The White River provides spectacular desert canyon class I and II multiday boating opportunities along the almost 100-mile stretch from Rangely, Colorado, to its confluence with the Green River. The BLM itself describes floating the White River in this region as “one of the quiet places, where solitude … (is) still very much a part of the outdoor experience.” And the “White River is a unique experience for paddlers looking for a family-friendly trip with few crowds.” While currently the White runs through a landscape marked with oil and gas developments, most industrial projects are hidden from view while on the river. Through this leasing proposal, BLM proposed to lease more than 16,000 acres, including 600 acres that directly border a special recreation management area designated by the BLM and another 1,000-plus acres that directly overlap the White River.

The White River Special Recreation Management Area is an area the BLM identified “where high recreation use is currently occurring,” and which is supposed to receive “direct recreation funding and personnel to … provide specific, structured recreation opportunities such as canoeing, rafting, primitive camping, and hiking.”

The Interior Department’s own recommendations advise against leasing parcels such as these because of “irresponsible nomination practices that promote speculation at the expense of local communities and the management of resources that could be used for other valuable multiple uses such as outdoor recreation.” And a recently issued proposed rule from the BLM also directs local managers to ascribe a “low preference” for oil and gas proposals on parcels that have other significant values such as wildlife, historic properties and outdoor recreation.

We urged the BLM to defer the leasing of these White River parcels, and we were pleased when the BLM recently decided to remove these two parcels from the leasing proposal following public objections and the proximity of these parcels to the White River. Two parcels with recreation values given a “low preference” for leasing nonetheless remain in the BLM’s leasing proposal. While we thank Utah BLM for recognizing the need to protect the White River and its recreational values, this decision resulted only after expending significant agency staff resources to assess parcels that should have never been nominated and considered in the first place.

The BLM’s decision to remove the White River parcels from leasing only underscores the need for oil and gas reform that is effective and durable. We are encouraged by the BLM’s draft oil and gas rule that requires the filtering out of parcels like these that have established values related to other multiple uses. By creating a sensible process to eliminate proposals affecting outdoor recreation and other important values such as wildlife protection and conservation, the agency can save taxpayer dollars, better balance its staff resources to address the many other needs and obligations affecting BLM lands, and avoid ongoing conflicts with other stakeholders like the outdoor recreation community, which wants to protect established outdoor recreation areas such as Utah’s White River.

Hattie Johnson is the southern Rockies stewardship director for American Whitewater. Louis Geltman is the policy director for Outdoor Alliance. Jason Keith is the managing director for Public Land Solutions.