BLM - Why Is The Wave In Arizona So Inaccessible?

Bureau Of Land Management

This federal agency like several others are involved in managing the outlandish large land owned by the federal government, including national parks and national monuments.

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument In Arizona

See e.g. here and here.

To quote from the BLM website: “This remote and unspoiled, 280,000-acre Monument is a geologic treasure, containing a variety of diverse landscapes from the Paria Plateau, Vermilion Cliffs, Coyote Buttes, and Paria Canyon.”

The Wave

The Wave is one of the spectacular attractions of the Vermilion Cliffs NM and beyond. You can search the Internet for photos of it.

Outrageous Access Policies

As can be expected from a big federal government, the access policy is such that it severely restricts access to the people of this country.

The website of the BLM hides the information about the permits required, thus I will quote from Wikipedia here: “BLM limits access to the North Coyote Buttes Wilderness Area to just 20 permits per day. Ten of the permits are available in advance by an on-line lottery conducted four months before the month for which the permit is sought. The remaining ten permits are made available by lottery the day before one's intended hike.”

The Wave can only be accessed via a dirt road of 5-10 miles length, which may not be suitable for regular vehicles. Once you reach the trailhead, one has to hike another 3 miles across desert to get to the Wave.

Thus, effectively a large majority of the people of the U.S. will probably never in their lifetime be able to see the Wave thanks to these outrageous measures imposed by the federal government.

Wilderness For Wilderness’s Sake

I am personally opposed to such extreme nature conservation.

We The People should ask big federal government:

1. To return such federal lands to the respective states
2. To develop attractions like the Wave by private businesses for more tourism

Previous, Related Blog Posts

See here and here.