THE ESCALANTE CANYONS WILDERNESS

Just four generations ago the Escalante River was unknown to the outside world. Hidden in a remote basin in south-central Utah, ringed by formidable cliffs and impassable canyons, the river was unmapped and unnamed until 1872. A century later the Escalante River basin remains one of America's most remote and mysterious landscapes, if somewhat better known. Rising in the lake-dotted meadows of the Aquarius Plateau, the Escalante River descends a vertical mile on its 125-mile journey to Glen Canyon, tumbling through forests of aspen and ponderosa before entering the vast expanse of bare rock that forms the floor of the river basin. Into that stone floor the river and its tributary streams have carved a thousand-mile labyrinth of interconnected canyons.

Some 400,000 acres of the Escalante wild lands are protected within Capitol Reef National Park and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. While the Park Service will prohibit any new development on at least 90 percent of its share, the BLM and Forest Service together plan to open two-thirds of their roadless lands in the region for mineral exploration, timber cutting, and the construction of hundreds of miles of associated roads.

Under the Rim of the Aquarius

There is a fairy tale quality to that canyon. Escalante is sliced from beautiful rock that has been sculpted on a grand scale. Every side canyon conceals an arch or cave or vault in sandstone colors of cream, beige, salmon, pink, and brown. The bottom is gentle and generous, with green plants, willows, and cottonwood trees beside the river.

Kent Frost
My Canyonlands (1971)

Boulder Mountain is the brooding giant of southern Utah landforms. To travel anywhere near it is to experience its gravitational pull. On its long axis, the mountain is 25 miles in diameter. A walk around its base would be a journey of more than 100 miles. Its summit, roughly 12 miles in diameter and 50,000 acres in size, is the eastern extension of the Aquarius Plateau. Aquarius is Latin for "water-bearer," and the name is most fitting. Sailing among the clouds at an elevation of 11,000 feet, the plateau's broad, level, glacier-scoured surface collects moisture in hundreds of shallow lakes, and divides it among four major watersheds.

"The Aquarius should be described in blank verse and illustrated upon canvas," wrote the 19-century geologist Clarence Dutton. "The explorer who sits upon the brink of its parapet looking off into the southern and eastern haze, who skirts its lava cap or clambers up and down its vast ravines, who builds his camp-fire by the borders of its snow-fed lakes or stretches himself beneath its giant pines and spruces, forgets that he is a geologist and feels himself a poet."

A Thousand-Mile Maze

From the southeastern rim of the Aquarius, Dutton could see out over the Escalante River basin, whose floor lay more than 5,000 feet below him. The basin is ringed by gargantuan landforms. To the west lie the Escalante Mountains and the Table Cliff Plateau. To the south, the 2,000-foot-high wall of the Straight Cliffs runs for 50 miles to the brink of Glen Canyon. To the east, the blue-green domes of the Henry Mountains loom above the 1,000-foot-high, 100-mile-long hogback called Capitol Reef. At the center of the basin lies the maze of canyons carved by the Escalante River and its tributaries.

Numberless tributary canyons open into [the Escalante River] along its course from both sides, so that the entire platform through which it runs is scored with a net-work of narrow chasms. The rocks are swept bare of soil and show the naked edges of the strata. Nature has here made a geological map of the country and colored it so that we may read and copy it miles away.

Clarence Dutton
Geology of the High Plateaus of UTAH (1880)

A century after Dutton's visit, this remarkable landscape still retains its primeval character. Roads, mining, agriculture, and logging have nibbled around its edges, but the vast majority of the region -- nearly one million acres of Forest Service, Park Service, and BLM-managed public land -- remains wild. The well-watered canyons of the Escalante have inspired a guidebook featuring 350 miles of backcountry hiking routes (Lambrechtse, 1985). In springtime, adventurous river-runners boat the Escalante in kayaks, canoes, and small rafts. Wildlife is abundant and diverse. The region provides habitat for as many as 270 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, according to the BLM. Rainbow, cutthroat, and brown trout dart in its streams and lakes. Deer, bear, cougar, and elk roam its forested highlands. Coyote, antelope, and bands of wild horses can be found in its valleys, and desert bighorn sheep scramble among its cliffs and canyons.

Above all, the Escalante wilderness has beauty. There are slot canyons 100 feet deep narrowing down to 10 inches in width. There are cliff walls honeycombed with grottoes, alcoves, and caves. There are smooth-walled amphitheaters muraled with desert varnish and patterned with conchoidal fractures, swirls of crossbedding, and prehistoric rock art. There are rincons, natural bridges, arches, fins, domes, pinnacles, sinkholes, solitary monoliths of sculptured stone. There are cool canyon bottoms, clear springs, groves of whispering cottonwood. Above the canyon rims there are sweeping terraces of cream and rose-colored stone. Still higher there are forests of ponderosa and aspen, and finally, above all else -- the roof of one world and the floor of another -- the mosaic of forest, lake, and meadow, at the summit of the Aquarius Plateau.

Escalante National Monument -- the 4.5-million-acre-Solution

Such landforms have made the Escalante wilderness one of the natural wonders of the West. It is a popular destination for Utahns and for visitors from all over the nation and world. Utahns have long admired this landscape, and they have repeatedly sought to protect the Escalante region within national parks or monuments. The first such proposal came in 1936, when the National Park Service identified a potential Escalante National Monument of 4.5 million acres, encompassing virtually the entire Colorado River canyon system between the towns of Escalante and Moab. Despite a favorable report by the Utah State Planning Board, which concluded that "the proceeds due directly or indirectly to tourist business will mean more to Southern Utah than those from any other use to which this barren and almost unproductive area may be put" (Richardson, 1965), powerful development interests eventually killed the proposal. But public support for protection remained strong. By the end of 1972, Federal legislation had added some 400,000 acres of Escalante wild lands to the National Park System within Capitol Reef National Park and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. And in 1984, Congress designated the 26,000-acre Box-Death Hollow Wilderness on National Forest land at the headwaters of the Escalante.

