The United States Air Force and federal Bureau of Land Management are seeking public comment on an agreement that would allow for limited road closures at the Utah Test and Training Range in the West Desert.
The draft memorandum of understanding between the Air Force and BLM would outline the closure process for roads on public lands controlled by the BLM during training exercises. The roads identified for the closures are within the buffer zones added in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.
The buffer zones, which total 625,643 acres, were added to allow testing of more advanced weapons like F-35s and long-range bombers, according to a February 2016 release from Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Tooele).
The memorandum of agreement outlines the responsibilities the Air Force and BLM would have when making temporary closures. Those responsibilities include UTTR headquarters coordinating road closure enforcement and BLM consulting with UTTR before issuing new permits or rights-of-way in the buffer zones, among other responsibilities.
The memorandum also includes contingencies should a “test object” land outside of Department of Defense property, the Air Force would be responsible for contacting local authorities and remediating the affected area.
The temporary closures of roadways would only occur at off-peak hours and would be limited to 100 total hours annually, according to the 2017 NDAA. The public would be informed of the closures at least 30 days before they go into effect and livestock would be able to remain on grazing land during the temporary closures.
While Interstate 80 runs through the temporary closure area, it will not be affected by any of the temporary closures at UTTR.
The memorandum is available for review online at eplanning.blm.gov and the public can comment on the proposal through the May 8 deadline.