BLM gives OK for Mojave's NEMO Planning Area
#1
07-09-2004, 09:35 PM
BLM gives OK for Mojave's NEMO Planning Area
Friday, July 9, 2004
BLM gives OK for Mojave's NEMO planning area
By LARRY RAND/Staff Writer
BARSTOW — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has given off-road vehicles the green light in NEMO, the Northern and Eastern Mojave Desert planning area.
The NEMO planning area covers 3.3 million acres, 2.7 million of which are BLM lands. It stretches from north/northwest of the Death Valley National Park to Interstate 40 on the south and from the Nevada state line to the western boundary of the Mojave National Preserve.
A million acres in NEMO are wilderness and off-limits to activities such as off- roading, but the BLM approved routes in 91 percent of a 1.3-million-acre, non-wilderness area July 2.
Edythe Seehafer, environmental coordinator for BLM's Barstow office, said the agency didn't expect the decision to make an abrupt change in the number of off-roaders using the largely undeveloped, remote area.
"We expect a moderate increase in use as the area east of the NEMO area in Nevada and California cities to the west grow," Seehafer said.
Environmentalists were dismayed by the ruling, which Daniel Patterson, desert ecologist for the Center for Biological Diversity, said could lead to a lawsuit.
"We strongly support an off-road vehicle network in the desert," Patterson said, "but this NEMO network isn't responsible at all. They really said that everything on the ground, including routes created illegally, is OK."
Those who filed legal objections to the BLM plan when it was proposed received no response prior to the final decision, according to Patterson and retired BLM biologist Tom Egan, who filed an objection even though he had done plant and wildlife work for the NEMO route designation project.
Egan said the 91 percent route approval was "a paper exercise — they don't have funding to sign or rehabilitate the 9 percent."
Closed routes are supposed to be obliterated using a technique called "vertical mulching" that makes the former route impassable, according to Egan.
Seehafer said some routes would be considered limited and others closed. Only high-priority closed routes would be partially obliterated, she said.
Patterson said the BLM tried to minimize media coverage of its decision by limiting distribution of the press release regarding the route approval and timing its release for the Friday afternoon before July 4.
"The BLM is in bed with the off-road industry," Patterson said. "If this winds up in court, it's their own fault for not consulting with biologists, botanists and archaeologists."
The decision didn't have much impact on Victor Valley off-roaders, who have a number of areas close by that they can use.
"You don't have to go that far," said Mike Holman, parts manager for Ram Motor Sports in Apple Valley.
Holman said he hadn't noticed many local areas closed to off-roading for environmental reasons, but that BLM rangers had become more concerned with "spark arresters, decibel levels and making sure the dirt bike is legal."
Larry Rand can be reached at larry_rand@link.freedom.com or 951-6232.
BLM gives OK for Mojave's NEMO planning area
By LARRY RAND/Staff Writer
BARSTOW — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has given off-road vehicles the green light in NEMO, the Northern and Eastern Mojave Desert planning area.
The NEMO planning area covers 3.3 million acres, 2.7 million of which are BLM lands. It stretches from north/northwest of the Death Valley National Park to Interstate 40 on the south and from the Nevada state line to the western boundary of the Mojave National Preserve.
A million acres in NEMO are wilderness and off-limits to activities such as off- roading, but the BLM approved routes in 91 percent of a 1.3-million-acre, non-wilderness area July 2.
Edythe Seehafer, environmental coordinator for BLM's Barstow office, said the agency didn't expect the decision to make an abrupt change in the number of off-roaders using the largely undeveloped, remote area.
"We expect a moderate increase in use as the area east of the NEMO area in Nevada and California cities to the west grow," Seehafer said.
Environmentalists were dismayed by the ruling, which Daniel Patterson, desert ecologist for the Center for Biological Diversity, said could lead to a lawsuit.
"We strongly support an off-road vehicle network in the desert," Patterson said, "but this NEMO network isn't responsible at all. They really said that everything on the ground, including routes created illegally, is OK."
Those who filed legal objections to the BLM plan when it was proposed received no response prior to the final decision, according to Patterson and retired BLM biologist Tom Egan, who filed an objection even though he had done plant and wildlife work for the NEMO route designation project.
Egan said the 91 percent route approval was "a paper exercise — they don't have funding to sign or rehabilitate the 9 percent."
Closed routes are supposed to be obliterated using a technique called "vertical mulching" that makes the former route impassable, according to Egan.
Seehafer said some routes would be considered limited and others closed. Only high-priority closed routes would be partially obliterated, she said.
Patterson said the BLM tried to minimize media coverage of its decision by limiting distribution of the press release regarding the route approval and timing its release for the Friday afternoon before July 4.
"The BLM is in bed with the off-road industry," Patterson said. "If this winds up in court, it's their own fault for not consulting with biologists, botanists and archaeologists."
The decision didn't have much impact on Victor Valley off-roaders, who have a number of areas close by that they can use.
"You don't have to go that far," said Mike Holman, parts manager for Ram Motor Sports in Apple Valley.
Holman said he hadn't noticed many local areas closed to off-roading for environmental reasons, but that BLM rangers had become more concerned with "spark arresters, decibel levels and making sure the dirt bike is legal."
Larry Rand can be reached at larry_rand@link.freedom.com or 951-6232.
#2
07-13-2004, 05:21 PM
BLM gives OK for Mojave's NEMO Planning Area
Hi Recon!! Long time no talk! Hope all is well.
Where exactly is this area? Starting to plan for the fall riding season.
Last ride we went on was at El Mirage dry lake in Apple Valley in late May. Nice day but windy. Too hot to ride now and too lazy to travel too far. Do you know the status of the Big Bear areas for riding?
Thanks [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
Where exactly is this area? Starting to plan for the fall riding season.
Last ride we went on was at El Mirage dry lake in Apple Valley in late May. Nice day but windy. Too hot to ride now and too lazy to travel too far. Do you know the status of the Big Bear areas for riding?
Thanks [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
#3
07-14-2004, 11:04 PM
BLM gives OK for Mojave's NEMO Planning Area
Hi! It isn't very clear from the description, exactly where this is. I think I will call the BLM for a map. Sounds like it is out there a ways. I don't think this is going to be an "open area" like Stoddard Wells or Johnson Valley, but at least we can ride the roads and established trails.
Most of the SB mountains are still open. The area around Pinnacles will be closed until the new year, from what I hear.
We are headed for Mammoth tomorrow. Hope it's cooler up there!
Most of the SB mountains are still open. The area around Pinnacles will be closed until the new year, from what I hear.
We are headed for Mammoth tomorrow. Hope it's cooler up there!
#4
07-16-2004, 07:30 PM
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