Despite such efforts, the majority of the Escalante wild lands -- nearly 200,000 acres of Forest Service land and over 350,000 acres of BLM land -- remains unprotected. And in recent years commercial development has accelerated. In 1980, the Forest Service suddenly raised timber sale volumes on the Dixie National Forest from 5 million to 20 million board feet per year. On Boulder Mountain the effect of the new harvest quotas was devastating. Between 1980 and 1987, loggers swept across its southern and western flanks, blading at least 100 miles of road and transforming 25,000 acres of ponderosa pine forest into a maze of logging roads, tree stumps, and slash.

During the next five decades, the Forest Service plans to allow 80 percent of the harvestable timber on the Dixie National Forest to be logged, according to a forest plan issued in 1986. More than 700 miles of roads would be constructed or upgraded. The plan's stated goal is to eliminate two-thirds of the remaining virgin timber, leaving old growth on less than 10 percent of the Forest.

At the headwaters of the Escalante, the planning documents call for a kind of logging blitzkrieg. When virtually every acre of harvestable ponderosa forest has been cut around the southern, eastern, and northern flanks of the Aquarius Plateau, the loggers will move up into the spruce and fir on its summit, where they will cut from rim to rim, slicing an estimated 60 miles of roads across 30,000 acres of lake-dotted forest.

BLM Wild Lands: The Missing Link

BLM wild lands are vital to the integrity of the Escalante region, for they lie at its center, linking the National Forest lands at the river's headwaters with the deep, scenic canyons within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. They provide critical winter range for deer and elk which summer on the forested slopes of the Aquarius. Spanning the core of the Escalante River basin, they fill the view from any vantage point around its perimeter. The majority of hiking opportunities in the region lie on BLM lands, and a float trip down the Escalante -- a candidate for Wild and Scenic River designation -- is for most of its distance a journey through BLM-managed lands.

Unfortunately, while the BLM does recommend wilderness protection for the core of the Escalante Canyons, its would leave almost 200,000 acres of wild lands open to development -- lands of critical importance to the scenic, recreational, and biological integrity of the entire region.

The BLM's development-oriented management philosophy may have severe consequences for the Escalante wilderness. In the southern portion of the Circle Cliffs amphitheater, for example, the BLM would leave more than 60,000 acres of wild lands unprotected to allow the development of tar sand and uranium. The proposed tar sand development zone may reach southward from the rim of the Circle Cliffs to the Escalante River, overlapping 19,000 acres within the North Escalante Canyons WSA. This portion of the WSA contains four of the Escalante's most dramatic and beautiful tributary canyons: Horse Canyon, Wolverine Canyon, the North Fork of Silver Falls Canyon, and Little Death Hollow.

In its 1986 draft wilderness EIS, the BLM omitted the entire 19,000-acre segment from its proposed North Escalante Canyons wilderness -- and left no doubt as to the reason for the omission. "The objective. . . is to analyze as wilderness that portion [of the WSA]...that would have the fewest conflicts with potential future mineral development," the draft EIS narrative explains. "The major area that would not be designated . . . is within the Circle Cliffs Special Tar Sand Area."

Such explanations suggest that the BLM's management philosophy is to allow development wherever it may appear feasible, no matter how profitless or destructive such development may be. Within the North Escalante Canyons WSA, the BLM is prepared to allow permanent scarring of 19,000 acres to recover an estimated 14 million barrels of oil -- enough to meet the nation's current demand for less than one day.

Should such development ever take place, its visual and environmental impacts could be devastating. In the forested valleys and high, narrow ridgetops at the headwaters of the Escalante, full-field development of carbon dioxide gas and associated oil deposits will require -- at a minimum -- 97 production wells, 11 4-story compressor-dehydrator plants, 197 miles of power lines and pipelines and nearly 100 miles of new roads. The impacts from tar sand development would be even worse. According to a 1984 BLM environmental impact study, tar sand development in the Circle Cliffs could require the drilling of 27,000 injection and recovery wells across 49,000 acres of land. Developers would construct a 640-acre industrial park at the head of Wolverine Canyon, installing a power plant, a sewage plant, an air strip, and a work camp for 500 on-site construction workers. At any one time, some 200 wells would be active. Dozens of droning air compressors would raise ambient noise levels by 230 percent. The project would require hundreds of miles of new roads, some cutting up through the Circle Cliffs onto the benchlands that rim the Escalante River Canyon. The existing access road -- the Burr Trail -- would be widened, realigned, and paved to accommodate 140 truck-trips per day. Day and night, 18-wheel tanker trucks would roar up the steep grades, sending a low thunder echoing through the canyons of the Escalante.

Such proposals look far into an uncertain future. Under foreseeable market conditions, neither tar sand nor carbon dioxide is profitable to develop. Carbon dioxide gas, used to force heavy oil residues from depleted oil fields, must be transported at great cost to distant markets in Texas or California. Tar sand development is both costly and inefficient, recovering less than 30 percent of the in-place oil. And in the slow-growing forests of southern Utah, logging is notoriously unprofitable. On the Dixie National Forest, timber revenues have never matched the Forest Service's costs for the construction of new logging roads and the management of timber sales. The Forest Service is now losing a million dollars a year on the Dixie National Forest.

With wilderness values so exceptional -- and development potential so marginal -- one might expect that the Forest Service and the BLM would vigorously promote wilderness protection for the entire Escalante River basin. Unfortunately, intense lobbying by the mining and timber industries has persuaded both agencies to do just the opposite.

The BLM does recognize that the Escalante country is a scenic and recreational resource of national importance. In 1989 the agency floated a proposal to designate 470,000 acres surrounding the Escalante River as a National Scenic Area or National Conservation Area. But such designations do not preclude mining and new road construction -- while wilderness designation most definitely does. And even if mining does not occur, leaving the wilderness open in anticipation of mining will also allow indiscriminate off-road vehicle use to damage vegetation, watersheds, and solitude.

