CALL TO ACTION: SAN RAFAEL SWELL TRAVEL MANAGEMENT PLAN
We need your help to preserve Utah’s scenic backcountry airstrips. Due to the 2017 lawsuit settlement with an environmental group, the BLM is obligated to revise 13 Travel Management Plans (TMPs) in Utah. Each requires public comment periods. RAF Utah Liaison Wendy Lessig says, “Please hang in there and keep sending your comments. Every voice counts.”
Draft San Rafael Swell TMP comment period closes July 22, 2024.
The 5 airstrips in the San Rafael Swell TMP area are:
Hidden Splendor
Cliff Dweller Flat
McKay Flat
- These three airstrips were listed in the 2008 Price Resource Management Plan (RMP). It says these airstrips cannot be closed without formally consulting with the FAA and pilot user groups. The BLM is proposing to limit use at these airstrips to aircraft only.
Sagebrush Bench
- This airstrip is overgrown and doesn’t get as much use. The BLM is under pressure to close motorized vehicle routes that are disused and overgrown.
Gilson’s Butte
- This is an airstrip that was just recently identified, and is in a spectacular setting to enjoy primitive camping under dark skies. The BLM has not had a chance yet to perform the necessary studies to formally approve its use as an airstrip.
Talking Points – Your comments should be substantive and provide the BLM with new information or new perspectives they had not considered before. In your own words, tell the BLM what access to the backcountry airstrips means to you.
- Thank the BLM for considering Hidden Splendor, Cliff Dweller Flat, McKay Flat, and Sagebrush Bench airstrips in the TMP. Ask the BLM to please include these four airstrips as open designated airstrips in the final TMP alternative selected.
- Please include Gilson’s Butte airstrip in the TMP, either in the current revision of the TMP or as soon as possible thereafter.
- Tell the BLM that as pilots, we support limiting use of airstrips to aircraft only, but are open to allowing combined use with other OHVs. Signage requesting that OHVs not drive on landing surface (runway) would minimize ruts and would make combined use safer.
- Aircraft meet the definition of an OHV and should continue to access the same designated routes that are open to other OHVs. Ask the BLM to please avoid language in the TMP that restricts aircraft to only landing on designated airstrips.
- Aircraft are the lightest impact motorized access to Utah’s spectacular backcountry.
- Ask the BLM to not eliminate access to an airstrip because of encroaching vegetation. Pilot organizations, such as the RAF and Utah Back Country Pilots (UBCP) regularly rally volunteers to perform airstrip maintenance to make them safer for use. Airstrips are already previously-disturbed areas, and with a day or two of work, most airstrips can be adequately maintained.
- Aircraft noise within the San Rafael Swell TMP area is short term and transient. Once on the ground, pilots and their passengers value the peaceful, quiet tranquility of the Utah backcountry for dispersed primitive camping, similar to hikers and backpackers.
Your comments should be personal and tell the BLM what access to the backcountry airstrips means to you, to making memories with your friends and family, enjoying backcountry environment while making a very light footprint on the land.
Simply use this button to comment by July 22, 2024:
Above photo by Wendy Lessig of Hidden Splendor.
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FEATURING: RAF PULASKI GLASSES Raise a glass to the work that keeps backcountry aviation alive! These RAF Pulaski Glasses are a perfect addition to your bar or a thoughtful gift for any aviation or backcountry enthusiast. Each glass features the RAF’s signature Pulaski tool, a tribute to the hardworking volunteers who preserve, improve, and protect airstrips across the country. Just like the tool itself, these glasses celebrate grit, utility, and a commitment to getting the job done. The Pulaski is a versatile, heavy-duty tool used for trail building, chopping wood, and clearing brush, making it an essential part of backcountry work for RAF volunteers. Made in the USA from high-quality glass, they’re built to last. Get yours today.
