4x4Wire

Safford, Ariz.  Due, in part, to increasing use and the need to ensure visitor safety at the Hot Well Dunes (HWD) Recreation Area, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has some new rules for the 2000-acre recreation site southeast of Safford. 

The rules, called supplementary rules, relate to vehicle rider capacity, clinging to or being towed by a vehicle, safety flags, vehicle use, public nudity, firearms, pets, speed limit, camping, waste disposal and length of stay. Only the first three rules are new. The other eight incorporate existing BLM rules and regulations.  

The BLM Safford Field Office proposed the new rules in October 2008 and solicited comments during a 60-day public comment period that ended on December 15. After reviewing the comments received, the BLM concluded that the proposed rules should be adopted. The BLM anticipates that the new rules will be a positive step toward protecting the health and safety of visitors that enjoy the popular recreation area.

Final Supplementary Rules for the Hot Well Dunes Recreation Area, Public Lands Administered by the Bureau of Land Management Gila District and Safford Field Office, Graham County, AZ

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is issuing new supplementary rules for the Hot Well Dunes (HWD) Recreation Area, which is located in Graham County, Arizona, and is managed by the Gila District and Safford Field Office. The rules address vehicle rider capacity, clinging to or being towed by a vehicle, safety flags, vehicle use, public nudity, firearms, pets, speed limit, camping, waste disposal, and length of stay. All current supplementary rules for the HWD Recreation Area are rescinded and replaced by these revised rules.

DATES: These rules will become effective August 10, 2009.

Click here to read the complete Federal Register Notice

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) California Desert District will receive about $8.3 million in grants from California’s Off-Highway Motor Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Program, BLM’s California Desert District manager, Steve Borchard, announced today.  

“We’re grateful for the award of the OHV grants,” said Borchard.  “With these funds we can improve the recreational experience for off-highway enthusiasts, while ensuring we protect the diversity of species that inhabit the California Desert.  As managers of our public lands, we at BLM also have a special responsibility to preserve these areas for multiple uses, including such non-motorized activities as hiking, backpacking, hang gliding, hunting, rock hounding, horseback riding, wildlife viewing, photography, rock climbing, and mountain biking.  OHV grants will enhance access for these activities.”

About $3.2 million in OHV grants will go toward the operation and maintenance of designated routes that reduce impacts upon wildlife and their habitats.  In addition, the grants will provide support services for high-quality OHV programs in recreation areas such as Dumont Dunes, El Mirage, and Imperial Sand Dunes.  California’s OHV Recreation Program, a division of California State Parks, awarded BLM about $1.3 million to ensure protection of visitors at OHV recreation areas and to protect the natural resources of public lands through law enforcement.

Another $3.8 million was awarded BLM for restoration, education, and safety projects.  The California Desert District comprises 67 wilderness areas, all of which were closed to OHV use upon designation in 1994. However, 1,400 trails and ways crossed the 4,000 miles of wilderness boundary, encouraging illegal egress by desert OHV users. The BLM will employ boundary signing, preparation and distribution of current maps, education and outreach, ‘hard barrier’ [e.g., fences, barricades], a law enforcement presence, and ‘soft barrier’ [vertical mulch] construction as part of its restoration efforts.

BLM announces Colorado Federal land title information available on the web

(June 12, 2009) - Colorado is one of the first of five western states to post Master Title and Use Plats information on the General Land Office (GLO) records web site. Private citizens, title companies, the oil and gas industry, mining claimants, other federal agencies, historians, genealogists, schools, and others can now obtain free data and images capturing Land Title and Land Use information at www.glorecords.blm.gov.

As of June 8, 2009, the GLO web site had over 4,700 Master Title Plats and Use Plats for the State of Colorado. In addition to the Master Title Plat and Use Plats, there are approximately 27,000 Historical Indiceson the web site, which provide history of  land status by identifying all past and present actions that affect title to Federal lands and are recorded in chronological order. In addition to Colorado's data, the web site includes over 10,000 Master Title Plats for the States of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota and nearly 5,500 Master Title Plats for the State of Idaho. These records show Federal ownership, use authorization, agency jurisdiction, and rights reserved to the federal government on private land within a township. They will continually be updated as land title and land use changes. For convenience, web site viewers can query by township and range to receive the exact location of where the lands are located.  The public will no longer have to visit the Colorado State Office in Lakewood to view the Master Title and Use Plat information on microfilm and purchase paper copies. Now anyone can view the information via a computer from their home or office. The Master Title and Use Plats can be used in conjunction with the Patents already available from the GLO Records Web Site for a better understanding of the Federal government rights and interests. In addition,  each online Master Title Plat online has corresponding Historical Indices, which provide history of the land status by identifying all past and present actions that affect title to Federal lands in chronological order. The GLO Records Web site is continuously expanding its archives to provide the public with more records in a user friendly environment. Additional states and documents will be added to the GLO Web Site as the data and images become available.

General Land Office Adds Colorado, Idaho, Montana and the Dakotas

 BOISE – Most of the Master Title and Use Plats for the States of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota have just been made available on the Bureau of Land Management-Eastern States (BLM-ES) General Land Office (GLO) Records website. Title companies, historians, genealogists, schools and other interested people can now obtain free data and images capturing Land Title and Land Use information at www.glorecords.blm.gov.

These records are a graphical representation of federal ownership, use authorization, agency jurisdiction and rights reserved to the federal government on private land within a township. They will continually be updated as land title and land use change. For convenience of ease, website viewers can query by township and range to receive the exact location of the lands. 

The Master Title and Use Plats can be used in conjunction with the Patents, Survey Plats and Field Notes already available from the GLO Records website for a better understanding of the federal government rights and interests. “The BLM-ES is constantly creating new and improved ways to provide public access to our information that is simple and straight forward,” said Juan Palma, BLM-ES State Director. “No longer will the public have to go to our State Offices to view these important documents. Now they can see them from the comfort of their own homes via the computer. Access from anywhere at any time to these Master Title and Use Plats is now available and opens doors to a new audience of public users,” said Palma. As of June 8, 2009, the GLO Records website has over 10,000 Master Title Plats for the States of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota; nearly 5,500 Master Title Plats for the State of Idaho; and more than 14,000 Master Title Plats for the State of Colorado. In addition, for the States of Colorado and Idaho, each Master Title Plat online has corresponding Historical Indices, which provide a history of the land status by identifying in chronological order all past and present actions that affect title to federal lands. The GLO Records website is continuously expanding its archives to provide the public with more records in a user-friendly environment. Additional states and documents will be added to the website as the data and images become available. The Master Title Plats and Historical Indices for Idaho are also available to the public on the BLM’s public File Transfer Protocol (FTP) website. This site contains several different downloadable formats for each file. They can be found at: ftp.blm.gov/pub/ID/mtp. For questions or assistance with this FTP site, please contact Idaho BLM Land and Resource Information Systems Specialist Lydia Ferguison in Boise, phone (208) 373-3972 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..