The BLM's refusal to promote wilderness protection for the entire Escalante region is clearly rooted in a commitment to tar sand, uranium, oil and gas, and many other forms of development.

Unified Wilderness

The Utah Wilderness Coalition's 355,640-acre wilderness proposal for the Escalante region is rooted in a very different philosophy -- a conviction that the scenic, biological, and recreational resources of the Escalante River basin are worthy of protection. Where the BLM envisions a patchwork of wilderness and development, the Coalition seeks to protect all lands which remain wild.

On the northeastern border of the Escalante country, the Coalition proposal would protect the wild Fremont River gorge, while the BLM envisions a penstock and hydroelectric power plant inside the 19,500-acre roadless area. Our proposal would protect 70,000 acres of roadless land adjacent to Capitol Reef National Park -- while the BLM would allow uranium and petroleum exploration, tar sand development, and access for off-road vehicles along the park's borders. Along the southern perimeter of the Circle Cliffs Amphitheater, our proposal would protect over 60,000 acres in an area where the BLM would encourage uranium exploration and tar sand leasing. And along the southwestern border of the Escalante wilderness, our proposal would protect the 13,500-acre "Little Egypt" roadless area and the eastern portion of the Scorpion WSA -- both earmarked for mineral exploration by the BLM.

From the lake country of the Aquarius Plateau to the heart of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, the Escalante River watershed is one wilderness. If it is to remain so, the current management philosophy of the BLM and the Forest Service must change. Both agencies pay lip service to the value of scenery, recreation, and wildlife. But under pressure from the mining and timber industries, both agencies have endorsed massive development projects in the heart of the Escalante wilderness. Only wilderness legislation can provide a mandate strong, comprehensive, and clear enough to insure permanent protection for one of the most beautiful natural areas in the nation.

Ray Wheeler

NORTH ESCALANTE CANYONS UNIT

Highlights

The North Escalante Canyons are the core of the Escalante wilderness. These canyons and the surrounding benchlands support diverse plant and animal life and hold significant geological formations, numerous archeological sites, and exceptional backpacking opportunities. The BLM's wilderness recommendation would leave important wild lands on the east side of the unit open to tar sand leasing and uranium exploration. We propose wilderness designation for 144,000 acres, including the Little Egypt unit which is connected via roadless lands in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Geology and landforms

Twenty miles of the Escalante River and scores of miles of narrow, winding sidecanyons highlight this unit. Within these canyons are arches, natural bridges, and alcoves; above the steep walls of Navajo Sandstone are scenic panoramas across an impossibly chopped and jointed landscape.

Plant communities

Most of the unit is slickrock that supports scattered pinyon and juniper trees and desert shrubs. (The pinyon-juniper forest is fairly thick on top of the Little Egypt mesa.) Riparian species grow along the Escalante River and its major sidecanyons. The unit may also support two sensitive plant species, according to the BLM: the Red Canyon catchfly (Silene petersonii var. minor) and the milkvetch Astragalus barneby.

Wildlife

Mule deer, cottontail, mountain lion and elk inhabit this unit. Mourning dove, waterfowl, and brown and rainbow trout can also be found here. Two endangered bird species, the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, are known to exist in this area, along with several sensitive species -- the golden eagle, Lewis's woodpecker, and western and mountain bluebirds.

Archeology and history

The BLM identified 22 archeological sites in its WSA, including rock art, granaries, and shelters. Many more would be discovered if thorough surveys were undertaken. On lands south of Harris Wash that were dropped from the wilderness inventory, Coalition volunteers found 14 sites, chiefly lithic scatters, in a 1-day reconnaissance. Four of these are eligible for listing on the National Register. Unfortunately, these and other BLM lands south of Harris Wash, totalling 4,000 acres, were given to the State of Utah despite their known archeological sites. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, a Coalition member group, has filed suit in federal court to rescind the illegal land transfer.

Recreation

This unit's breathtaking scenery, ample water, and notable geological and archeological features are accessible via dozens of hiking and backpacking trails. Little Death Hollow, which crosses the center of the BLM excluded area, offers an exciting "narrows" hike. A section of Harris Wash, the second most popular (after Coyote Gulch) access route to the Escalante River, passes through a section of this unit that was omitted from the BLM's wilderness inventory.

BLM recommendation

The BLM initially recommended wilderness for only 100,300 acres; its final recommendation pares this down another 8,700 acres. The agency excluded lands in the vicinity of Little Death Hollow and Big Bown Bench for the stated reason of allowing development of the Circle Cliffs Special Tar Sand Area (BLM, 1986, p. 9). Tar sand extraction would represent a profoundly destructive attack on the surrounding ecosystem (see area overview). The deposit, moreover, is of low quality and is not feasible to develop under foreseeable conditions (see Minerals section). Uranium was also cited as a conflict with wilderness but commercial deposits are unlikely. The BLM also recommends the creation of a half-mile-wide non-wilderness zone along the Burr Trail "to avoid conflict with potential realignment and paving" of the road. Finally, the BLM omitted 13,000 acres around Little Egypt and Harris Wash, claiming that it lacks naturalness and outstanding opportunities for solitude.

Coalition proposal

We propose wilderness designation for 144,000 acres, making minor boundary adjustments to exclude human impacts around the perimeter. We include 19,000 acres around Little Death Hollow which is of great value for primitive outdoor recreation and wildlife. Our boundary cherrystems access roads to and on Big Spencer Flats, rather than excluding a large area surrounding the road which would open up a major island of nonwilderness. A vehicle way on the "V" is rapidly being reclaimed by erosion and drifting sand. The vehicle route down Horse Canyon is mostly in the wash bed and would return to a natural condition if left undisturbed; this access route to the Escalante River is most appropriate for foot and horse travel. The Harris Wash-Little Egypt tract, which adjoins the Glen Canyon NRA, is overall in a natural condition; a seismograph line included in this tract is almost impossible to spot on the ground and represents a minor intrusion on the landscape. Harris Wash itself is included downstream from the existing trailhead access. The drainages and open benchlands throughout this unit provide excellent solitude. Finally, the 4,000 acres of public land south of Harris Wash that were given to the State of Utah are included, pending the outcome of the lawsuit seeking to block the transfer.

