Wilderness Alert - BLM to re-open fragile Algodones dunes to ORVs!
Plan is weak on science, strong on motorized mayhem
The Bureau of Land Management has released a new draft management plan for the scenic and fragile Algodones Sand Dunes - a.k.a. Imperial Dunes - in the Sonoran Desert of southeastern California, the largest and highest dune ecosystem in the American Southwest. In November 2000, BLM closed 49,310 acres of the dunes to off-road vehicles in order to protect the threatened Peirson's milkvetch and other rare wildlife, as part of a legal settlement.
Now BLM proposes to re-open all these protected areas to destructive off-roading, threatening renewed ORV damage to rare species, to the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area, and to huge swaths of the wild South Algodones Dunes which also qualify for wilderness designation. The main closure area would become an "adaptive management area" permitting traffic of more than 500 ORVs per day. BLM's plan also fails to monitor air quality, monitor ORV impacts to threatened species, or set limits on unmanageable crowds which have grown to a lawless 200,000 on some weekends. (To get a copy of the plan, contact Roxie Trost of BLM at rtrost@ca.blm.gov call 760.337.4420, or visit www.ca.blm.gov.) The BLM recently completed six public meetings to obtain input on the DEIS, but these meetings were dominated by well-organized off-road vehicle interests. Conservationists must do more to balance the comments the BLM is hearing!
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER
in defense of the Algodones Dunes and ask that BLM maintain all the currently closed areas, set visitor limits based on what BLM can handle without draining Rangers from other agencies and wild places, and use sound science to protect this unique dune ecosystem.
Comments will be accepted through June 28, 2002.
Written comments should be mailed to:
Bureau of Land Management
El Centro Field Office
Attn: Jim Komatinsky
1661 South 4th Street
El Centro, CA 92243
Email comments can be sent to: caisd@ca.blm.gov
POINTS TO MAKE IN YOUR LETTER:
1. BLM must maintain all existing closures. They are needed to protect sensitive dune species and to study the life history of the Peirson's milkvetch - off-road enthusiasts will still have access to more than 60,000 acres of this sensitive dune ecosystem.
2. BLM must limit the number of visitors to what BLM can handle without draining rangers from other agencies and wild places.
3. ORVs destroy surface vegetation, cause erosion that kills additional vegetation, and carve tracks into deeper moisture-bearing sands that cause moisture loss. BLM must create a sound science-based monitoring program to determine the effect of ORVs on the Peirson's milkvetch and other sensitive dune species. Monitoring is impossible without protecting a "control" area where there is no ORV traffic, and this control area must be in the South Algodones Dunes because the North Algodones Dunes are of a different dune type.
4. Ask BLM to revise the Draft EIS to add an alternative which keeps all the current closures in place, and uses them as a baseline control for the research supporting their management decisions. Suggest that an impartial team of scientists approve the methodology.
5. Ask that no action be taken without funding in place. It is quite likely that if the preferred plan is approved, Congress will not provide funding to support the goals of the plan. Opening the closures without funding to protect threatened and sensitive species will mean continuing ecological collapse.
6. Ask BLM to add a section which seriously evaluates alternative recreational activities. As this time only ORV recreation is seriously evaluated. The Algodones Dunes are a key component in Imperial and Yuma County's ecotourism future. The area is rich in natural and cultural resources with the Algodones Dunes as a spectacular centerpiece. At this time, there are no safe places to stop and walk in the dunes, look at the flowers, or slide down a slip face. There are no interpretive signs or regularly scheduled ranger walks. And, there are currently no BLM staff to work on any of these tasks.
For more information on the amazing Algodones Dunes:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/goldenstate/cdca/algodones.html and http://www.dpcinc.org/theplacenooneknew.htm
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Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
