ACTION ALERT | Buckeye Hills Travel Mgmt | 354 mi of roads CLOSED Rainbow Valley

Buckeye, Arizona – On August 31, 2022, The Bureau of Land Management concluded a final decision on a Travel Management Plan for the Buckeye Hills and Rainbow Valley area just west of the Sierra Estrella Mountains near Buckeye Arizona. The final decision consists of 679 miles of roads in the 572,159 acre Buckeye Hills East and Buckeye Hills West Travel Management Areas where only 324 miles will remain open to all users. A total of 354 miles of existing roads will be permanently closed or restricted to the public under the preferred Alternative C.

This plan has been in development since 2001 and is one of several travel management plans that was withdrawn in 2018 due to the collective effort of Arizona Backcountry Explorers and numerous clubs, organizations, and political representatives across the state.

The Bureau’s decisions are coming fast

As we have shown, in the past couple of months the Bureau is releasing its final decisions out of nowhere. Bouse, Cactus Plain, Black Canyon Corridor, Littlefield, Arizona Strip, and now Buckeye Hills final decisions have all been released this year and we have issued action alerts for all of them. These plans have not been listed in the Bureau’s official NEPA register for nearly 4 years and there has been no attempt to contact the local political subdivision or those who use these roads. All of the original documents from the entire NEPA process have disappeared. GIS data is being hidden deep in the agency’s server. The Bureau is no longer making interactive maps and we are being left with PDF maps to see what’s closing.

Luckily, we have access to the agency’s data which they have desperately attempted to hide from the public. We know, through this hidden but publically accessible data, that the Fortuna Hills and Kingman Travel Management Plans will be released at any time. These plans include nearly 4,000 miles of closures in about 10 different travel management areas in the far western end of Arizona. Due to this recent trend, the Bureau will likely release these decisions without warning too.

We feel this is problematic as many of these plans never completed the public outreach process required by the National Environmental Policy Act. Likewise, the bureaus failed attempt to notify stakeholders imposes an unfair disadvantage on public land users. In our opinion, all of these plans should have, at a minimum, been brought back to the drawing board and reopened for public comment or permanently withdrawn. The final decision is no different than the previous proposals that were withdrawn in 2018 and that caused major controversy among the local motorized users and political subdivisions that have broad authority over these roads.

Historical roads exist in the project area that is now being closed. Some of these roads have existed for 100 years or more and are property rights granted to the states under Section 8 of the Mining Act of 1866. Federal and State laws give the local political subdivision broad authority over these roads and detail a strict process to abandon, vacate, and close a public right of way.

The appeal process for the Buckeye Hills decision ends on September 30, 2022.

Once the decisions are released, the National Environmental Policy Act gives individuals and local clubs who have submitted a substantial comment on the plan, a 30-day window to appeal the Bureau’s decision. This is where our action alerts come into play. We must make sure the local political subdivision appeals to the Bureau’s final decision.

Use the interactive map below to view the final decision

Use the form below to send an email to the local political representatives in County and State government. Edit the message or use our pre-written message.

Send your comments on Buckeye Hills TMP

Hello and thank you for taking my message.

I am sending this message to express my strong opposition to the Bureau of Land Management\\\’s final decision on the Buckeye Hills Travel Management Plan near Buckeye, Arizona, and the Sierra Estrella Mountains. This decision will directly impact me. my family, acquaintances, and friends\\\’ ability to use public roads to access exploration and recreation opportunities on public and state lands.

I am in strong support of the motorized use of existing roads in the Buckeye Hills and Rainbow Valley area. I ask that you intervene with this final decision that will close or restrict access to 354 miles of existing roads over federal lands in your district. These roads are strictly governed by Arizona Revised Statute 37.931 and require a formal process by the respective political subdivision, or an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, to abandon, dispose, and vacate Revised Statute 2477 rights of way.

These roads are property rights of the state of Arizona, held on behalf of We The People, that are granted by the US Congress through the Mining Act of 1866. These rights of way can be found on official USGS Topo maps and survey plats as early as 1954 and provide a fundamental right of passage for the public, as well as state and county employees conducting official business. This decision will also directly impact private property, and active mining and agriculture operations.

According to the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997 and as recognized by ARS 37.931, all agencies of the federal government are strictly prohibited from issuing any final rule or regulation that pertains to the validity, recognition, or management of Revised Statute 2477 roads without the express authorization of Congress. This decision is further asserted in the Comptroller General decisions B-277719 and B-300912. Please refer to Attorney General Mark Brnovich Opinion Number I17-005 (R15-014) issued Friday, July 21, 2017, Regarding the powers of local political subdivisions over Revised Statute 2477 rights-of-way.

Please immediately engage in the appeals process and defend the motorized use of existing RS 2477 rights of way in the Buckeye Hills Travel Management Area.

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This message was sent from an Arizona Backcountry Explorers Call To Action. AZBackroads.com

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Read the Documents and Final Decision on the Project Website

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Author: Kevin Allard

Kevin is an American outdoorsman born and raised in rural Arizona who grew up exploring the Arizona backcountry with his father. Today, he and his son travel to the most remote regions of Arizona, scavenging for the remains of early western pioneers. As a lifelong outdoorsman, Kevin has learned to stick close to his roots while engaging in important advocacy work regarding motorized access to public lands. You can find his work in many local and nationwide publications, including The Western Journal, 4Low Magazine, and his website AZBackroads.com.