SCORPION UNIT

Highlights

The 38,100-acre Scorpion unit is located 25 miles southeast of Escalante and borders proposed wilderness to the east in the Glen Canyon NRA. Access is from the Hole-in-the-Rock Road or from the Escalante River. Twisting, narrow canyons, a perennial stream, endangered and sensitive bird species, and outstanding backcountry recreation opportunities make this a key unit of the greater Escalante wilderness.

Geology and landforms

Nearly 60 miles of sinuous canyons are carved into the Mesozoic rocks of the Glen Canyon Group in this unit. Twenty-Five Mile Wash and Dry Fork Coyote Gulch gain most of their depth here, while Scorpion Gulch itself begins in a dramatic pouroff: all three flow east into the Escalante River in the Glen Canyon NRA. The tributaries of these drainages "exhibit concentrations of deep slots that are not equaled elsewhere in the Escalante River drainage" (BLM, 1986, p.16). The rocky benchlands developed on the Navajo Sandstone offer spectacular views into the canyons and across to the Waterpocket Fold and Fiftymile Mountain. Lower down in the main canyons, the deep reds of the Wingate Sandstone set a glowing backdrop for streamside vegetation.

Plant communities

Desert shrub vegetation predominates with its characteristic juniper, sage, Brigham tea, Indian ricegrass, and sand dropseed. Wildflowers including asters, gilia, and the dark-leaved Datura or jimsonweed stand out in sandy blows and hollows. Riparian vegetation follows the banks of Twenty-Five Mile Wash.

Wildlife

The diverse habitat ranging from sandy slickrock benches to grassy, trickling streams is home to as many as 50 species of mammals, 170 species of birds, 17 species of reptiles, and 5 species of amphibians, according to the BLM. The unit includes yearlong range for mule deer, winter range for a few mountain lion, and nesting areas for at least nine raptors. Bird species include the endangered bald eagle and peregrine falcon and four sensitive species: the golden eagle, Lewis's woodpecker, and the western and mountain bluebird. The perennial stream in Twenty-Five Mile Wash provides valuable habitat for a number of animals; small, evanescent waterpockets on the slickrock benchlands are also important water sources.

Archeology and history

The BLM (1986, p. 15) identified about 20 archeological sites, including occupation sites, campsites, and pictographs in the WSA; more would surface with a full inventory.

Recreation

Backpacking, horseback riding, hiking, sightseeing, and photographic opportunities are outstanding even for the Escalante country -- the unit has been called "the best of the best." Brimstone Gulch and Spooky Gulch, tributaries to Dry Fork Coyote Gulch, offer challenging slot-canyon exploring; Scorpion Gulch and Twenty-Five Mile Wash are easier going but demand good routefinding skills to locate access points from the benchlands (see Lambrechtse, 1985). Nor should one forget the experience of hiking across the expansive slickrock benchlands, with their vistas of distant ridges, their intimate, sand-blown hollows, and delightful, unexpected waterpockets.

BLM recommendation

The BLM initially recommended only 9,620 acres of the 35,884-acre Scorpion WSA for wilderness designation, and excluded more than 4,000 acres of qualifying wild lands from the WSA. Superb hiking areas such as Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch, Scorpion Gulch, King Mesa, and Spooky and Brimstone Gulches were left out. (The final recommendation is expected to restore some 5,300 acres of these lands.) Potential uranium deposits may have led the BLM to recommend less than all of its WSA; no other minerals or other resources in the unit offer even remote development possibilities. The BLM notes that the eastern portion of the WSA is within the Greater Circle Cliffs probable uranium resource area, but any deposits at its fringe would be at depth and would involve high development and transportation costs.

Coalition proposal

We propose wilderness designation for the entire WSA along with 2,200 acres of additional qualifying land dropped in the inventory. Outstanding opportunities for recreation and solitude exist throughout the unit and it deserves protection from imprudent mineral exploration and other surface disturbance. Our proposal excludes the dirt road to the start of the cross-country hike to Scorpion Gulch.

HURRICANE WASH AND FORTYMILE GULCH UNITS

Highlights

The 4,300-acre Hurricane Wash unit (see Escalante Tract 5 on Fiftymile Mountain map, Kaiparowits area) features the upper reach of Hurricane Wash and a section of Coyote Gulch, which are the principal access routes into the famous lower canyons of the Escalante. The 640-acre Fortymile Gulch unit (also on the Fiftymile Mountain map) contains wild lands on the south slope of Fortymile Ridge. Containing superb wild country in its own right, these units complement the vast expanse of wilderness to the east in the Glen Canyon NRA.

Geology and landforms

Most of these units are covered with wind-blown sand and rock outcrops, but Hurricane Wash in the west cuts into the Entrada and Navajo sandstones, as does a corner of Coyote Gulch at the north end of the unit.

Plant communities

Desert shrub communities predominate at the higher elevations. Shrubs and grasses occur on benches above the streambeds, while cottonwood and willow grow along stream edges.

Wildlife

Hurricane Gulch offers yearlong mule deer habitat, and supports the sensitive western and mountain bluebirds (listed by the UDWR). Rare migrants through the unit, according to the BLM, include the endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle.

Archeology and history

While the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail was under construction in 1879, the nearly 250 Mormon pioneers travelling to Bluff, Utah, camped at Fortymile Spring south and west of these units. They held meetings and dances in the shelter of Dance Hall Rock, designated as a historical site by the Secretary of the Interior in 1970.

Recreation

The popular 13-mile hike down Hurricane Wash to Coyote Gulch and the Escalante River begins in the Hurricane Wash unit. Coyote Gulch above Hurricane Wash tends to be less crowded than lower down and is well worth exploring, too. Water is present year round in Coyote Gulch and in Hurricane Wash starting just above the NRA boundary. These upper canyons offer high quality hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, sightseeing, and photography as well as great vistas from vantage points above the canyon walls. Lambrechtse (1985) describes the Hurricane Wash access to Coyote Gulch.

