Frequently Asked Questions

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The main purpose of our organization is to acquire the resources needed to build safe and reliable access to the BLM Cross Bar Special Recreation Management Area and its interior infrastructure. Providing a full range of high-quality, year-round recreation opportunities, both economically and environmentally sustainable, through public-private partnership projects. First, will be to construct a road for everyone to access their public lands. Second campaign is to find funding to help build the internal infrastructure. Once the Cross Bar SRMA is open for public use we will provide continued support including funding for amenities/infrastructure and volunteer man hours.

The Cross Bar lands were acquired from Humble Oil and Refining Company in 1931 under the Acts of February 15, 1928, and January 25, 1929, which gave the Department of the Interior (DOI) approval to acquire land to produce and transport helium gas. In 1997, due to the elimination of the Bureau of Mines, the Helium Operations portion was transferred to the Bureau of Land Management BLM and those acquired lands and minerals then came under the jurisdiction of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). The Cross Bar Management Area (CBMA) is the only BLM-managed land throughout the entire state of Texas. The CBMA overlies an active gas field and helium storage dome and is entirely surrounded by private lands. 

Currently the only public access is via the Canadian River by acquiring a recreation pass through the Amarillo Field Office or during open trail days hosted by the Friends of Cross Bar and the BLM. 

The BLM secured a donated access easement through private property between Highway 87/287 near the Canadian River and the northeastern boundary of the CBMA.

 Special Recreation Management Areas (SRMAs):  The BLM’s land use plans may designate SRMAs to provide specific use for recreational opportunities, such as developing trailhead areas for hikers, mountain bikers, horseback or other permitted users.   

The BLM SRMA will be developed to allow for specifically identified and planned outdoor recreational uses: mountain biking, horseback riding, hiking, archery hunting, fishing, and camping. Currently, the Cross Bar is mostly used by hunters through a cooperative effort with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.  Additionally, several Special Recreation Permits (SRPs) have been issued to the public for mountain biking races, trail running, and horseback trail riding events. The Cross Bar IS OPEN for outdoor recreation.  

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Grand Junction, Colorado, and with oversight over 247.3 million acres (1,001,000 km2), it governs one eighth of the country's landmass.

President Harry S. Truman created the BLM in 1946 by combining two existing agencies: the General Land Office and the Grazing Service. The agency manages the federal government's nearly 700 million acres (2,800,000 km2) of subsurface mineral estate located beneath federal, state and private lands severed from their surface rights by the Homestead Act of 1862. Most BLM public lands are located in these 12 western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

The mission of the BLM is "to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations."