Permits & rules
Utah monuments are not “open BLM”
A lot of southern Utah that looks like empty desert sits inside a national monument or a special management overlay. The ownership layer may still say Federal / BLM. The collecting rule is not automatically the 25/250 casual-use story.
Names people drive through without noticing
- Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument
- Bears Ears National Monument
- Other monuments and NPS-adjacent units
Boundaries have changed over the years. Your old book and your phone map may disagree. Use a current monument map, not memory.
What to assume until you read the unit page
- Collecting may be limited or prohibited even when camping and hiking are allowed.
- Cultural sites, fossils, and “surface pretty rock” get extra protection here.
- A wash that was legal BLM collecting in 1995 may not be legal collecting today.
Do this before the shovel
- Confirm ownership (BLM vs SITLA vs park vs private).
- Then ask: am I inside a monument, ACEC, wilderness, or recreation site?
- Read that unit’s current collecting / paleontology page — not a forum post.
- If you cannot find a clear “yes, casual collecting here,” don’t collect.
Parks are easy: no. Monuments are the gray zone that costs people citations.
Informational only — not legal advice. Monument proclamations and BLM plans change. Verify with the managing monument office for the acre you are standing on.