RECREATION in UTAH Es; Hunting, Fishing, and Wildlife Viewing on Private Lands; Michael F
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RECREATION IN UTAH es; hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing on private lands; Michael F. Butkus and private land owners either developing their own mo- torized or non-motorized trail systems or allowing trail LANDS USED FOR RECREATION systems originating on public lands to extend onto their Outdoor recreation in the United States has seen a steady land for financial recompense. increase in participation since the end of World War II. STATE LANDS Several factors have contributed to this trend, includ- ing more predictable leisure time for the average worker Most of the state parks in Utah are too small or have poli- due to more stability in the average work day and work cies that do not allow domestic livestock grazing and other week; more disposable income due to increased wages, rangeland activities to occur within their boundaries. The economic stability, and reasonable cost of living increases; total land area dedicated to state parks in Utah is 119,304 better, more convenient access to outdoor recreation areas acres or about 0.2 percent of the total state land area. The through improvements in roads and highways, particular- 43 state parks in Utah (Table 8.5.1) receive over 4.5 mil- ly the development of the interstate highway system and lion visits per year. more reliable personal transportation; improved non-mo- torized and motorized recreational trail systems; and sig- The Division of Wildlife Resources manages land areas nificant improvements in outdoor recreation equipment and facilities that accommodate or support outdoor rec- to include lighter weight tents and backpacks, weather- reation activities including the Hardware Ranch Wildlife resistant clothing, improved cooking utensils, camping Management Area, a popular wildlife viewing area; the trailers and recreational vehicles, four-wheel drive and Great Salt Lake Nature Center; and several fish hatcheries high-clearance vehicles, and many more activity-specific and hunter education centers around the state. The State items that have increased participation in a expanding va- of Utah School and Trust Lands Administration either riety of outdoor recreation activities. manages or oversees the management of about 6.3 percent of the land area in Utah or 3,411,844 acres. Examples This trend in steadily increasing participation in outdoor of outdoor recreation opportunities offered on state trust recreation certainly holds true for Utah. Utah offers an ex- lands include the Beaver Mountain Ski Resort and several ceptionally wide variety of outdoor recreation opportuni- outdoor recreation cabin sites. ties, ranging from downhill skiing in the northern moun- FEDERAL LANDS tains to hiking along trails in the red rock canyons of the National Park Service south. Most of the outdoor recreation occurs on public – The National Park Service lands managed by a variety of federal and state agencies (NPS) manages 3.9 percent of the Utah land area or about (Figure 8.5.1). Federal land management agencies, with 2,095,381 acres. Management units within the NPS sys- missions of multiple uses of the lands they are respon- tem in Utah include five national parks, six national mon- sible for, such as the Forest Service and Bureau of Land uments, one national recreation area, and one national Management, manage public lands that accommodate the historic site (Table 8.5.2). The NPS has a restricted use majority of both outdoor recreation and rangeland activi- policy of land management with a two-part mandate to ties. Popular outdoor recreation activities in Utah include preserve lands under its jurisdiction for future generations driving for pleasure, off-highway vehicle use, walking/hik- while managing those lands for the enjoyment of the cur- ing, wildlife viewing, camping, mountain biking, boating, rent population of the United States. The major way in fishing, hunting, and picnicking. which the current population enjoys lands managed by the NPS is through such outdoor recreation activities as PRIVATE LANDS driving for pleasure, sightseeing, and hiking. Visitation to The past two decades have seen a dramatic increase in the NPS management units in Utah totals over 8.5 million use of private land for outdoor recreational use by the per year. National Park Service policy does not allow for public. This is due primarily to the overcrowding of rec- livestock grazing in most of its management units. reationists or the decrease in quality of recreation oppor- United States Fish and Wildlife Service tunities on public lands. There has been a significant in- – This is the crease in the numbers of small farms and ranches turning other single or restricted-use federal agency that admin- to nature-based tourism or outdoor recreation activities isters land in Utah, with its primary mandate to man- to supplement their income from traditional farming and age for healthy wildlife populations by protecting critical ranching activities. Examples of this include dude ranch- wildlife habitat areas in preserves and refuges. The United 138 Figure 8.5.1. Recreational areas and sites in Utah (reference Tables 1-5 in Appendix D). 