BLM recommendation

The BLM recommends only its 760-acre "Escalante Tract 5 Instant Study Area" (around Coyote Gulch) for wilderness designation. The agency did not study the rest of the Hurricane Wash unit, nor any of Fortymile Gulch. It violated its inventory policy by improperly drawing the study area boundary far from the edges of roads or other disturbances.

Coalition proposal

We propose wilderness designation for 4,300 acres in Hurricane Wash and 640 acres in Fortymile Gulch, complementing a much larger area of Park Service recommended wilderness in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and protecting a popular access route to the Escalante wilderness.

PHIPPS-DEATH HOLLOW UNIT

Highlights

The name "Death Hollow" is misleading, as this is a well-watered and inviting place. (The name may derive from the murder of one Washington Phipps along the Escalante River below Sand Creek.) The narrows of Death Hollow is a strenuous, though rewarding backpack trip; Calf Creek, in contrast, is one of the easiest and most popular short hiking trails in southern Utah. The BLM recommends 39,256 acres of its 42,731-acre WSA for wilderness. Unfortunately, the agency leased part of the unit for oil and gas exploration before it designated the Phipps-Death Hollow Outstanding Natural Area in 1970. The Utah Wilderness Coalition proposes 43,500 acres of wilderness, and a buyout or exchange of any oil and gas leases which do not explicitly prohibit surface occupancy. The designated Box-Death Hollow Wilderness on the Dixie National Forest, an area similarly besieged by mineral development, is adjacent to the BLM lands on the north.

Geology and landforms

Pure-white to golden Navajo Sandstone has been eroded into expanses of slickrock and deep canyons by the Escalante River, Mamie Creek, Sand Creek, and Calf Creek. The red layers of the Carmel Formation cap the high mesas south of the Escalante River and between the tributary canyons. The ledges of the Kayenta Formation are exposed at the east edge of the unit along the Escalante River and in lower Calf Creek Canyon.

Plant communities

Cottonwood trees, willows, and grasses line the 40 miles of perennial streams; hanging gardens dot the canyon walls. Pinyon-juniper forests cover the flat-topped mesas. Most of the unit is exposed, weathered slickrock. Death Hollow holds a relict plant community (BLM, 1986, p. 13).

Wildlife

The BLM (1986, p. 15) identified 21,200 acres of the unit as important winter range for mule deer and 3,000 acres as important winter range for elk. Over 15,000 acres on Antone Flat are unallocated for livestock use and are "designated especially for mule deer use." Mountain lions, golden eagles, American kestrels, Lewis's woodpeckers, and western and mountain bluebirds are also found here. Peregrine falcons and bald eagles are considered "rare migrants and possibly winter visitors" by the BLM (1986, p. 15). Rainbow and brown trout have become established in the creeks; the UDWR has stocked cutthroat trout in a segment of Calf Creek.

Archeology and history

Prehistoric sites include 6 campsites and 14 petroglyph and pictograph sites, according to the BLM (1986). The Friendship Cove Pictograph is nominated to the National Register. Historic sites include the Boulder Mail Trail (a good hiking route), and the Washington Phipps Grave.

Recreation

The strenuous 4- to 5-day backpack trip through Death Hollow, which begins on national forest wilderness to the north, has steep canyon walls to descend and deep, cold pools to ford or swim. It is considered a classic "narrows" hike. In contrast, the easy 3-mile walk to Calf Creek Falls from the campground on Highway 12 shows how accessible this wilderness can be. One can also backpack down the Escalante River from the town of Escalante to the Highway 12 bridge, or cross the Boulder Mail Trail intersecting Sand Creek and Death Hollow. The short, steep day hike to Upper Calf Creek Falls starts at an unmarked trailhead on Highway 12. Lambrechtse (1985) describes each of these hikes in detail.

BLM recommendation

The BLM's 39,256-acre recommended wilderness excludes the relatively flat pinyon-juniper uplands north of McGath Point, which are important winter range for elk and deer as well as a scenic overlook across the neighboring canyons. It also excludes a great slickrock area in the southeast corner of the unit. The agency argues that these are not lands "with the most outstanding wilderness characteristics" (BLM, 1986, p. 7) -- a highly subjective judgment that ignores the ecological, scenic, and recreational diversity that these mesa tops add to the unit.

Coalition proposal

We propose wilderness designation for 43,500 acres -- the entire BLM WSA as well as adjacent natural lands on the south. Included in our proposal, and absent from the BLM's, are the outstanding mesas and cliffs north of the Boulder-Escalante powerline. Congress effectively prohibited any new leasing for oil and gas on much of the unit when it designated the adjacent national forest lands as the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness in 1984. The BLM recognized this when it decided in 1988 not to offer new leases in the unit. But leases granted in 1969 still threaten, although they are being held in suspension until Congress decides whether to designate the BLM unit as wilderness. In this case, about 3,000 acres of those leases will be subject to drilling, which could cause permanent damage to the wilderness character of the area. These leases should be exchanged or bought out as part of wilderness legislation.

STEEP CREEK UNIT

Highlights

This 34,400-acre BLM unit anchors the Escalante wilderness, connecting it to the wild country on that great source of waters, the Aquarius Plateau. Beginning about two miles east of the town of Boulder, the unit stretches north from the Burr Trail to the forested slopes of Boulder Mountain and east to the cliffs of Capitol Reef National Park. A corridor between alpine country and deep slickrock canyons, this unit is a rich and diverse wilderness staircase. Steep Creek, along with the 2,900-acre Lampstand unit and contiguous wild lands in Capitol Reef National Park and the Dixie National Forest, forms a 170,000-acre roadless area.

