Description: Challenge to opening of public lands in Utah to off-highway vehicle use.
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Natural Resources Defense Council v. McCarthy
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/01/2019 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Environmental Groups Challenged Opening of Utah Public Lands to Off-Highway Vehicle Use. Environmental and conservation groups filed a lawsuit in Utah federal court challenging BLM’s decision to lift a 12-year-old ban on cross-country off-highway vehicle (OHV) travel on 5,400 acres of public lands east of the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park. The complaint—which asserted violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act—alleged that BLM was allowing OHV use without performing environmental review of its impacts, including climate change impacts. The complaint alleged that “[i]n a changing climate, aridification combined with land uses that increase dust emissions have synergistic and significant consequences.”