Project Details

Increased recreation in the McCoy Flats area over the past several years has led to expansion of user created disbursed campsites. These sites result in damage to the habitat of native plants and animals, impact the pristine visual landscape, and result in biological waste issues across the landscape. The campground would consolidate visitor use helping to reduce the impacts to both habitat and visual resources, while providing facilities that will stop the biowaste issue. Fencing the campground will help to reduce the user conflict with cattle in the grazing allotment, as well as prevent costly damage to signs and site infrastructure that results from cattle rubbing on them.

This project is planned to construct wildlife-friendly fencing and parking barricades for a new campground located near the Congressionally designated McCoy Flats Bike Trails. This area has seen a large influx of visitors since its designation in the 2019 John D. Dingell Act, and this project is needed to manage the increased use, reduce potential bio-waste effects on the landscape, and protect surrounding wildlife habitat. The fencing will serve to exclude cattle from the recreation site and prevent visitors from creating unauthorized user-created trails in unwanted locations. A UCC (Utah Conservation Corps) Crew will be contracted to build the fencing and barricades using hand and power tools. This work is scheduled for late spring or early summer 2026, after the heavy equipment portion of the campground construction is complete, and falls within the area managed by the 2008 RMP

Provide evidence about the nature of the problem and the need to address it. Identify the significance of the problem using a variety of data sources. For example, if a habitat restoration project is being proposed to benefit greater sage-grouse, describe the existing plant community characteristics that limit habitat value for greater sage-grouse and identify the changes needed for habitat improvement.

Provide an overall goal for the project and then provide clear, specific and measurable objectives (outcomes) to be accomplished by the proposed actions. If possible, tie to one or more of the public benefits UWRI is providing.

LOCATION: Justify the proposed location of this project over other areas, include publicly scrutinized planning/recovery documents that list this area as a priority, remote sensing modeling that show this area is a good candidate for restoration, wildlife migration information and other data that help justify this project's location.

TIMING: Justify why this project should be implemented at this time. For example, Is the project area at risk of crossing an ecological or other threshold wherein future restoration would become more difficult, cost prohibitive, or even impossible.

List management plans where this project will address an objective or strategy in the plan. Describe how the project area overlaps the objective or strategy in the plan and the relevance of the project to the successful implementation of those plans. It is best to provide this information in a list format with the description immediately following the plan objective or strategy.

If applicable, detail how the proposed project will significantly reduce the risk of fuel loading and/or continuity of hazardous fuels including the use of fire-wise species in re-seeding operations. Describe the value of any features being protected by reducing the risk of fire. Values may include; communities at risk, permanent infrastructure, municipal watersheds, campgrounds, critical wildlife habitat, etc. Include the size of the area where fuels are being reduced and the distance from the feature(s) at risk.

Describe how the project has the potential to improve water quality and/or increase water quantity, both over the short and long term. Address run-off, erosion, soil infiltration, and flooding, if applicable.

Description of efforts, both completed and planned, to bring the proposed action into compliance with any and all cultural resource, NEPA, ESA, etc. requirements. If compliance is not required enter "not applicable" and explain why not it is not required.

Describe the actions, activities, tasks to be implemented as part of the proposed project; how these activities will be carried out, equipment to be used, when, and by whom.

Describe plans to monitor for project success and achievement of stated objectives. Include details on type of monitoring (vegetation, wildlife, etc.), schedule, assignments and how the results of these monitoring efforts will be reported and/or uploaded to this project page. If needed, upload detailed plans in the "attachments" section.

This project is partnered with the State of Utah who awarded the Field Office a grant to assist with the cost of building the new campground. The BLM is working with Partick Morrison from the Division of Outdoor Recreation for the disbursement of grant funds. The State of Utah awarded the Field Office 1 million dollars toward this project with an applicant match of $500K. This project will also partner with DWR through their Watershed Restoration Initiative to contract out work with UCC or similar crews if funds are received from The Foundation for America's Public Lands.

Other essential partners for the success of this project although not direct partners for this project include Uintah County who has begun the process of upgrading the road out to these facilities as well as the other trailheads that are accessed from that road. The McCoy Flats Rd. is the only route for visitors to access this area, it has become rundown and a hazard due to its narrow and curvy nature. As use has increased so has traffic on this stretch of road. The county is currently working with the Field Office to complete all needed paperwork to repair and upgrade the route allowing for safe travel. Also, the local mountain bike groups assist the field office with maintenance of the mountain biking trail system, these community groups ensure the trails stay in working order through volunteer days. With limited resources and staff, the assistance with trail upkeep that these groups provide is a vital resource to the continued enjoyment of the trails for all visitors.

State of Utah ORI Grant secured in 2024 for the construction of the Campground.

While the project is being constructed in a way that a variety of users would be able to use the sites and facilities, the primary user group is Mountain Bikers as this campground is built adjacent to the McCoy Flats National Mountain Bike Trail System. This system is currently a popular set of trails for mountain bikers of all skill levels as well as community members who like to come out and jog or walk the trails.

List any and all partners (agencies, organizations, NGO's, private landowners) that support the proposal and/or have been contacted and included in the planning and design of the proposed project. Describe efforts to gather input and include these agencies, landowners, permitees, sportsman groups, researchers, etc. that may be interested/affected by the proposed project. Partners do not have to provide funding or in-kind services to a project to be listed.

Detail future methods or techniques (including administrative actions) that will be implemented to help in accomplishing the stated objectives and to insure the long term success/stability of the proposed project. This may include: post-treatment grazing rest and/or management plans/changes, wildlife herd/species management plan changes, ranch plans, conservation easements or other permanent protection plans, resource management plans, forest plans, etc.

Potential for the proposed action to improve quality or quantity of sustainable uses such as grazing, timber harvest, biomass utilization, recreation, etc. Grazing improvements may include actions to improve forage availability and/or distribution of livestock.