Geology and landforms

Perennial streams flowing down from Boulder Mountain enter canyons entrenched in white Navajo and deep-red Wingate Sandstone. Deer Creek, Steep Creek, and The Gulch have year-round flows of clear, cold water -- an important and vulnerable resource. Five springs rise within the unit. The Gulch leads up into the spectacular Circle Cliffs, where remarkable specimens of petrified wood can be seen in the Morrison and Chinle formations, some of the thick logs surviving intact to lengths of 60 feet or more.

Plant communities

Pinyon-juniper forest is prevalent in those areas which offer a foothold; much of the unit is slickrock. The BLM has identified riparian habitat along Deer Creek, Steep Creek, and The Gulch.

Wildlife

The UDWR has identified critical deer winter range and critical elk winter and calving habitat in this unit. Their presence brings in the mountain lions which roam throughout the unit. Deer Creek harbors rainbow and brown trout, and this and the other streams attract a variety of waterfowl. The BLM (1986, p. 16) notes that endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle "are rare migrants and possibly winter visitors of the WSA." At least seven other raptors are known to nest in the unit, including the golden eagle and American kestrel. Lewis's woodpecker and western and mountain bluebirds, UDWR-listed sensitive species, inhabit the unit as well.

Archeology and history

The BLM estimates that half of the unit has medium site densities (11 to 49 sites per 23,000 acres). Densities for the rest of the unit are unknown. Several National Register sites have been found along the Burr Trail on the south boundary of the unit.

Recreation

The Burr Trail, in its present unpaved condition, affords easy access to a variety of hiking routes in the Steep Creek unit. Ideal day hikes begin from the Burr Trail, with well-watered canyons offering many opportunities for casual or more intensive exploration (see Lambrechtse, 1985, and Kelsey, 1986a). Horseback riding, photography, fishing, backpacking -- diverse primitive recreation possibilities are available here. For those who seek remote, isolated campsites, the benches between the canyons offer solitude and good vistas. Red, orange, purple, and white rock formations, as well as Lamanite Natural Bridge, offer spectacular sightseeing.

BLM recommendation

The BLM recommended 18,350 acres of its 21,896-acre WSA for wilderness designation in 1986, and has indicated it will add about 2,500 acres to that recommendation in 1990. Areas in the northeast and southwest corners were recommended "nonsuitable," as was a strip along the Burr Trail to provide for road expansion and a utility corridor. The BLM chose this partial wilderness alternative to exclude 1,280 acres of mining claims (which are not producing and are likely to produce little in the future) and to delete lands it claimed did not have "the most outstanding wilderness characteristics" (BLM, 1986, p. 6). The excluded lands are eminently wild, rugged, and scenic. The agency deleted them simply to avoid the slightest conflict with existing mining claims of unknown validity. The BLM (1986, p. 10) assessed the uranium development opportunities of the unit as "not significant." The Lampstand unit was dropped from the BLM's inventory.

Coalition proposal

We support a 34,400-acre wilderness, comprising 31,500 acres in Steep Creek and 2,900 acres around The Lampstand. Our boundary extends to the edge of the Burr Trail in order to preserve the road as a scenic, low-speed backcountry access route and to protect the adjacent wild lands from commercial development and ORV abuse. Narrow canyons with sheer walls and steep grades make the road inappropriate as a paved highway. Adjacent wild lands on the Dixie National Forest should also be designated to protect water quality and the ecological diversity of the Escalante canyons.

STUDHORSE PEAKS UNIT

Highlights

The Studhorse Peaks unit (see map, North Escalante Canyons unit) is an upland area of pinyon-juniper forest located in the center of the scenic Circle Cliffs, just south of the Burr Trail. These prominent buttes rise directly above the road as you head west from Capitol Reef National Park. Part of the larger Escalante wild region, the unit is separated from the North Escalante Canyons unit only by the primitive road in Horse Canyon Wash. While the BLM failed even to study the area, the Coalition proposes a 19,500-acre wilderness.

Geology and landforms

Three main canyons drain east to west across the unit to Horse Canyon (along the west boundary). White Canyon, at the center of the unit, is the largest. The Studhorse Peaks are a series of žat-topped buttes that form a ridge at the eastern boundary of the unit. Most of the unit is the red Moenkopi Formation, which forms low rims and ledges, but the peaks are capped by the light-colored Shinarump Conglomerate. White Canyon cuts through the Kaibab Limestone to the Coconino Sandstone -- the oldest stratum in the Escalante wilderness.

Plant communities

An extensive pinyon-juniper forest covers the uplands on the east, grading to shrub lands closer to Horse Canyon. On top of the peaks are pockets of Gambel oak in protected sand hollows.

Wildlife

The UDWR has identified critical elk calving habitat on the northwest edge of the unit.

Archeology and history

The area shows evidence of hunting use by prehistoric people, but no recorded surveys are available.

Recreation

Most visitors bypass this unit on their way to Capitol Reef National Park or the Escalante Canyons, so a hike down White Canyon or up one of the Studhorse Peaks will guarantee you solitude. The 360-degree view from the peaks encompasses the southern part of Capitol Reef National Park, the Henry Mountains, Navajo Mountain, Powell Point on the Table Cliff Plateau, the Circle Cliffs, and Boulder Mountain.

BLM recommendation

The BLM released this unit from further consideration in the initial inventory, claiming it lacked naturalness and opportunities for solitude or primitive recreation. Although about 2,200 acres of the BLM's 22,700-acre inventory unit are impacted, the remainder are clearly natural. The dense pinyon-juniper forest and the incised, branching canyons ensure solitude. The unit's location in a tar sand district may also have affected its disposition in the wilderness review (see area overview).

Coalition proposal

We recommend that the Studhorse Peaks unit be designated wilderness to preserve one of the Escalante's relatively unknown roadless areas. Our boundary excludes the main uranium exploration roads around the eastern peaks; minor bulldozer scars are located within the unit and are slowly healing.

