Sage Grouse Courtesy US FWSWhat’s happening: The Bureau of Land Management is considering significant changes in how they manage sage grouse on over 50 million acres of habitat across the West, including here in Utah. Please speak up to protecting this species, which will benefit communities and so many other wildlife found in sagebrush country.
With a majority of Greater Sage-grouse found on public lands, we want BLM to succeed with good plans and address concerns that we have – which include proposed changes to habitat designations (and thus management actions) in Utah!
Take Action to Preserve the US Forest Service Roadless Rule Comment by Sept 19th
The USDA Forest Service is rescinding the roadless rule implemented to protect forests without roads in 2001. This is a clear grab for us and our children to pay to open forests up for logging. Many of these roadless forest properties have near Wilderness qualities and are in many cases adjacent to declared Wilderness. Help preserve connected wild lands to promote wildlife protection, watersheds, reduce human-caused wildfires and current and ongoing costs.
We recommend telling the Forest Service you support preserving undefiled forest property.
The 2001 Roadless Rule established prohibitions on road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting in nearly 60 million acres inventoried roadless areas, with limited exceptions. Today, the 2001 Roadless Rule applies to nearly 45 million acres of National Forest System lands, including in Alaska.
The 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule, which exempted the Tongass National Forest in Alaska from roadless protections, was repealed on Jan. 27, 2023, returning the inventoried roadless areas of the forest to management under the 2001 Roadless Rule. For more information see the project documents.
The 2001 Roadless Rule no longer applies to more than 9 million acres in Idaho and more than 4 million acres in Colorado. Those state-specific roadless rules supersede 2001 rule. –more–
Inventoried Roadless Areas on National Forest System Lands Courtesy USDA Forest Service
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USDA Forest Service Press Releases For Removing the Roadless Rule:
Earthjustice Responds as Trump Administration Takes Aim at Longstanding Rule Protecting National Forestlands, Earthjustice, June 23, 2025,
https://earthjustice.org/press/2025/earthjustice-responds-as-trump-administration-takes-aim-at-longstanding-rule-protecting-national-forestlands
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This is not the first time that our protected lands have been endangered. Learn about the efforts of Bernard and Avis DeVoto to protect wild places:
“In late-1940s America, few writers commanded attention like Bernard DeVoto. Alongside his brilliant wife and editor, Avis, DeVoto was a firebrand of American liberty, free speech, and perhaps our greatest national treasure: public lands. But when a corrupt band of lawmakers, led by Senator Pat McCarran, sought to quietly cede millions of acres of national parks and other western lands to logging, mining, and private industry, the DeVotos entered the fight of their lives. Bernard and Avis built a broad grassroots coalition to sound the alarm—from Julia and Paul Child to Ansel Adams, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Alfred Knopf, Adlai Stevenson, and Wallace Stegner—while the very pillars of American democracy, embodied in free and public access to Western lands, hung in the balance. Their dramatic crusade would earn them censorship and blacklisting by Joe McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Roy Cohn, and it even cost Bernard his life. –more–“
A Tony Grove Meadow Courtesy USDA Forest Service Teresa Prendusi, Photographer
The Tony Grove Recreation Area and the Mount Naomi Wilderness are being inducted into the Old-Growth Forest Network during a ceremony at the backcountry trailhead on Tony Grove Lake Road at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 27th, 2025. This honor will recognize the two areas in Logan Canyon for their beauty and biodiversity. [Rod Boam, Cache Valley Daily]
Mount Naomi Wilderness [from the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest, USDA Forest Service]
Specific Area Information
Location: Northern Utah, northeast of Logan, Utah
USGS Quad: Naomi Peak, Tony Grove Peak and Mount Elmer
Difficulty: Moderate to severe with elevations rising to more than 9,900 feet.
Use: Frequent year round, especially on weekends and holidays.
About the Area
With spectacular alpine scenery, Mount Naomi Wilderness lies between the Logan River and the Utah-Idaho state line. It comprises approximately 44,523 acres. At 9,980 feet, Naomi Peak, near the eastern boundary, is the area’s highest point, although this mountainous country contains several other peaks towering above 9,000 feet. On the western side, there are many deep, scenic canyons.
Wildflowers carpet the large mountain meadows during summer blooms, and several flowers are unique to this region. You’ll find large populations of moose, elk, and deer, and beavers that are well established in several streams. The area is often used for hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, snow shoeing, and back country skiing.
Trails meander up the major canyons on the western side of the wilderness from trailheads near U.S. Highway 91. The trails join with others to link the area to U.S. Highway 89. Mount Naomi Wilderness has about 12 system trails totaling approximately 73 miles, including the Mount Naomi National Recreation Trail.
When traveling in the Mt. Naomi Wilderness Area, please adhere to the regulations below:
All campsites must be greater than 200 feet away from water sources, trails and other occupied campsites.
All litter must be carried out. Do not bury anything other than human waste, which should be buried 6″.
Horses may be tethered for no more than 1 hours within 200 feet of any water source.
Horses may not be tied to any tree for more than 1 hour and must be moved sooner if damage is occurring.
All feed and hay taken onto National Forest land must be tagged as “Certified Weed Free” by the county extension agent.
Campfires are prohibited where firewood supply is depleted, when fire building threatens wilderness qualities, or for public safety.
Groups entering the wilderness must be no larger than 10 people. Groups exceeding the size limit must separate into groups of 10 or less and remain at least 1/2 mile apart on trails and while camping.
Dogs are permitted; domestic stock is limited to 14 per party.
Maximum of 14 consecutive nights at an individual site.
For further information, please contact the Logan Ranger District at (435) 755-3620
or the Public Lands Information Center at (801) 466-6411.
Above extracted from: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/uinta-wasatch-cache/wilderness
Slopes of Mount Naomi Courtesy Wikimedia, Andrey Zharkikh, Photographer Licensed CC by 2.0
