THE CONFLICT: THE IMPERIAL SAND DUNES (6/2002)
Environmentalists want to reduce the amount of land available for off-road-vehicle use in this Southern California public park. Off-road-vehicle enthusiasts say “Tough luck” and the Bureau of Land Management is stuck in between.
After World War II, thousands of U.S. veterans returned to California to launch some of the most distinctly American past-times of the 20th century: surfing, hot rods, and, this case, sand or dune buggies.
California’s beaches, those of our southern neighbor, Baja California, Mexico, the Oceano and the Imperial Sand Dunes in Southern California set the scene for these recreational hobbies by providing motorsport enthusiasts and their families with an exciting backdrop for exploring nature and conquering its formidable geological formations.
Hill climbs, long distance treks and sand dune rides have become increasingly popular since the 1960s as the off-highway vehicles that make these sports possible have become somewhat cheaper through mass-production. In most cases, off-highway has meant on public lands and the California Bureau of Land Management administers a half-dozen such Vehicular Recreation Areas.
The Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA), also known as the Glamis or Algodones Dunes, is one such popular destination due to its 165,000 acres of challenging terrain, the largest expanse of these desert formations in North America. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Imperial Dunes are regulated by a Recreation Area Management Plan (RAMP) which outlines the rules for public use of this land, its maintenance and the financing of this care. Rather than an adversarial relationship, many BLM employees are also OHV enthusiasts and volunteer extra hours in order to keep the dunes area open and safe for future use.
But on March 16, 2000, the Center for Biological Diversity, California Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Sierra Club sued the BLM in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California alleging that the government office was in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. According to the lawsuit, the BLM has allowed the impacts of livestock grazing, off road vehicles, mining and other activities within the California Desert Conservation Area to threaten such endangered species as the desert turtle and Peirson’s Milkvetch, a silvery, short-lived perennial plant.
The lawsuit would have led to the closure of the Glamis Dunes until such time as the BLM could obtain a biological opinion from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding potential impacts of the CDCA management plan upon species like Peirson’s Milkvetch. Several months of intense negotiations and legal maneouvers followed and a coalition of OHV enthusiasts and related businesses fought the prohibition, eventually arriving at a compromise closure of 49,000 acres in October of 2000. Among these OHV groups are the High Desert Multiple Use Coalition, the Desert Vipers, the San Diego Off-Road Coalition, the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs and the BlueRibbon Coalition of Idaho.
In the two years following the initial restrictions to and threatened prohibition of OHV use in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, groups like the fledgling American Sand Association, which after two years of campaigning claims a membership of 20,000 and the Off-Road Business Association have filed a petition with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the Peirson’s Milkvetch from the endangered species, monitored the plants livelihood and helped enforce BLM restrictions so as to prevent any further encroachments on OHV use in the area.
The ASA even paid for its own scientific study (MS Word) of the Peirson’s Milkvetch which found the number of plants affected by OHV to be 0.93% of all counted, “primarily because drivers avoid vegetated basins due to the potential for tire damage.” Additionally, the ASA along with the California Off-Road Vehicle Association and District 37 of the American Motorcycle Association have filed their own lawsuit against “the entity that is responsible for managing the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area for not following proper procedures in enacting the environmental closures.” Many of these groups are lobbying the state and federal government for an intervention in their favor.
Meanwhile, the BLM continues with their 2 year-long effort to rewrite the Recreation Area Management Plan and Amendment to the California Desert Area Plan while holding public meetings to incorporate the viewpoints of both conservationists and OHV enthusiasts and related businesses.
California Bureau of Land Management, is responsible for managing the Imperial or Glamis San Dunes, a popular destination for off-highway vehicle enthusiasts. After a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and others (see below) the BLM has conferred with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assess the threat that OHV use in this area poses to such allegedly endangered species as Peirson’s Milkvetch. They are currently [6/20/2002] drafting an updated management plan for this area and continue to revise the list of areas open to OHV use.
Peirson’s Milkvetch, Astragulus magdelenae var. peirsonii, are able to thrive in the desert via long roots, a rapid germination period and hardy seeds that are able to drift across the desert sands until being buried within them to begin life anew. In the U.S., Peirson’s Milkvetch exists only in the Imperial Sand Dunes area.
The American Sand Association was created in response to the lawsuit that closed 49,000 acres of the Imperial or Glamis Sand Dunes to OHV enthusiasts. They now claim to represent 20,000 members and have used their funds from both individual and business contributions to counter the claims that underpin the Center for Biodiversity’s lawsuit as well as pressuring the BLM to consider the interests of their members when formulating policy for the dunes. They also promote strict adherence to BLM regulations so as to prevent any future closures based on the recklessness of fellow OHV enthusiasts.
The Off-Road Business Association has joined OHV enthusiasts in the fight against future closures of vehicle recreation areas. Their members include the myriad of southern California businesses, from motorcycle and ATV dealerships to helmet vendors, who could lose substantial revenues if the Imperial Sand Dunes are rendered off-limits to their customers. Their efforts are manifold and include awarding the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department a grant of $500,000 to “assist with law enforcement in the Imperial Sand Dunes on holiday weekends.” In the past, lawlessness in the Glamis Dunes has been cited as symptomatic of a disregard for the area’s environmental wellbeing.
Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson, Arizona but with offices in San Diego and Berkeley, California, led the lawsuit agains the BLM on the grounds that mining, cattle grazing and OHV activity were threatening the livelihood of endangered plants and animals. The group uses the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 as its principal tool as it litigates across the country for enhanced environmental protection laws. It claims it has added 280 species to the ESA protected roster and won over 37.8 million acres as protected habitat.
The BlueRibbon Coalition, of Pocatello, Idaho, is engaged in a series of national campaigns to prevent the closure of public lands for use by OHV enthusiasts. One of the group’s central aims is to monitor and combat the use of the “Wilderness Designation” in BLM regulations. The BlueRibbon Coalition defends the interests of snowmobile and sand buggy enthusiasts equally and has been effective in negotiating concessions for OHV interests in the wake of the Imperial Sand Dunes lawsuit. The group recently celebrated its 15th anniversary.
Those in favor might say:
Are public parks, undeveloped and special because they retain the natural features no longer found in our cities or suburbs, being preserved for the sake of off-road vehicles? Should not such majestic areas as the Imperial Sand Dunes be kept off-limits to intrusion by machines and motorized contests of skill where metal, rubber, oil and the like can pollute and erode the natural landscape? If no effort is made to protect a wildlife we have not yet fully understood, are we not sentencing future generations to a poverty of environmental resources?
Those against might say:
Public lands necessarily imply a “public.” If that public happens to enjoy using said lands while riding off-highway vehicles then that is an appropriate use of the territority. OHV enthusiasts are just as capable of preserving the natural resources they enjoy as are conservationists. Moreover, OHV riders are in direct contact with these natural resources on a regular basis. Their very hobby implies a love of and appreciation for the characteristics and beauty of this terrain.
Excerpts from Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Recreation Area Management Plan and Amendment to the California Desert Area Plan: Imperial Sand Dune Recreation Area: …A revised RCMP would provide a variety of sustainable OHV and other recreational activities, and maintain or improve the conditions of special-status species and other unique natural and cultural resources, while creating an environment to promote the health and safety of visitors, employees, and nearby residents.