I thought the tortoise was know NOT to be threatened by OHV's?
http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2005/01/nr/CDDN...stonruling.html
For Immediate Release: January 4, 2005 CA-CDD-05-16
Contact: Linda Hansen/Steve Razo (951) 697-5200 or Jan Bedrosian (916) 978-4616
Federal Court Issues Injunction Prohibiting OHV Travel in Desert Washes
A Federal Court in San Francisco has issued an injunction prohibiting off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in wash zones within 571,000 acres of public lands in the Northern and Eastern Colorado Desert region of the California Desert to protect the threatened desert tortoise.
The areas affected are public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) within designated desert wildlife management areas (DWMAs) in Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The order, issued Dec. 30, 2004 partially grants a motion filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, and others alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act. In the same ruling, the Court denied the Center's requests to close the DWMAs to livestock grazing and to restrict the public from parking or stopping farther than 15 feet from the centerline on 2,000 miles of routes. The Court further denied the Center's request to overturn BLM's land use plan decisions for the Northern and Eastern Colorado and Mojave Desert regions issued after extensive public participation in 2002, and left intact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) issuance to BLM of "incidental take" authority for the plans under the Endangered Species Act.
The Court ruled the injunction will remain in place until the FWS prepares and issues a new biological opinion in compliance with the court's ruling. FWS Ventura Field Office Supervisor Diane Noda estimates that the new biological opinion, already underway, will be issued by the last week in February 2005.
BLM Desert District Manager Linda Hansen emphasized that the public still has OHV access to more than 1,700 miles of designated open routes within the two DWMAs (Chemehuevi and Chuckwalla) covering 1.7 million acres of public lands.
The court's ruling is available online at www.ca.blm.gov. The injunction is part of a lawsuit filed in 2003 challenging the FWS' biological opinion on the plans, issued in 2002. In August 2004, the Court overturned the biological opinion based on a legal determination involving the regulatory definition of "adverse modification" of critical habitat for the desert tortoise..
Hansen said BLM will immediately begin steps to implement the injunction, including issuance of a closure order. She said BLM will focus on public education efforts, posting public notices and making personal contacts by BLM personnel, including BLM's desert rangers.
-BLM-
Full Version: More Area's Closed
I've never seen a tortoise out in Glamis...ever.
This wouldnt happen to be the same court and the same judge that the cbd always seems to get their way with is it ? 
.
I have seen 1 tortoise in the desert . It looked lost !!
.
.I have seen 1 tortoise in the desert . It looked lost !!
.
This ruling is disappointing, of course, but not surprising.
It is also not permanent.
And what is nice to see is this part:
It is also not permanent.
And what is nice to see is this part:
| QUOTE |
| In the same ruling, the Court denied the Center's requests to close the DWMAs to livestock grazing and to restrict the public from parking or stopping farther than 15 feet from the centerline on 2,000 miles of routes. The Court further denied the Center's request to overturn BLM's land use plan decisions for the Northern and Eastern Colorado and Mojave Desert regions issued after extensive public participation in 2002, and left intact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) issuance to BLM of "incidental take" authority for the plans under the Endangered Species Act. |
Some good news in the middle of the bad.
Vicki
| QUOTE (swark @ Jan 4 2005, 08:54 PM) |
| This wouldnt happen to be the same court and the same judge that the cbd always seems to get their way with is it ? . |
Yep.
