The suit points in part to the Bureau of Land Management recently providing for only a 50-meter trail buffer when it comes to surface disturbances related to oil and gas leasing in its amended resource management plan for the Grand Junction Field Office.
Plaintiffs in the suit include Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, Basin and Range Watch and two individuals. Defendants include the BLM, National Park Service, Interior Department and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
The roughly 2,700-mile-long trail runs from Santa Fe to Los Angeles and was a major trade route from 1829-48.