COLT MESA UNIT

Highlights

Deer Point, in the southeastern part of this unit, is one of the highest points on the Waterpocket Fold, the geologic feature that Capitol Reef National Park was established to protect. In addition to outstanding vistas from the top of the Fold, there are excellent hiking and exploring opportunities in canyons cut into the oldest rock formations in the Escalante wilderness. The BLM failed even to designate a WSA, although the Park Service, in a memo to the BLM, stated that the unit "would enhance the wilderness characteristics of the adjoining Capitol Reef National Park." We recommend a 23,500-acre wilderness unit.

Geology and landforms

The spectacular monocline of the Waterpocket Fold tops out at Deer Point (7,243 feet) in the southeast corner of the unit. From this boomerang-shaped mesa the Colorado Plateau spreads out in every direction: eastward are views across Capitol Reef National Park, past the great curved line of Strike Valley, to the deeply etched mesas and rounded peaks of the Henry Mountains. To the west lie the escarpment of the Circle Cliffs, the dissected canyons of the Escalante River drainage, and rising beyond, the Straight Cliffs of the Kaiparowits Plateau. The slickrock summit of Deer Point is surrounded by colorful clay badlands of the Chinle Formation. The northwest four-fifths of the unit is mostly red-brown ledges and slopes of the Moenkopi Formation with the inner gorges of the upper Moody Canyons cutting into the relatively harder Kaibab Limestone and Coconino Sandstone, the oldest layers exposed in this region.

Plant communities

Pinyon-juniper is the major vegetation type. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the threatened Jones cycladenia (Cycladenia humilis var. jonesii) may be found in the southern half of the unit.

Wildlife

Raptors, including golden eagles, nest here and winter migrants include the endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle. The UDWR classifies the southern third of the unit as a peregrine use area. Bighorn sheep have been reintroduced in the area and probably use this unit.

Recreation

The hike to Deer Point, though not well known, rewards the adventurous scrambler with a panoramic view of southern Utah. The unit offers excellent opportunities for exploring, sightseeing, and backpacking in its Chinle badlands, pinyon-juniper forested rims and washes, and sandstone gorges. Lambrechtse (1985) describes the access to Deer Point via Middle Moody Canyon. General access to the unit is from the Moody Creek road south of the Burr Trail.

BLM recommendation

The BLM dropped the unit during its intensive inventory, claiming it lacked outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation. It ignored one of the most outstanding vistas in southern Utah, the unit's contiguity with a park system area recommended for wilderness, and over 2,000 feet of elevation change. The Interior Board of Land Appeals strongly criticized the BLM for confusing outstanding "topographic or vegetative screening" with solitude in other inventory units. As a result, many areas dropped for the same reasons are now back in the wilderness review. The BLM decided that 18,230 acres were in a natural state; 1,690 acres were "unnatural" and 4,080 acres were excluded by drawing the northern boundary on a largely reclaimed jeep trail that periodically floods and is indistinguishable from the surroundings. The BLM found that ,"Ways north of Deer Point are impassable to vehicles, are rehabilitating naturally, and are not considered to significantly impact naturalness." Perceived conflicts with tar sand development may have motivated the agency to drop the area from study (see area overview).

Coalition proposal

We propose 23,500 acres for wilderness. High mesas, sandstone cliffs, and incised streambeds provide good topographic screening; the more open areas of the unit offer solitude simply because of their remoteness. The unit is generally undisturbed; the 1,690 acres the BLM felt were unnatural contain old mining scars from the 1950s that are slowly being reclaimed. These scars are excluded from our proposal where they are evident. The Congress, not the BLM, must determine whether the slim economic potential of tar sand outweighs the unit's value as a link between Glen Canyon NRA and Capitol Reef National Park. The wildlife, scenery, and solitude found here know no boundary lines.

LONG CANYON UNIT

Highlights

Capitol Reef National Park is the western boundary of this 16,400-acre unit; Glen Canyon NRA adjoins the southern boundary. Long Canyon is part of the 600,000-acre Escalante roadless area located between the Burr Trail and the Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Its multi-hued badlands add to the diversity of this wilderness with the youngest sedimentary rocks in the region. Although the BLM found the unit to be natural, it alleged that it lacked outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation. We propose wilderness designation to protect these scenic badlands and areas of sensitive soils adjacent to the park and the NRA.

Geology and landforms

Long Canyon (not to be confused with the Long Canyon farther west on the Burr Trail) is five miles long and over 600 feet deep. It cuts through the Upper Jurassic Entrada and Summerville formations. Hall Mesa and Middle Point on either side of Long Canyon have Morrison Formation badlands. A half-mile-wide finger of the unit extends north along the eastern boundary of the park and on Big Thompson Mesa; it includes Mancos Shale badlands.

Plant communities and wildlife

Sparse desert shrubs and grasses, principally blackbrush, shadscale, saltbush, and Mormon tea, are found throughout the unit. Juniper trees dot the northern portion. Mule deer live in the unit, but little else is known about its wildlife.

Recreation

Long Canyon is accessible from the Burr Trail along most of the eastern boundary and from the spur to the overlook of the Waterpocket Fold on Big Thompson Mesa. The unit receives little recreational use.

BLM recommendation

The BLM did not designate a WSA in Long Canyon. While most of the unit is in a natural condition (the only imprints are along the Burr Trail) the BLM claimed the unit did not have outstanding opportunities for solitude due to a lack of vegetative screening and topographic relief. This conclusion is unsupportable: the northern edge of the unit is a juniper-covered mesa top that provides vegetative screening and the southern end has over 1,000 feet of topographic relief from the bottom of Long Canyon to the top of Hall Mesa and Middle Point. Also relevant is the unit's location adjacent to a much larger wild area.

Coalition proposal

A 16,400-acre wilderness unit is needed to ensure protection of this unit's scenery and sensitive soils from speculative mineral exploration and ORV abuse. The unit is a logical extension of wild land in the adjacent Glen Canyon NRA and Capitol Reef National Park.

