Boundary Canyon/Pipe Spring/Kolob MIA Access Agreement

Updated 7/21/2020:

Hello all, I spoke to Lawrence Featherstone, Facilities Manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the St George region. As you know, a portion of land for Boundary Canyon access is privately owned by the Church, and the owner requires anyone using the property to abide by the terms and conditions of a recreational license agreement. Mr. Featherstone told me that he is required to verify that any use is for recreational purposes only (e.g. not for profit). Also, a new agreement must be completed each time the property is used. The new process is to email the following address: requestRLA@ChurchofJesusChrist.org. This address will result in an auto response with the form attached. I advised him I would share the web address of our group with him, so he will likely see the comments being made here and can communicate directly with our community, if he so chooses.

Please be respectful of the property and the license agreement process the owner wants us to follow. The Church is nice enough to allow us to use the property.

Among the activities that are prohibited under the agreement: "(i) hunt, capture, or harm any wildlife, (ii) discharge a firearm for any purpose, (iii) build, use, or maintain an open fire, (iv) possess or consume alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or other illegal drugs, (v) use motorized off-highway or recreational vehicles, or (vi) camp on or otherwise use the Licensor’s Property between the hours of 11:00 PM and 4:00 AM."

Edit: This also affects trips down Pipe Spring Canyon and Kolob Canyon as outlined in a post below.

Thanks,

Jason

Awesome. Thanks Jason.

Thanks for posting this and being transparent with the property owner and the community and keeping a communication line with him open.

Questions: I think most people thought Boundary is 100% on BLM, so which “portion of land” crosses private property? Is it only on the MIA exit where it crosses? If so, you clarify on top that not only Boundary, but Kolob and Pipe Spring (amongst other ones ) would be affected too.

I don’t have a map with property lines designated on it so if anyone can share that, that would be good. (Is a map like that available to the public?)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

http://geo.washco.utah.gov/html5Viewer/?viewer=RecordersOffice

Thanks Tom. That definitely clears things up a lot. I was under some wrong assumptions! Whoops.

So if I'm reading this correctly and understand from what jsb4g has been saying along with Mr. Featherstone, and just to be explicitly clear, the following:

- Pipe Spring canyon is 100% on private property. the approach, canyon, and exit (MIA). A RLA permit needs to be filled out going forward, every time.
- Boundary Canyon, while on public land (BLM) the exit portion (MIA) is all on private property and thus a RLA permit needs to be filled out, every time.
- Kolob Canyon, exiting through the MIA (or Kolob Creek down to the Narrows) will cross private property and a RLA permit needs to be filled out, every time.

This is fantastic! Thank you Mr. Featherstone.

Let's all do our part in keeping the area pristine.

I'm curious why the process is different for other church owned land, such as the North side of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Any ideas? Is it managed locally?

Yes, different areas of the state are managed by different property management groups. As for why it is required in one place and not the other, I don't know. When I did some research, I did find that church policy that requires the local manage groups use a written license agreement when allowing non church use of church owned property. But it does not appear to be consistently followed.

Managing the climbing area in LCC in this same way would have been a nightmare. Attempting to do so would have brought a lawsuit. Public access to that landscape for the last 70 years is easily documented, and climbers in Salt Lake were well-organized.

Tom

Sounds like a solid prescriptive easement case.

https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5352128&itype=CMSID

https://www.saltlakeclimbers.org/ne...wardship-of-little-cottonwood-canyon-climbing

Updated for new procedure. Please see the revised original post. They are asking that folks no longer contact the telephone number and instead email the address posted in my original post, which is requestRLA@ChurchofJesusChrist.org

Has anyone has success hearing back when using the requestRLA email address recently? I emailed them over a week ago about permission to access Pipe Spring and haven't heard back...

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk

Try this ---
FeatherstoneL@churchofjesuschrist.org

Are you headed to Boundary?

Tom

Oh that's great. Thanks! Did Boundary last year and are thinking of hitting Pipe Spring next month.

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk

I put a fixed rope on the top pitch of the MIA two months ago. If it is not needed, please remove it and pack it out. Thanks.

Tom

Tom, your hand line is still there and still very much needed. Thanks.

I wanted to report that getting permission for access was quick and painless. I emailed the completed form and got a countersigned copy from Lawrence within 10 minutes. This was on a Saturday afternoon, no less. He was extremely helpful. Note, I didn't get an auto-response to my email requesting the form until I included a subject line.

Also, although the agreement implies vehicle use and parking on MIA land are permitted (when “operated in accordance with Utah State laws…” and parking “only in designated parking areas"), Lawrence explained that, "Driving in is not an option. We don’t give access to the white gate lock at the West Rim Trailhead." So don't get your hopes up. I had dreams of driving in, parking near the pipe spring, and walking the road over to Boundary. But then I woke up. If anyone is listening, I would happily pay for permission to do that.