BLM Canyon Country District Hosts Free Public Open House in Moab March 26

The Grand Center at 182 North 500 West in Moab filled Thursday afternoon with a two-hour window few public land users get: direct access to the people managing 3.6 million acres of southeastern Utah canyon country. The Bureau of Land Management's Canyon Country District hosted a public open house from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 26 at the Grand Center, 182 North 500 West in Moab.

"We are looking forward to talking to the community about what's happening on BLM land, whether related to habitat, wildlife, archaeology, paleontology, recreation and more," BLM wrote in a social media post.

The event provided an opportunity for community members to learn about current work and projects on BLM-managed lands in southeastern Utah. The breadth of topics on the table reflected just how much ground the district actually covers. The Canyon Country District, comprised of the Moab and Monticello Field Offices, manages about 3.6 million surface acres. That footprint stretches from the Book Cliffs north of Interstate 70 all the way south to the San Juan River near the Utah/Arizona border.

The Moab Field Office side of that equation carries a particularly heavy recreation load. The Moab Field Office is a mecca for recreation, including off-highway vehicles, mountain biking, climbing, BASE jumping, hiking, horse-back riding, and river rafting. In addition to supporting millions of visitors and hundreds of recreation-related jobs in local communities, the office also supports a wide array of land uses such as oil and gas production, mining, and livestock grazing. The Field Office is known for evidence of dinosaurs and features the Mill Canyon Interpretive Track Site and Bone Trail. That combination of dinosaur tracks, desert bighorn, sandstone towers, and working grazing allotments is exactly the kind of cross-section the open house was designed to surface.

For anyone who missed Thursday's event, the Canyon Country District's main office sits at 82 East Dogwood in Moab. The office can be reached at 435-259-2100. For updated information about the Canyon Country District, Moab Field Office, and Monticello Field Office, the BLM maintains a Moab and Canyon Country Facebook page.

The district also has an active Artist-in-Residence program on the horizon for those looking for a deeper engagement with these public lands. The BLM Canyon Country AiR program will begin accepting applications March 31, 2026, through June 1, 2026. Selected artists are required to conduct at least one public event during their residency, which could take the form of a workshop, demonstration, tour, presentation, or other creative activity. The program's stated mission is to inspire, educate, and promote stewardship that enhances public understanding of the need to preserve these lands for future generations.

Open houses like Thursday's are increasingly a tool BLM districts across the region use to keep the public connected to management decisions that shape where and how everyone rides, hikes, climbs, and paddles. With planning activities on BLM-managed lands moving at a steady pace across southeastern Utah, the Canyon Country District's willingness to put staff in a room for two hours says something about where that relationship stands.