent.” Id. §

6310.06(C)(2)(c)(i)(1) (emphasis added).

2. Wilderness Characteristics

The Wilderness Act established our nation’s policy “to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.” 16 U.S.C. §

1131(a). “Wilderness” is defined “as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” Id. § 1131(c). To qualify as wilderness, an area must: (1) have at least five thousand acres of land in an unimpaired condition; (2) generally appear to have been “affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable;” and (3) possess outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation. Id. An area may also contain

“supplemental values” such as ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historic value. See id; BLM Manual 6310.06(C)(2)(d). Supplemental values are not required in order for an area to be identified as possessing wilderness characteristics, but the presence of supplemental values should be documented where they exist. As discussed below, the Red Tops unit easily satisfies the three wilderness requirements and also contains supplemental values.

3 Red Tops Wilderness Character Submission Submitted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance August 19, 2016

a. Size

The Red Tops unit meets the size requirement for lands with wilderness characteristics.

Under BLM Manual 6310, one way for lands to meet the size requirement for lands with wilderness characteristics is where the land contains “[r]oadless areas with over 5,000 acres of contiguous BLM lands.” BLM Manual 6310(C)(2)(a)(1). The BLM Manual adopted language in defining “roadless” as “the absence of roads that have been improved and maintained by mechanical means to insure relatively regular and continuous use. A way maintained solely by the passage of vehicles does not constitute a road.” Natural features, “ways,” and manageability issues considerations do not factor into the boundary determination equation. In locating new wilderness character unit boundaries, Manual 6310 requires that BLM utilize the physical edge of substantially noticeable human-caused impacts. See BLM Manual 6310.06(C)(3). Here, the unit boundaries are composed of bladed or otherwise substantially noticeable maintained roads.

The Red Tops unit contains approximately 27,912 acres of contiguous federal public land, thereby exceeding the minimum 5,000-acre requirement. The presence of state lands within the unit does not affect or diminish the wilderness characteristics present on BLM-managed lands.

b. Naturalness

The Red Tops unit clearly contains naturalness when viewed through the lens of BLM

Manual 6310. According to the Manual, at all times, BLM must apply the “average visitor” standard to determine whether the unit contains “apparent naturalness.” See id. at

6310.06(C)(2)(b)(ii)(1). This means that when BLM is evaluating whether an area contains apparent naturalness, the agency cannot permit its expertise or particularized knowledge to cloud its judgment, but rather must view the unit as someone “who is not familiar with the biological composition of natural ecosystems versus human-affected ecosystems” would see it. See id. §

4 Red Tops Wilderness Character Submission Submitted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance August 19, 2016

6310,06(C)(2)(b)(ii)(1)(b). Additionally, trails, historic properties, archaeological resources, fencing and stock ponds are specifically listed examples of human-made features that can be considered substantially unnoticeable and not defeat a finding of naturalness. See id. §

6310.06(C)(2)(b)(i)(1). BLM is instructed to use caution “in assessing the effect of relatively minor human impacts on naturalness” and to “[a]void an overly strict approach to assessing naturalness.” See id. § 6310.06(C)(2)(b)(ii)(2).

To the average visitor, the Red Tops unit appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable. See Attachment C;

16 U.S.C. § 1131(a). This is the only requirement needed to satisfy the naturalness criteria. See

BLM Manual 6310.06(C)(2)(b). It is a stark, beautiful landscape full of unique rock formations created by both sedimentary processes and ancient volcanism. The sagebrush hills and rocky slopes and outcrops are especially dramatic in changing weather, when clouds that can threaten either rain or snow cast great shadows across the stark landscape, which appears natural and unaffected by man. This area and its native vegetation provides habitat for many desert and range animals including pronghorn, mule deer, elk, mountain lions, coyotes, birds of prey, reptiles, jackrabbits, and other small mammals.

Importantly, SUWA has specifically tailored this wilderness characteristics submission to exclude all substantially noticeable human impacts that would take away from the area’s naturalness. All roads occur outside of the unit boundary. See Attachments A – C. These impacts should not be considered or used to disqualify naturalness. See BLM Manual

6310.06(C)(2)(b)(iii). SUWA has not excluded the old, rarely used, and naturally reclaiming

“ways” (or primitive “routes”) that are present inside the unit. As shown in the attached photographs, these ways have not been improved or maintained by mechanical means or used

