It's interesting, but I'm still mad about how it came to be. It was a major 4x4 area for a long time, and trail users were effectively kicked out with almost zero notice for it to become a national monument. Protecting dinosaur tracks is great and I support that, but closing all of the 4x4 trails that were nearby was a farce.
I mean a whole bunch of the 4x4 trails are still open though?
Maybe BLM is gonna start cracking down now that they’re wrapping up the mine stabilization, but I’ve seen tons of Jeeps and UTVs over the last few years
In 2009 when it was first protected, a lot were closed. More when Organ Peaks became a national monument, and again when the Sierra de las Uvas wilderness became active. There have been a LOT of trails shut down in southern NM over the past decade or so
In Trackways Monument, only two trails were closed to OHV but remain open to foot traffic. Those were closed to OHV because they crossed the fossil beds and mitigation measures were not working to reduce impacts.
A few years ago the Las Cruces 4x4 club actually helped the BLM install trial signs throughout the Monument.
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u/NighTborn3 2d ago
It's interesting, but I'm still mad about how it came to be. It was a major 4x4 area for a long time, and trail users were effectively kicked out with almost zero notice for it to become a national monument. Protecting dinosaur tracks is great and I support that, but closing all of the 4x4 trails that were nearby was a farce.