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BLM Invests in Cost-Effective Solutions to Protect Utah’s Natural Resources

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (September 24, 2013) – To help balance outdoor recreation with resource protection, the Bureau of Land Management’s Utah State Office has awarded a five-year grant to Tread Lightly! to lead a collaborative partnership that is the first of its kind, not only in Utah, but nationally.

The funding will be used to help implement the award-winning RIDE ON Utah education and outreach campaign to help raise the public’s awareness of responsible and legal use of motor vehicles on Utah’s public lands. The overall goal of the initiative is to raise the public’s awareness of changing regulations involving the use of motorized vehicles, also referred to as off-highway vehicles (OHVs), to ensure compliance; ultimately, minimizing impacts from OHVs.

The message – RIDE ON Designated Routes – was created by Tread Lightly! to educate recreationists who use motorized vehicles in their outdoor pursuits, even if only to access a special destination and enjoy nonmotorized activities like hunting, fishing or camping.  The message and campaign materials have been customized with both a southern and northern Utah look to resonate with public lands visitors throughout the state.

The Utah partnership brings together both multiple federal and state public agencies; the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration in a collective effort to spread research-based messages promoting responsible recreation consistently, across boundaries of lands any of these agencies manage.

“Funding solutions to pressing natural resource issues is a priority with the BLM.”  said Juan Palma, Director of BLM’s Utah state office.  “With more than 250,000 registered OHVs owners in Utah, it’s important to ensure a strong conservation ethic throughout this large base of outdoor enthusiasts.  By awarding this grant to Tread Lightly!, we acquired the services of a ready-made staff with the skills and expertise to help the BLM meet our management responsibilities in a responsive and fiscally prudent manner.”

“Tread Lightly! is honored to receive this grant from our longstanding partner the BLM,” said Lori McCullough, Executive Director of Tread Lightly!.  “This funding helps demonstrate BLM’s commitment to protecting Utah’s natural resources while providing opportunities for the public to engage in an outdoor lifestyle.”

The RIDE ON campaign and its associated educational materials and strategies can be viewed online at https://treadlightly.org/programs/ride-on/

 

Tread Lightly! is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to promote responsible recreation through ethics education and stewardship programs. Tread Lightly!’s educational message, along with its unique training and restoration initiatives are strategically designed to instill an ethic of responsibility in outdoor enthusiasts and the industries that serve them.  The program is long-term in scope with a goal to balance the needs of the people who enjoy outdoor recreation with our need to maintain a healthy environment.  Tread Lightly!’s award-winning materials, programs and services are solutions to some of the nation’s most pressing recreation issues. Individuals and businesses can commit to Tread Lightly! and protect outdoor access by becoming a member at www.treadlightly.org.

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