THE STATE
State Denies Grant to Help Manage Dunes
Commission accuses U.S. agency of poor management of the Imperial Sand Dunes off-road recreational area. Cuts in services there may result.
By Beth Silver
Special to The Times

January 25 2003

SAN DIEGO -- A state commission has refused to continue sharing the cost of operating the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, saying the federal government has done such a poor job of managing the desert magnet for off-road vehicles that the existence of rare plants and animals is threatened.

On a 4-3 vote, California's Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission this week denied a $1.1-million grant to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the recreation area, part of the 150,000-acre Algodones Dunes.

It was the commission's first refusal in more than 15 years to help pay for maintenance of the desert expanse in the southeastern corner of the state.

"The dunes have now elevated from a local disgrace to a national disgrace, based on the mismanagement there," said Pat Spitler, one of the four commissioners who voted to deny the grant.

Spitler said that besides neglecting environmental concerns, the BLM has failed to limit the number of holiday revelers or curb excessive drinking that has led to violence at nighttime gatherings attended by thousands of off-roaders.

The BLM will ask the state commission to reconsider when the federal agency completes its land management plan, possibly by early summer. The report already is a few months overdue.

In the meantime, the BLM will have to decide where to make cuts in service at the dunes.

Trash cleanup, search and rescue, emergency medical services and park ranger training may all suffer in the recreation area, said a BLM spokeswoman, Jan Bedrosian. The $1.1-million state grant has accounted for about one-sixth of the money used every year to manage the dunes.

The denial of funding may also affect the BLM's efforts to monitor environmental conditions, Bedrosian said. The milk vetch, which grows in the area, is a threatened plant subject to federal protection. The desert area also is home to dozens of rare animals.

Some environmentalists say the BLM's oversight has been a sham. The agency studies the effects of the off-roaders, but never does anything about them, said Daniel Patterson, desert ecologist at the Center for Biological Diversity in Idyllwild.

"It's not like this was some sucker punch out of right field. The commissioners have been telling them they want to see a different approach at the dunes and they didn't do it," Patterson said. "The state just threw up their hands and said, 'BLM, if you want to continue to manage this place like a scene out of a Mad Max movie, fund it yourself.' "

In addition to cutting services, the BLM may also turn to off-roaders to make up for the lack of state funds. Off-roaders already pay $30 annually to use the dunes, or $10 for a week. A fee increase would amount to double or triple taxation to the off-roaders, who also pay a state environmental fee when they register their vehicles, said Don Amador, western representative of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, an off-road group.

Amador said he believes the commission's vote Thursday was politically motivated. Commissioners are still smarting from the Bush administration's plans to open another 50,000 acres of the dunes to off-roaders, he said.

About half the 150,000-acre area, which stretches from the Mexican border to the Chocolate Mountains 40 miles north, currently is closed to off-roading.

About 3 million people visit the dunes every year. Holiday weekends draw as many as 240,000 off-roaders and campers to what has become an increasingly popular and sometimes dangerous spot.

Three people were killed and hundreds were injured, including a park ranger who was run over, during Thanksgiving weekend in 2001.

While the state commission is declining to support the BLM's land management portion, it continues to aid law enforcement at the dunes.

In December, it awarded a $292,000 grant to the BLM and $800,000 to the Imperial County Sheriff's Department for that purpose.

The BLM is not likely to limit the number of off-roaders who can drive their dune buggies, trucks and dirt bikes through the desert sands, as environmentalists would like, Bedrosian said.
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Thanks for the article. This is sad news. You can thank all the fools that leave trash and bottles laying around the dunes and not respecting the closed areas.

 

You know they really need to find a way to mark off the closed areas. It is very misleading were they are. those markers they use suck! Hey Dave, just for example remember when I was trying to take us over to the WALL it looked like we were in a closed area but you couldn't tell!! Anyway, let's hope they figure something out.

 

Is this China Wall your talking of? I thought we made it to China Wall. Or is there another thats just called the wall? Yes, the desolate area we wound up in was unmarked, or at least we didn't see anysigns until we made our way back.

 

u know , listening to the new police chief in LA on the bill handel show this morning, he stated that within a 24hr period from 130am-130pm, there where 9 "murders not deaths" in that one day in that one city. it doesnt make sense . u want to keep us locked up in paved roads and building and try to take away my animaltizim<word? well if u dont let me blow off my blue collar steam by riding in the open spaces of mother G, i will be blowin it somewhere else like the freeway or inside my own walls. u take away a mans freedom and what does he do besides go crazy. to me as a dunner, i need not go anywhere else on this planet but to that piece of heaven called glamis. if u want to really protect something try protecting something that has a positive impact. we need the milkvec why? what is its vital function that we cannot live without? i know that trees give us lots of oxygen but i dont see all of the new houses that go up made outta plastic yet. there is something really wrong with u people if u have the time to go out and protect a weed that only exists in one small area of the world when u could be protecting the abused children wich is a problem all over the world. what i do is positive and has a meaning. u r negitive by giving me this feeling that i have inside where u r to put a weeds miningless existance infront of my soul's passion to ride. hey, i have no problem to be policed while at the dunes. human ignerance is only the 2nd reason for so much controversy at the dunes. it should be the only.

if i where at glamis i would have let all the steam out. i am a rookie to glamis but i am learning. hope i am not totally wrong in all my statements but if i am i want to know. knowledge is what i am seeking along with freedom and a sweet ride.

 

From what I ubderstand the BLM is trying to open more of Glamis up for recreational use and the "cough" Golden state is trying to hug more trees, Uhh I mean weeds out there. They said that the BLM is not control of the place and there is too much lawlessness. I say charge 50 bucks a year and open the whole place up, kinda like use at your own risk.

 

whats the difference between paying city tax and walking through s. centeral? im still paying a fee and doing something thats totally my choice. the issue is the freekin weed and using lawlessness as a smoke and mirror for the media. u tree huggers have been foolin alot of people. i have started to inform myself to bring your sorry *** meaninless weed to the end and i will eventually bring this to an end with all sand enthusiasts.

hey, what happens in st. louis every yr for a month? yeah, they make videos of the lawlessness there and sell them on the tv. Dont tell me its the lawlessness because its not. its freekin treehuggers.

 

Back when I was A little tike my dad took me to this place called GLAMIS back when both sides were open could you just think how much fun that you could have if it was all reopend? now it's just like back then my dad tryed to help keep it opened back then now I'M doing the same if this keep going on my son your kids and there kids will not get to go to this place we call home we try to show the bad the right but thay do wrong anyway just like at the river spring break palmsprings so it's up to us to try are hardest to keep it open befor its all gone and then it will just be remember that place called GLAMIS . so stand up be heard tell someone inform them I do

 

If your truly concerned about helping to keep our riding areas open, be sure to join and if you can also donate to the Blue Ribbon Coalition as well as other organizations such as CORVA (in California.)

To join either of these clubs go to their websites & sign on:

http://www.sharetrails.org/

http://www.corva.org/