You’d have a hard time finding a more beautiful place to fly than Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport (KDIJ). The Grand Teton, Big Hole, and Snake River mountain ranges surround this eastern Idaho valley. Driggs has become a world-class destination for the pilot community. National Geographic magazine listed Driggs as “one of the ten best outdoor recreation destinations in the U.S.” Just a 45-minute drive over Teton Pass is Jackson, Wyoming, a famous Western destination. The airport, at an elevation of 6,257, accommodates aircraft on both its 7,300-ft paved runway and 3,000-ft turf landing area, marked with cones. Note: The SW 3,451 feet of the paved runway is closed until August for reconstruction. Check NOTAMS before landing. Fly-in visitors are welcome to camp underwing at its grassy tie-down area. It’s an ideal gateway to the Idaho backcountry. Enjoy views of the nearby Teton Range from the 12' x 16' cedar pilot shelter. There is potable water, a toilet, power, a gas barbecue, and a charging station nearby. Within walking distance of the campground is the Forage restaurant. A bike shed and loaner bikes, provided by the Idaho Aviation Association Borrow-A-Bike program, are available to ride into town. If you desire a more urban experience or wish to explore further, the airport has rental cars. “It’s a great destination for the pilot community, with access to hiking, biking, fishing, floating, golf and a small town with numerous shops and restaurants,” RAF Director and Driggs resident Tim Riley says. He and a local RAF supporter recently completed a spring cleanup to ready it for the season. The amenities were provided cooperatively through the RAF, the Idaho Aviation Association (IAA), the City of Driggs, and its Airport Board, with financial contributions from each. For more information on Driggs, see the Airfield Guide . Submitted July 1, 2026 By Carmine Mowbray
It’s bear grass season around West Glacier, Montana, and nearly a score of volunteers from three different states drove in to Ryan Field June 12-13 to complete seasonal maintenance, and enjoyed spotting the showy blooms throughout the woods. Bear scat was also seen in several places – a reminder that a clean camp protects both campers and wildlife. The airfield remains closed until the new runway grass has stabilized for landing, so watch the Airfield Guide for an announcement that the field has re-opened. As a result, there was no annual Ryan Fly-in this year. Volunteers removed downed trees, cleared and marked hiking trails, mowed around the buildings and part of the runway, cleaned bear boxes, the pilot shelter, cabins, and barn. “We welcomed new volunteers and continue to work hard maintaining the field. We are as eager as everyone for the grass to take good hold so the runway can open again,” Administrative Director Tricia McKenna said. Submitted June 30, 2026
RAF President Bill McGlynn met in mid-June with the US Forest Service, Idaho Dept of Aeronautics, and Idaho Aviation Association to evaluate steps to improve Magee (S77) airstrip, 23 nm east of Coeur d’Alene. On the way, Bill picked up Joe Sober, one of two airport engineers from Oklahoma City who have volunteered their professional services and have been instrumental in creating maintenance and remediation plans on Idaho backcountry airstrips. “The Forest Service engineering teams have too much on their plate just addressing roads, so having this resource to make airstrip engineering assessments and plans is instrumental to resolving challenges on USFS airstrips like Magee,” McGlynn said. The improvement project at Magee has been organized through a Cost Share Agreement that the RAF has with the USFS. McGlynn, Sober, Willy Acton of the Idaho Airstrip Network, along with USFS District Ranger Holly Hampton, Don Macintosh of IAA, Dan Conner of Idaho Aeronautics, and RAF Idaho Ambassador George Weaver investigated the sources of flooding that plague Magee airstrip every spring and analyzed means of redirecting the problematic water. Magee airstrip was created in the 1940s by the Corps of Engineers as a hidden fighter base in case of a Japanese attack on the western US coast. A dike that was built to channel water away from the runway has eroded over the past eighty years. Sober took numerous measurements and will develop a plan to submit to the USFS for approval. Work could begin over the next year or two to recover about 700 feet of runway. “We truly could not do this work without our volunteer engineers and are very fortunate to have their expertise,” McGlynn said. Weaver said, “The airstrip is a real gem, and the restoration work will make it a great backcountry destination.” Submitted June 28, 2026
“It was really nice to spend some time with Wyoming folks cleaning up a little piece of history,” RAF WY/UT Ambassador Karen Larson said of the May 30 work party at Medicine Bow airport, on the historic US airmail route. RAF Wyoming Liaison Joe Feiler organized the work and reports that about 15 people with a wide range of backgrounds arrived at 9 am to help. Attendees included RAF supporters, EAA Chapter 420 members, local residents, as well as Lee Cook, Medicine Bow airport board member and town council member.
