When 6,100 acres of New Mexico’s Glade Run Recreation Area were designated a “quiet zone” by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), some riders saw it as a check in the loss column. Darryl Dunlap considers it just the opposite.
“I’m very happy with the outcome,” said Dunlap, who grew up riding in the area, and owns Dunlap Performance and Motorsports in Farmington, NM. “I’ve been working on the Glade Run project since 2002. We still have maintained a majority of our true trails in that zone. Plus, we have gained thousands of acres of new trails and riding area.”
The Glade Run Recreation Area is 19,000 acres of sandy arroyos and slick rock. It is famous for its world-class rock-crawling terrain and national-level 4-wheel-drive competitions. According to the BLM website, it has two off-highway vehicle (OHV) use zones. The northern three-quarters of the Glade are managed for limited trail use and 3,800 acres on the south end are managed as an open OHV area. Approximately 42 miles of marked trails for motorized trail bike and mountain bike riders are located in the limited OHV portion of the Glade.
Dunlap was instrumental in bringing together all the user groups, county government and the Farmington Convention and Visitors Bureau, on which he serves as a board member, to work with the BLM to keep the popular riding area open for motorized use. In May of 2015, the BLM approved the latest Glade Run Recreation Area Resource Management Plan. The Decision Record amends the 2003 Farmington Resource Management Plan to designate OHV use areas, a new boundary for the Glade Run, and identify the Glade Run as a Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA). As reported by Dunlap in the July newsletter of the New Mexico OHV Alliance (NMOHVA), “The plan approval comes after many years of work by, and sometimes high tension between, the local user groups. But after all the dust settled and the ink on the final document had dried, the BLM and the local user groups finally had a completed plan.
“Clubs like the Cliffhangers (4WD), San Juan Trail Riders (motorcycle), along with local UTV/ATV enthusiasts have all worked hard for many years to keep our local public lands open and accessible. Their success is proof that perseverance does work.” Motorcyclists lost the most in the Decision, adds Dunlap. “They used to ride the single-track mountain bike trails too, but now they can’t. All-in-all, however, the motorcycle riders have more trails than other groups.”
Dunlap says the main message of this long project is that dedicated user groups worked together for many years and were willing to compromise with the BLM. “I asked people to come up with five things they want, and be ready to sacrifice one of those things. That has worked,” he said.
Dunlap also encourages OHV user groups to always get local government agencies involved in trail projects. “The user groups can organize, but local government has more say than we do. They want off-road tourism. If you consider the entire county, we have more miles of trails than Moab, desert sand wash, and world-class rock crawling.”
Local OHV clubs are working to complete the trail inventory, as well as signing and mapping the newly designated riding area at Glade Run. Dozens of riders volunteered for a work day on the last Saturday in September, which is National Public Lands Day.
For more information on the Glade Run Recreation Area, visit: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/farmington/Glade_Run_Recreation_Area.html
To read more about this and other public land access issues in New Mexico, visit the website of the NMOHVA and join its e-mail list at: http://nmohva.org/main/index.php.
