Legislation all across the country is trying to close down area’s that off-roaders have been going to for decades, trails and locations that we get to enjoy our vehicles in. In recent weeks we have written about areas that have already been closed due to legislation or are on the brink of being closed due to current legislation, this week is no different.

Environmental activists have shifted their focus to an new area, the “Grand Canyon Watershed” in Arizona. Arizona already has 18 national monuments and a big national park you may have heard of called the Grand Canyon.

Now, environmentalists want to designate 1.7 million acres of public lands surrounding the Grand Canyon as a national monument. The number may sound large, but how large is it really? The land that activists want to close is the size of Delaware!

Supporters claim the land is under threat from off-road vehicle use, grazing and logging, while the Arizona Game and Fish Commission voted to oppose the monument in 2012. Arizona is on its way to being the first state to completely be a national monument, with half the state already under federal control.

Of the land restricted in Arizona, nearly 80% of these lands restrict public access and recreation. Something must be done to stop the spread of this growing trend on the President creating national monuments.

There is pending legislation that can stop this. Fortunately, 25 members of Congress, including Arizona’s two U.S. senators, wrote President Obama in opposition of the “Grand Canyon Watershed” national monument.

If you would like to help fight the closing of off-road trails and help push legislation that restricts the President from having total control of the designations, join the SEMA Action Network.