NOTOM BENCH AND DOGWATER CREEK UNITS

Highlights

Between Capitol Reef National Park and the Notom Road, on the rolling eastern foothills of the Waterpocket Fold, lie BLM wild lands that should be protected as part of the roadless area extending into the park. Outstanding hikes into the park begin in the washes and canyons of these units. An 8,400-acre Notom Bench and a 3,500-acre Dogwater Creek wilderness unit are essential for continued undeveloped recreation access to the adjoining park wild lands. The BLM dropped both units from its wilderness inventory.

Geology and landforms

The eastern flank of the Waterpocket Fold runs through both units. Notom Bench slopes steadily up into Capitol Reef and is cut by several major washes. Dogwater Creek is more open and žat, presenting a spacious appearance, and is especially scenic when viewed in the evening from near the Sandy Ranch on the Notom Road.

Plant communities and wildlife

Sparse vegetation is found here, primarily scattered pinyon pine and juniper with associated desert shrubs such as blackbrush and rabbitbrush. Occasional mountain mahogany and boxelder are found in the normally dry washes. Thorough wildlife inventories are lacking, but the units probably provide winter range for mule deer using the adjacent uplands.

Recreation

The narrow canyons of Burro, Cottonwood, and Fivemile washes and Sheets Gulch, which are increasingly popular with visitors to Capitol Reef National Park, are accessible through the Notom Bench unit. These canyons begin to "slot up" within the BLM lands. Each offers rather intense hiking, with Burro the easiest and Cottonwood and Fivemile the hardest; chockstones, pouroffs, and cold pools challenge the hiker. Outside these washes, east-facing slopes offer grand vistas of the Henry Mountains and their flanking reefs, mesas, and cliffs.

BLM recommendation

The only impacts are several substantially unnoticeable ways and an abandoned reservoir. The BLM dropped both units for lack of outstanding opportunities for solitude and primitive recreation, thus ignoring the incised canyons, undulating topography, and general lack of visitors that make backcountry travel here rewarding. The adjacent Park Service wilderness proposal mandates similar consideration of BLM lands. A letter from the Regional Director to the Utah State BLM Director specifically singled out Notom Bench as a victim of BLM's "narrow view of wilderness criteria for outstanding opportunities for solitude . . . we believe [this unit] would enhance the wilderness characteristics of the adjoining Capitol Reef National Park."

Coalition proposal

We recommends that the 8,400-acre Notom Bench unit and 3,500-acre Dogwater Creek unit be designated wilderness as logical extensions of wild lands in Capitol Reef National Park. State lands sold recently to Oak Creek Ranch are omitted from our proposal.

FREMONT GORGE UNIT

Highlights

The 19,400-acre Fremont Gorge unit offers outstanding hiking and fishing along a major river, and is easily accessible from Highway 12 southeast of Torrey. The unit adjoins proposed wilderness in Capitol Reef National Park; its preservation would safeguard an important stretch of wild river with its surrounding rugged benchlands. A proposed hydroelectric project would essentially dewater the river in this unit and drastically affect riparian vegetation in Capitol Reef.

Geology and landforms

The Fremont River and Sulphur Creek pass through deep gorges in Kaibab Limestone and Coconino Sandstone on the west side of the Waterpocket Fold. The combination of a high-gradient river in a deep, narrow gorge, beginning at the relatively high elevation of 6,600 feet, makes Fremont Gorge unlike any other canyon in Southern Utah. The benchlands above the canyons have ledges and shallow drainages in the red-brown Moenkopi Formation.

Plant communities

Pinyon, juniper, and grasses dominate the high, rocky areas while diverse deciduous shrubs and trees maintain a hold in the shaded canyons and along the waterways. Six miles of the Fremont River as well as Sulphur Creek and its tributaries support undisturbed riparian vegetation.

Wildlife

The BLM called its WSA "critical deer winter range" as well as home to coyotes, foxes, squirrels, rabbits, badgers, and many bird species, including, most likely, bald eagles and peregrine falcons.

Archeology and history

The Fremont River gorge contains an interesting pictograph panel, probably of Fremont origin. Part of the unit has been surveyed in connection with the proposed Fremont River dam but data from those surveys are not published.

Recreation

A fast-moving desert river in a deep gorge, numerous sidecanyons, excellent fishing, hiking, seasonal waterfalls and solitude make this unit different from lower-elevation sandstone canyons. Hikers and anglers can follow the Fremont River from Highway 12 all the way through the gorge into Capitol Reef National Park. This long day hike is best done when water levels are low; high runoff makes stream crossings cold and tricky. Sulphur Creek is easier hiking; excursions into its wild forks start at the park visitor center. See Kelsey (1986a) for more information.

BLM recommendation

The BLM recommends no wilderness for its 2,540-acre Fremont Gorge WSA, which actually contains none of the Fremont Gorge. The BLM originally identified an 18,500-acre inventory unit, but split it in two and rejected one unit, overstating the significance of human imprints and disregarding the natural integrity of the river gorge. The resulting small WSA excludes large natural areas, its boundary following section lines instead of physical features. The BLM may have shrunk its WSA to allow for a hydropower plant proposed by the Wayne County Water Conservancy District. In March 1987, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a preliminary three-year permit for studies on the environmental impacts and economic feasibility of the project, which would include a 110-foot-high dam and reservoir west of Torrey, a reregulating dam where Highway 12 crosses the river southeast of Torrey, and a power plant in the heart of the Fremont Gorge, just west of the park boundary. A pipeline and road would lead from the dams to the power plant, taking nearly all the river's flow. Most of the trout fishery and much of the riparian vegetation along five miles of river below Highway 12 would be wiped out.

Coalition proposal

These 19,400 undisturbed acres are a significant component of an integrated wilderness area along Capitol Reef. The geologic features of the Waterpocket Fold and the Fremont River cutting through the Fold offer first-rate opportunities for solitude. Additional wild lands on Miners Mountain complete protection for the crest of the Fold. The unit has little potential for leasable or salable minerals. An old telephone line, which was at least part of the BLM's rationale for partitioning this unit, has been abandoned, the wires removed, and the poles taken down in all but the most inaccessible areas.