In 2019, Congress designated the Desolation Canyon Wilderness and two Wild and Scenic segments on the Green River in Desolation/Gray Canyons. The Desolation Canyon and Turtle Canyon Wildernesses, surrounding Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), and other adjoining roadless public and Tribal lands in the Book Cliffs constitute a contiguous million-acre wild region with superlative wildlife and other wilderness values.

Desolation Canyon includes an 80-mile stretch of the wild Green River, which has carved a 5,000-foot gorge that provides one of the wildest and most remote river running experiences in the western United States. Rocky Mountain bighorn, bison, black bear, cougar, elk, mule deer, and at least three endangered fish species all call this Wilderness home.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is asking for public input on a proposal analyzing commercial services in Desolation Canyon on the Green River. Currently, BLM allocates 50 percent of river launch permits to commercial outfitters, even though many of these launch days go unused by them. At the same, the general public is forced to compete in a lottery where the chances of drawing a permit can be less than 3 in 100.

The Wilderness Act has a very narrow exception allowing commercial services, like outfitters and guides, to the extent they are necessary and proper. Rather than seriously address the extent to which commercial services are necessary, BLM proposes to simply continue the status quo while attempting to paper over how much the environmental, legal, and social conditions have changed since the current system was put in place more than 40 years ago.

Beyond the allocation issues, the three alternatives BLM has considered fail to adequately consider the impacts of commercial activities, including the use of motorboats, which are completely unnecessary for floating Desolation Canyon. It ignores unlawful commercial activities, like antler collecting along the Green River, and fails to address how the Ute Tribe’s management of its lands on the east side of the river affects the area as a whole. Additionally, the EA only looks at commercial rafting and not land-based outfitting. Lastly, the reported use numbers in the EA for all users together appear to exceed the existing permit limits.  

Desolation Canyon and the wild Green River are some of the most spectacular of Utah’s famed Canyon Country, and we need you to raise your voice to make sure BLM protects their wild character.

Please speak up by August 15, 2024 at this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2026620/595/8020504/comment

Please urge BLM to protect Desolation Canyon and the wild Green River as it considers commercial services. Use your own words, but consider including the following points:

• BLM's responsibility is to preserve the wild character of Desolation Canyon and the wild Green River, not to promote any particular use. BLM should prioritize keeping these areas wild and undeveloped and protecting wildlife and solitude for human visitors.
• BLM needs to ban motorboats on the Green River through Desolation Canyon for outfitters (and the general public). The vast majority of rafting parties don’t use motors, and the few that do cause an outsized impact on those seeking an increasingly rare, non-motorized experience on one of the premier wild rivers in the West. 
• BLM should analyze all outfitting activities in the Wilderness and surrounding WSAs. Since the Green River ties these places together, it makes sense to do it all at once.
• BLM needs to revisit the current allocation system that allocates half of the launches on the Green River to commercial outfitters. Today many of the commercial launches go unused, a clear sign the BLM can’t justify the current system as necessary or proper. If a thorough environmental analysis and public process show that the unused commercial launches can be allocated to general public use without degrading the area’s wilderness conditions, only then should they be made available for public use. Otherwise, they should be permanently retired.
• BLM needs to close the entire river to commercial (and non-commercial) artifact collection. Currently, some private parties floating the River in early spring collect many antlers, and undoubtedly some are sold, making it an unlawful commercial enterprise. BLM should ban the collection and removal of natural artifacts like antlers in the Wilderness and Wild River corridor.

Thank you!

 Help us protect Desolation Canyon and Wilderness around the country.

Photo: Bob Wick/BLM

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