The House of Representatives has killed a rule governing off-road vehicles and ATVs in Glen Canyon NRA and Canyonlands National Park/NPS file

A resolution adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and awaiting Senate action would expand off-road vehicle use at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah and Arizona and Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

The resolution, proposed by U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, would kill a rule the National Park Service adopted in January before the Trump adminstration took office. It calls for the Park Service to drop regulations that placed limitations on where the vehicles can be driven.

The rule pertains to ORV and street-legal ATV use in the Orange Cliffs Special Management Unit in Canyonlands National Park and Orange Cliffs Unit of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.  It also prohibits the use of ORVs and street-legal ATVs on an 8-mile segment of the Poison Spring Loop located on Route 633 proceeding north to Route 730 in the Orange Cliffs Special Management Unit.

Overall, the new rules prohibit the use of ORVs and street-legal all-terrain vehicles on approximately 24 miles of park roads. Nearly 400 miles of park roads remain within Glen Canyon with opportunities for a diverse collection of motorized and non-motorized recreation forms. 

"Today is a great day for Utahns and all Americans who enjoy outdoor recreation and access to our public lands. With today's vote, House Republicans are restoring access to iconic American destinations and undoing the Biden administration’s land lockups," U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, said after the resolution passed the House on April 29. "I thank Congresswoman Maloy for her work on this issue and her steadfast leadership for southern Utah."

But conservationists said the resolution will lead to impaired natural resources in the parks.

“The House of Representatives voted to undermine the National Park Service and instead bowed to extreme motorized recreation in some of the most remote and wild parts of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area,” said Hanna Larsen, staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “Rather than protect America’s crown jewels, the House has made it much more likely that treasured places such as the Orange Cliffs, Gunsight Butte, and Canyonlands National Park’s Maze District will be permanently impaired by noisy, destructive off-highway vehicles.”

“This legislation eliminates a commonsense rule for Glen Canyon that limits off-road vehicles in some of its most sensitive areas, including the remote Orange Cliffs and fragile shoreline around Lake Powell,” said Erika Pollard, campaign director for the Southwest Region for the National Parks Conservation Association. “It also seems to be a solution in search of a problem, as there are already more than 250 miles throughout Glen Canyon National Recreation Area for off-road use.”