Letter from UBCP to its members if you didn't already see it. Excellent group!

Dear Utah Back Country Pilots,

Recently there have been an unprecedented series of accidents in southern Utah. Since one of UBCP’s stated missions is to promote the safe enjoyment of back country airstrips, we thought that we would remind people visiting them to exercise caution. Aircraft accidents can and do happen and thankfully no one was seriously injured in any of the recent spate of accidents. Hopefully our luck will hold and these will recede back to the infrequent incident. Back country aviation continues to have one of the lowest rates of injury compared to other activities on public lands.

Two of the accidents occurred during operations at Zahn’s Bay strip which is inside of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Back country airstrips within the GCNRA were created before the Rec Area but are no longer open for use by aviators. Please check all available information, including surface maps and charts, to identify those airstrips that are within National Parks, Monuments, Recreation Areas, or designated Wilderness Areas. These airstrips are not currently open to air operations.

Thank you for helping to preserve the privilege to fly in the back country of Utah, by exercising situational awareness and personal responsibility.

The UBCP Board




The UPCP group is a great group. I encourage everyone to join if you aren't already members. www.utahbackcountrypilots.org

Just to add my 2 cents worth... Just because an airstrip made it in Galen's book doesn't mean that it's ok to land there. We need to research each new place we go before landing to make sure it's open to the public. The UBCP website is a good place to start but access to these airstrips is changing constantly. If you check the website and their info is incorrect, drop them an e-mail and they'll update it. If we work together and fly responsibly we'll be able to keep as many airstrips open as possible. Otherwise we'll end up like Montana and other states and loose most of them.