BLM begins dunes study
12:01 AM PST on Friday, February 27, 2004
The Press-EnterPrIse
A federal agency has launched a four-month program to monitor a threatened plant that has led to closures in the California desert's most popular off-roading area.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Thursday that 33 interns will scour the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area until June looking for Pierson's milk-vetch and other imperiled wildlife to establish populations counts.
"This is the largest monitoring program we have conducted in the dunes," Christopher Knauf, program coordinator for the BLM's El Centro office, said in a statement. "It encompasses a wide variety of monitoring that contributes to an ecosystem level of understanding."
The study is required as part of a plan to reopen large portions of the dunes that stretch 30 miles north of the Mexican border and rise up to 300 feet high.
The BLM closed those portions in 2000 under a settlement agreement with environmental groups seeking protections for the plant under the nation's Endangered Species Act. The BLM, in a new plan, has called for reopening those sections with the possibility of closing them again if it is determined that off-roading harms the plant's ability to survive.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/desertpass/sto...es27.5799a.html
Full Version: Blm Begins Dunes Study
I sure hope someone has their finger on this program and what protocol they use.
In a sense, we should be monitoring the monitoring.
In a sense, we should be monitoring the monitoring.
This study could be very dangerous to our off-road health. We need to keep a very close watch on this one. Thanks Crowdog
There are some off-roaders playing a "supporting" role in the survey's.
Jon
Jon
What involvement do we have/can we have in this?
That sounds like a fun job.
| QUOTE (PimpShackDave @ Feb 27 2004, 10:07 AM) |
| What involvement do we have/can we have in this? |
Don't know about helping with the BLM studies, but the ASA is continuing their monitoring of the PMV and buggies are needed.
Go to this thread to learn more...
http://www.americansandassociation.org/php...pic.php?t=14460
Letter from ORBA to Congressman Pombo about this.....
| QUOTE |
| OFF-ROAD BUSINESS ASSOCIATION, Inc. February 27, 2004 U.S. Congressman Richard Pombo U.S House of Representatives Rayburn Building #2411 Washington, DC 20515 Dear Congressman Pombo: This letter is about a matter that I consider to be of a very high degree of urgency! As I write, the Bureau of Land Management is kicking off an extensive monitoring effort in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA) – to the tune of $1 million! The four-month project will employ 33 interns to scour the ISDRA looking for Pierson’s milk-vetch plants (PMV) and other imperiled wildlife to establish population counts. The entire allocated budget for the ISDRA is only $200,000. This project has been mandated by the Federal Government without any increase in appropriated dollars! Guess where the money will have to come from – USER FEES! User fees for the ISDRA have tripled this year and, with the delay to the implementation of the RAMP, recreationists there have seen NOTHING for their increased fees! Why should we sand dune enthusiasts have to pay AGAIN for a mandated survey of the milk-vetch plant? We already paid a well-known biological firm to do three different surveys on that plant and submitted the peer-reviewed reports to the BLM & USF&WS. Our surveys, which involved actual plant counts and seed-bank counts, are as scientific as it gets! USF&WS has already acknowledged that we have provided sufficient scientific information for them to proceed with the consideration of removing the plant from the threatened species list. Why is it that the Federal Government needs to spend a huge sum of money on studies that have already been done and recognized? Furthermore, if we succeed in getting the PMV delisted, this million dollars will have been wasted! In this time of budget crunches at state and federal levels, it is interesting that the government can justify spending a million dollars for a duplicate study in the dunes when there is insufficient funds to pump toilets, pick up trash, and provide adequate law enforcement. With the delay in getting a favorable biological opinion on the IDSRA RAMP, and the lack of adequate funding, we are facing the prospect of a significant increase in user fees next year to cover the cost of, not only operation and maintenance, but to pay for a duplicate monitoring study that may ultimately not be necessary. OHV leaders in California, Arizona, and Nevada will have their hands full stemming a big-time revolt! So, we need your help! Either much more money has to be appropriated specifically (and real soon) for the ISDRA, or federal mandates to perform duplicate studies need to be removed! Shouldn’t the environmental extremist groups, who used their funds to file lawsuits that got us into this mess, be paying for the environmental studies that they demand – instead of the OHV recreation community. Thank you for letting me express my concerns about this totally unfair, and perhaps illegal, situation. With best regards, Roy Denner, President & CEO Off-Road Business Association Cc: Congressman Duncan Hunter Congressman Randy Cunningham Congressman George Radanovich Congressman Darrell Issa Congressman John Doolittle Congressman Jerry Lewis Congressman Ken Calvert Congressman Gary Miller Congressman Devin Nunes Congressman Doug Ose Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Craig Manson Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Rebecca Watson National BLM Director, Kathleen Clarke CA State BLM Director, Mike Pool CA Desert District Manager, Linda Hansen El Centro BLM Manager, Greg Thomsen Off-Highway Vehicle organization leaders David Hubbard, OHV Attorney |
I'm really happy to see ORBA writing this letter. What a waste of taxpayer/user fee funds 
This kind of spending is precisely kind of abuse of I've seen BLM utilize in the past.
Let's not forget that BLM got themselves in this corner with the Center et. al. Why then is it our duty to pay for this stupid disregard of the warning BLM received and ignored BEFORE the Court's Order?
Again, Kudos to ORBA for the letter.
This kind of spending is precisely kind of abuse of I've seen BLM utilize in the past.
Let's not forget that BLM got themselves in this corner with the Center et. al. Why then is it our duty to pay for this stupid disregard of the warning BLM received and ignored BEFORE the Court's Order?
Again, Kudos to ORBA for the letter.
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