5 Red Tops Wilderness Character Submission Submitted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance August 19, 2016 relatively regularly and continuously. See Attachments B – C. Instead, they have been abandoned for years and are currently reclaiming (or reclaimed) and are otherwise substantially unnoticeable. Id.; see also BLM Manual 6310.07 (defining “road” as routes that “have been improved and maintained by mechanical means to insure relatively regular and continuous use”)

(emphasis added); Manual 6310.07 (stating that “[a] route that was established or has been maintained solely by the passage of vehicles would not be considered a road for the purposes of wilderness inventory, even if it is used on a relatively regular and continuous basis.”). Thus, these routes do not rise to the level of a wilderness inventory road and therefore cannot be used by BLM to disqualify naturalness. Therefore, the Red Tops unit contains naturalness as defined by BLM Manual 6310 because it contains apparent naturalness within the boundaries of the unit as submitted.

SUWA therefore submits this significant and new information regarding the naturalness present within the unit. BLM must examine the unit, as submitted, in compliance with BLM

Manual 6310 and Appendices A – D.

c. Outstanding Opportunities for Solitude and Primitive and Unconfined Types of Recreation

The Wilderness Act states that an area must “have outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation.” Section 2(c)(2). In interpreting this provision,

BLM Manual 6310 explains:

The word “or” in this sentence means that an area only has to possess one or the other. The area does not have to possess outstanding opportunities for both elements, nor does it need to have outstanding opportunities on every acre, even when an area is contiguous to lands with identified wilderness characteristics.

Id. 6310.06(C)(2)(c). Here, outstanding opportunities are present for both solitude and primitive and unconfined types of recreation.

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Outstanding Opportunities for Solitude

The Red Tops unit provides outstanding opportunities for solitude. To satisfy the low threshold requirement of providing outstanding opportunities for solitude, a visitor to the Red

Tops unit needs to be able to obtain solitude only somewhere within its boundary. See BLM

Manual 6310.07 (defining “solitude” as “the state of being alone or remote from others; isolation. A lonely or secluded place”); id. § 6310.06(C)(2)(c) (stating that “[t]he area does not have to . . . have outstanding opportunities on every acre”); id. (instructing BLM to “not disqualify an area based on a finding that outstanding opportunities exist in only a portion of the area”). Additionally, BLM must “consider factors that influence solitude only as they affect a visitor’s opportunity to avoid the sights, sounds, and evidence of other people in the area.” BLM

Manual 6310.06(C)(2)(c)(i)(1) (emphasis added). This means the impacts of sights and sounds from outside the unit can only be considered if they are “pervasive and omnipresent.” Id.

Given the remote location, expansive size, and myriad rock formations, outcrops, winding valleys, and ridges, it would be difficult for a visitor to not find solitude throughout the unit. A visitor can explore heavily secluded rocky slopes, small and large side canyons dominated by massive limestone outcrops, or sit on a ridgeline and view the adjacent salt flats from miles away while listening to the natural world unfolding around her, screened from the sights and sounds of others in the area. See Attachment C. Even in the sparsely vegetated and rolling landscape which extends out from atop rocky areas, a visitor can be alone from others and enjoy isolation in this truly lonely and secluded place. See BLM Manual 6310.06(C)(2)(c)(i)(2)

(stating that “[o]utstanding opportunities for solitude can be found in areas lacking vegetation or topographic screening”).

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SUWA staff recently visited the Red Tops unit and enjoyed outstanding solitude. Hiking along rocky ridgelines, down dark side-canyons, and on top of large limestone outcrops, we explored the proposed wilderness unit for over two days, only encountering other individuals on the Ibex Well Road that bisects Tule Valley and makes up the western border of the Red Tops unit. At all times, “lost” within this vast landscape, we enjoyed an overwhelming feeling of being alone, even during a season popular with adventure-seekers from all parts of the world.1

SUWA therefore, submits this significant new information regarding the outstanding opportunities for solitude in the Red Tops unit. BLM must examine the unit, as submitted, in compliance with BLM Manual 6310 and Appendices A – D. Outstanding Opportunities for Primitive and Unconfined Types of Recreation As with solitude, outstanding opportunities for primitive and unconfined types of recreation are available in the Red Tops unit. Also as with solitude, these opportunities need be available only in a portion of the Red Tops unit. See BLM Manual 6310.06(C)(2)(c). The recreational activity need not even presently occur within the unit. Rather, it must only be possible that such activity could occur somewhere within the unit boundary. See id. §

6310.06(C)(2)(c)(ii)(3)(a) (stating that “[p]resent visitor use is not necessary in evaluating this criterion. Determine whether an outstanding opportunity is present, regardless of the amount of use”). An area may also satisfy the outstanding opportunities requirement even if it provides for only one kind of primitive and unconfined type of recreation. See id. § 6310.06(C)(2)(c)(ii)(3).

