Contributing Writer
There are 16 National Conservation Areas (NCA) in the United States, of which two are located in Utah, Beaver Dam Wash and Red Cliffs.
There are 33 National Recreation Areas (NRA), of which Flaming Gorge and Glen Canyon are located partially in Utah. Part of Flaming Gorge is in Wyoming, while part of Glen Canyon is in Arizona.
NCA is a designation for certain protected areas managed by the BLM under the National Landscape Conservation System. These areas differ from most BLM land due to mining and motorized vehicle restrictions. They are established to protect endangered animal and plants.
NRAs are managed by federal land management agencies, either the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), or the U.S. Forest Service. They are established to manage the recreation opportunities in place that exist due to structures. In the case of Flaming Gorge and Glen Canyon the recreation opportunities are due to dams.
Beaver Dam Wash
Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area is located in southwest Utah. It borders Arizona and Nevada. This area consists of 63,500 acres and provides habitat for the desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, Joshua trees, and other threatened and sensitive species. Beaver Dam Wash is part of the Virgin River watershed. The Virgin River is part of the Colorado River watershed.
Beaver Dam Wash is an important area for birds. Lytle Ranch, owned and operated by Brigham Young University, is located in this area and provides valuable habitat for resident and migratory birds.
Red Cliffs
The Red Cliffs National Conservation Area consists of 44,724 acres and is part of the larger multi-jurisdictional Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, which was created in 1996 to protect the habitat and populations of the desert tortoise and other species.
There are over 130 miles (210 km) of non-motorized trails in the NCA.
Flaming Gorge
The Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was established to manage Flaming Gorge Reservoir and surrounding land. It is managed by Ashley National Forest. It was created in 1964 after the Flaming Gorge Dam was completed, blocking the Green River.
Activities in the recreation area include camping, hiking, boating and fishing on Flaming Gorge Reservoir, and rafting on the portion of the Green River downstream from the dam. In addition to recreation, the dam produces over 150,000 kilowatts of electricity utilizing three turbines located at the base of the dam.
The dam also controls water flows in the Green River to Echo Park. At this point the Yampa River enters the Green River. The Yampa River is the longest unrestricted river left in the United States.
In recent years there have been proposals to pump water from the Yampa River over the mountain to Denver, but so far that has not happened.
Glen Canyon-Lake Powell
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area was established to manage Lake Powell and the surrounding area.
Lake Powell is an enormous reservoir, encompassing more than 1.25 million acres. It actually has more shoreline than the West Coast of the United States. The lake was dedicated in September, 1963 and water started building up behind the dam. The purpose of the dam is controversial. It generates electricity, although there are ways to generate electricity without building a dam. It holds an enormous amount of water that is later used by cities and agriculture in Arizona and California.
Some people say the purpose of the dam is to protect Lake Mead. Lake Mead is located some 300 river miles downstream from Glen Canyon Dam. It is also an enormous reservoir. Water flows from Lake Powell to Lake Mead and is distributed from Lake Mead to downstream users. Prior to the construction of Glen Canyon Dam an enormous amount of silt was building up in Lake Mead. Since construction of Glen Canyon Dam the amount of silt buildup is less than one-tenth what it was prior to the dam. Without Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Mead would eventually fill up with silt.
That last statement obviously begs the question, won’t Lake Powell fill up with silt? The answer to that question is yes, but it will take hundreds of years.
Glen Canyon Dam also controls water flow for people floating the river between Lake Powell and Lake Mead. This is possibly the most famous white water section in the world, known as the Grand Canyon.
An effort to remove Glen Canyon Dam and allow natural river flows through the Grand Canyon has gained some support, but for the most part has fallen on deaf ears. At the present time there is no legislation that will cause that to happen.