The Bureau of Land Management has issued final decisions on three separate right-of-way projects across Utah, spanning Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Vernal Field Office.
The Bureau of Land Management has issued final decisions on three separate right-of-way projects across Utah, spanning Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the Vernal Field Office.
Paria access road. At Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the BLM has authorized a new right-of-way, dubbed the New Paria Right-of-Way, allowing a private landowner to maintain an existing two-track road. The authorization gives the landowner year-round access to their property, formalizing a route that had previously existed without the same level of consistent access. Details on the decision are available through the BLM’s ePlanning portal.
South Central communication line goes underground. Also, at Grand Staircase-Escalante, the BLM approved an amendment to an existing right-of-way held by South Central Communication. Under the amendment, the company will abandon an overhead portion of its authorized line and relocate that segment underground. Burying utility lines is often pursued to reduce visual impacts on the landscape and improve reliability by protecting infrastructure from weather and wildlife-related outages. Further information on the amendment can be found on ePlanning.
Lay-flat pipeline to support drilling near vernal. At the Vernal Field Office, the BLM issued Categorical Exclusion documentation for the MCW Lay Flat Pipeline, tracked under DOI-BLM-UT-G010-2026-0120-CE. The decision authorizes a right-of-way for Greylock Production, LLC to install a temporary lay-flat pipeline supporting drilling operations at the company’s MCW well pad. Because lay-flat pipelines sit on the surface rather than requiring trenching or excavation, the BLM noted the project will result in no surface disturbance.
The pipeline route runs north of the White River, partially within the Chapita Wells Unit, about 30 miles southeast of Vernal in Uintah County. While the project area includes lands administered by the Utah Trust Lands Administration, the BLM emphasized that its approval applies only to the portions of the project on land under its own jurisdiction.