The Red Tops unit easily meets the low standard established in BLM Manual 6310. It contains many “outstanding” opportunities for primitive and unconfined recreation. For example, visitors can engage in primitive types of recreation which provide dispersed, undeveloped recreation not requiring facilities, motor vehicles, motorized equipment or

1 The site visit occurred March 29- April 2, 2016.

8 Red Tops Wilderness Character Submission Submitted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance August 19, 2016 mechanized transport, such as hiking, backpacking, climbing, horseback riding, photography, bird watching, or sightseeing for botanical, zoological, or geological features. What’s more, all of these primitive forms of recreation are accompanied by extreme solitude, which separates these recreational experiences from those to be had almost anywhere else in the state. See BLM

Manual 6310.06(C)(2)(c)(ii)(2) (citing these aforementioned activities as examples of primitive and unconfined types of recreation); Attachment C.

SUWA staff recently visited the Red Tops proposed unit and enjoyed numerous primitive and unconfined types of recreation. We hiked to a myriad of viewpoints overlooking Tule

Valley to the west, and hiked into several canyons dwarfed by limestone cliffs and other geologic features including the spectacular 5,820 ft. Steamboat Mountain at the southern edge of the unit.

We photographed many of the areas’ botanical, zoological, and geological features, including limestone outcrops of varying colors typical of the Basin and Range ecosystem. We engaged in sightseeing activities that included viewing expansive scenes of rocky canyons, the

Wah Wah, House, San Francisco, Beaver, and Cricket Mountain Ranges, and impressive overlooks into Tule Valley. Each of these experiences was outstanding and primitive. With all of these primitive and unconfined recreation opportunities available, the Red Tops unit meets the criteria for possessing outstanding opportunities for primitive and unconfined recreation.

SUWA therefore, submits this significant and new information regarding the outstanding opportunities for primitive and unconfined types of recreation in the unit. BLM must examine the unit, as submitted, in compliance with BLM Manual 6310 and Appendices A – D.

d. Supplemental Values

The Red Tops unit also contains supplemental values. The Wilderness Act allows for consideration of supplemental values including “ecological, geological, or other features of

9 Red Tops Wilderness Character Submission Submitted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance August 19, 2016 scientific, educational, scenic, or historic value.” 16 U.S.C. § 1131(c). The presence of supplemental values is not necessary for an area to be identified as lands with wilderness characteristics, but should be documented if they exist. See BLM Manual 6310.06(C)(2)(d).

The Red Tops unit contains supplemental values including scenic views of Tule Valley, the Barn Hills, King Top WSA, Notch Peak, Red Canyon, and the several mountain ranges mentioned supra. See Attachment C. It also contains ecological values in the form of providing critical habitat to animal species such as mule deer, pronghorn, sage-grouse, golden eagles and peregrine falcons. These supplemental values found throughout the Red Tops unit should be acknowledged and documented by BLM.

C. Photographic Documentation

The photographs and descriptions in Attachments B and C provide evidence of the unit’s wilderness characteristics and provide BLM with significant new information. These photographs were taken as recently as April 2016 by SUWA staff.

CONCLUSION

The Red Tops unit is an undocumented and unidentified BLM wilderness resource. The unit, as submitted here, has never been evaluated, inventoried, or accurately assessed for wilderness characteristics. This submission reflects the most up-to-date and detailed information concerning the unit’s naturalness, outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive and unconfined types of recreation, and supplemental values. BLM must consider this information and conduct a thorough on-the-ground examination of the unit. See U.S.C. § 1711(a); BLM

Manual 6310.06(A). The inventory must comply with BLM Manual 6310 and Appendices A –

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D, which superseded and replaced all previous wilderness characteristics procedures and guidelines. See BLM Manual 6310.06(B)(4)(a).

SUWA has demonstrated throughout this submission that the Red Tops unit qualifies as a land possessing wilderness characteristics. This significant new information highlights that the area retains a natural appearance, free of any significant human impacts, and contain locations for outstanding solitude and primitive recreation. Finally, SUWA requests the opportunity to visit the Red Tops unit with BLM to help assist in the clarification and/or dissemination of the information provided herein.

Sincerely,

______Kya Marienfeld Wildlands Field Advocate Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance P.O. Box 968 Moab, UT 84532 Phone: 435-259-5440 Email: [email protected]

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