BLM names 12 Indian Creek crags as raptor avoidance zones through summer

The Bureau of Land Management’s Monticello/Moab Field Office announced that 12 named crags in the Indian Creek climbing corridor are designated seasonal raptor avoidance areas for 2026, effective immediately and remaining in place through late summer while birds nest and fledge. The agency asks climbers and other outdoor recreationists to avoid the named cliffs to protect falcons, eagles and hawks that return each spring to nest on Indian Creek’s sandstone walls.

The BLM’s published list of affected areas names The Wall, Far Side, The Meat Walls, Cliffs of Insanity, Public Service Wall, Disappointment Cliffs, Fin Wall, Broken Tooth, Cat Wall, Slug Wall, Reservoir Wall, and Critic’s Choice. The agency cautions that this 12-crag list serves as a guide and does not encompass every avoidance area or every local name, and that portions of some features, such as Disappointment Cliffs and the Second Meat Wall, fall under other land managers’ jurisdiction.

Climbers are asked to “check the map before racking up,” the BLM said in its announcement, and a 2026 raptor protection map attributed to the BLM has been published with notices posted throughout the Indian Creek corridor. The BLM advises visitors to consult posted notice boards at trailheads and crags to identify the precise closed footprints, since some closures cover only parts of named cliff bands.

BLM biologists typically identify active nests by late April or early May, and the agency will re-open areas without confirmed nesting activity, while continuing to require complete avoidance of sites with active nests until the young birds have fledged, usually by late summer. Earlier BLM guidance reposted by the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance noted that, historically, the agency has asked the public to begin avoidance on March 1 in years when that calendar date applied; for 2026 the field office’s announcement is effective immediately.

The BLM is coordinating raptor protection with the state trust lands administrator, identified in agency materials as the Utah Trust Lands Administration and elsewhere as the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or SITLA, which manages portions of Disappointment Cliffs and the Second Meat Wall. The agency also reminded visitors that private land holdings exist throughout the corridor and to respect private landowner boundaries and signage.

The BLM framed the closures as part of a recovery effort, writing, “Raptor species continue to recover, thanks in part to cooperation by the climbing community.” Nicollee Gaddis-Wyatt, BLM Canyon Country District Manager, praised climbers’ past cooperation: “We’d like to thank everyone who respected the request to avoid these areas this season. We know these are popular climbing areas, and we appreciate your consideration of these iconic birds.”

Seasonal results from the prior nesting cycle reported by The Times‑Independent show that Sept. 1 marked the end of that season and that BLM biologists documented successful fledging at three nests in the avoidance area, including a golden eagle at Cliffs of Insanity, a peregrine falcon at The Meat Wall that produced one fledgling from three nestlings, and a golden eagle at Public Service Wall, while other nests, including a peregrine at Reservoir Wall, produced no confirmed young. For more information or media follow up, a BLM media contact listed in an agency repost is Lisa Wilkolak, (435) 259-2122, lwilkolak@blm.gov, though that contact appeared in a 2021 posting and may require verification for 2026.