139 Table 8.5.1. Utah state parks. STATE PARK COUNTY STATE PARK COUNTY Anasazi State Park Museum Garfield Jordanelle Reservoir State Park Wasatch Antelope Island State Park Davis Kodachrome Basin State Park Kane Bear Lake State Park Rich Millsite State Park Emery Camp Floyd/Stagecoach Inn State Park Utah Otter Creek State Park Piute Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park Kane Palisade State Park Sanpete Dead Horse Point State Park Grand Piute State Park Piute Deer Creek State Park Wasatch Quail Creek State Park Washington East Canyon State Park Morgan Red Fleet State Park Uintah Edge of the Cedars State Park San Juan Rockport State Park Summit Escalante Petrified Forest State Park Garfield Sand Hollow State Park Washington Flight Park State Recreation Area Salt Lake and Utah Scofield Reservoir State Park Carbon Fremont Indian State Park Sevier Snow Canyon State Park Washington Goblin Valley State Park Emery Starvation Reservoir State Park Duchesne Goosenecks State Park San Juan Steinaker State Park Uintah Great Salt Lake State Marina Salt Lake Territorial Statehouse State Park Millard Green River State Park Emery This is the Place Heritage Park Salt Lake Gunlock State Park Washington Utah Field House of Natural History Uintah Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail State Park Summit Utah Lake State Park Utah Huntington State Park Emery Wasatch Mountain State Park Wasatch Hyrum Reservoir State Park Cache Willard Bay State Park Box Elder and Weber Iron Mission State Park Iron Yuba State Park Juab Jordan River State Park Salt Lake States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) manages about backpacking, developed and dispersed area camping, 80,833 acres or 0.15 percent of the land area in Utah. hunting, fishing, driving for pleasure, boating activities, One of the USFWS management units in Utah is the and swimming. Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (Table 8.5.2). Outdoor recreation activities occurring on USFWS management Bureau of Land Management – The Bureau of Land units include wildlife viewing, bird watching, hunting, Management (BLM) manages the greatest number of and fishing. acres of land in Utah – over 22.7 million acres or 42 per- cent of the state. More than 6.7 million people visit lands United States Forest Service – Areas managed by the managed by the BLM each year to participate in outdoor United States Forest Service (USFS) for multiple-use recreation activities. The BLM has a policy of managing within the state of Utah attract more than 12.9 million the public lands under its responsibility for multiple-use. visitors participating in recreation activities each year. The The BLM also manages the Grand Staircase-Escalante land area managed by the USFS totals about 8,159,000 National Monument (GSENM) (Table 8.5.2). This was acres, including about 767,000 acres of designated wilder- the first of several national monuments designated for the ness areas (Table 8.5.3), or about 15 percent of the state. BLM to manage during the end of the Clinton Admin- Management units of the USFS in Utah include seven na- istration. Management policies for national monuments tional forests, three of which share a central administrative under the jurisdiction of the BLM differ significantly staff, and the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. from the general policy of multiple-use management, fol- These public lands managed by the USFS offer opportu- lowing somewhere between traditional multiple-use and nities for a wide variety of outdoor recreation activities, the more restrictive policies of the National Park Service. including downhill and cross country skiing, snowmo- Consequently, a major land management dispute exists biling, off-road vehicle riding, mountain biking, hiking, between the BLM and livestock grazers, who have tra- 140 ditionally used the area encompassed by the GSENM, number of ATV registrations increased from 77,503 in caused by the BLM being forced to implement policies 1998 to 213,856 in 2008, an increase of over 275 percent. severely restricting such use after the national monument Much of the ATV riding occurs on public land that is also was designated by President Clinton. used for livestock grazing. Other Federal Lands – Native American tribal govern- Conversely, livestock grazing can impact recreational use. ments manage over 2.5 million acres, about 4.5 percent, Giardia lamblia, a bacterium that can cause gastric distress of land in Utah included in reservations. Outdoor rec- in humans, is commonly known to grow in the stomachs reation use of this land is restricted by the remote loca- of warm-blooded animals, particularly ungulates. The bac- tion of and difficult access to and within the reservations. teria are often transported into natural water sources that Outdoor recreation activities that occur on tribal lands in may be used by outdoor recreationists. Livestock grazing Utah include hunting and some off-road vehicle riding.