1.1 million Utah acres of public land closed to off-highway vehicles The Bureau of Land Management on Friday approved five new Resource Management Plans for field offices in Utah that will close almost 1.1 million acres, or 13 percent, of public lands to off-highway vehicle travel in these areas, according to a news release. Off-highway vehicle travel on designated roads is still allowed on 7.6 million acres, or 88 percent of public lands in the five field office areas of Moab, Kanab, Price, Richfield and Vernal. The new plans replace 25-year-old plans and better address “the need for improved recreation opportunities, better management of cross-country travel to protect natural resources, the use of best management practices to mitigate the impacts of energy development activities and additional safeguards for the protection of environmentally sensitive areas,” the BLM’s release said....