| QUOTE |
| Judge Backs Desert Refuge Off-road vehicles are ordered banned from half a million acres to protect an endangered tortoise species. But the restriction may not last. By Janet Wilson Times Staff Writer January 5, 2005 A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to ban off-road vehicles from more than half a million acres of California desert that are home to the reclusive desert tortoise, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The injunction by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston is a setback for the Bush administration and its public lands agencies, which have been whittling back critical habitat for scores of endangered species, conservationists said. "It takes a 2-by-4 over their heads to get their attention, and this is a 2-by-4," said Elden Hughes, chairman of the Sierra Club's desert committee. "The court's ruling checks the abuses of the executive branch, and upholds ... the Endangered Species Act, America's most important wildlife law," said Daniel Patterson, of the Center for Biological Diversity, which, along with the Sierra Club and two other groups, filed suit in 2003 to overturn desert management plans crafted by the BLM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in recent years. "Critical habitat works, and the Bush administration must follow the law," Patterson said. Federal officials said they would immediately implement the ban, which covers a huge swath of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts in Riverside, Imperial and San Bernardino counties that is honeycombed with washes that are popular routes for off-road recreation. But the officials predicted the ban would be temporary, likely to last only about six weeks. They said once a scientific report addressing concerns about the desert tortoise was complete, the ban would automatically be lifted. "We do not have any intention of appealing this ruling. We are going to implement it," said spokeswoman Jan Bedrosian of the BLM office in Sacramento. "We are expecting a new biological opinion by the end of February, so that means the duration of the restriction will be fairly short." "It's not that simple," Patterson said. "If they just do some wordsmithing and change nothing on the ground, it will be challenged." In the meantime, anyone caught motoring in the banned washes across 571,000 acres could face a $1,000 fine or up to 12 months in prison, although prison time is unlikely, officials said. The injunction brought prompt protest from off-road groups. "Look, off-highway vehicle use is a popular and a legitimate activity in these areas, and we remain frustrated with this ongoing debacle, and we look forward to the day when OHV use can be properly managed," said Brian Hawthorne, public lands director for the BlueRibbon Coalition in Pocatello, Idaho, a lobbying group that is an intervenor in the lawsuit. "It's really frustrating. We're not insensitive to our impacts ... but on the other hand, there's been a huge amount of closures. Millions and millions of acres have already been closed." He also said signs must be posted. Signs will be posted where it is practical, Bedrosian said. "These are huge, massive enforcement areas; they need to be properly signed," Hawthorne said. "You can't just go out and expect us to clairvoyantly know where it's legal and not legal to go." BLM Desert District Manager Linda Hansen said in a statement that the public still had off-road access to more than 1,700 miles of designated routes covering 1.7 million acres of public land in the desert. The new ban does not affect the popular Algodones Dunes in Imperial County, where off-roaders and conservationists have fought over access. The dunes were part of the original lawsuit, but all sides reached a separate, interim settlement banning access to about 80,000 acres and allowing off-road use of another 80,000 acres. In August, Illston ruled that the biological opinion written by the Fish and Wildlife Service's Ventura office was not adequate to guarantee the tortoise's recovery. Ray Bransfield, the wildlife service biologist who wrote that opinion and who is preparing a new version, said the former standard had not been as strict because it focused more on survival of the species, not recovery. "What we've looked at in the past was ... having species hang on, just make sure you don't wipe it out," Bransfield said. "What the Center for Biological Diversity has argued ... and what the court has said, is that Congress intended a higher standard for recovery of the species |
It was Illston's previous ruling on the desert tortoise that threw the Fish & Wildlife Service into a tailspin regarding the PMV critical habitat, thus delaying the biological opinion even further, which in turn is delaying the finalization of the RAMP which holds the closures in place.
Vicki
here is a link to a story I just came accross on my company website... I work for the press enterprise paper.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories...oad05.ef08.html
Pretty much in parts of Riverside county and San bernardino county they are banning off roading because of a turtle that needs to be protected.
This just maybe a sign of more to come. How does that affect glamis?
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories...oad05.ef08.html
Pretty much in parts of Riverside county and San bernardino county they are banning off roading because of a turtle that needs to be protected.
This just maybe a sign of more to come. How does that affect glamis?
Here's the article that is linked above (some may not be registered on the host website):
Judge blocks off-roaders
WILDLIFE: The ruling temporarily bans access to washes to protect the desert tortoise.
12:20 AM PST on Wednesday, January 5, 2005
By JENNIFER BOWLES / The Press-Enterprise
Siding with environmentalists, a federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to temporarily ban off-roading in desert washes across 572,000 acres in Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties to protect the desert tortoise.
The ban will be in effect until biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reassess the impacts of off-roading on tortoises, a species threatened with extinction, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston wrote in issuing the injunction Thursday.
"It's a total travesty," said Ed Waldheim, president of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association. He said he has ridden motorcycles through the area for nearly 30 years. "Washes have been part of the road system for as long as we've been out there," he said.
The off-road ban affects portions of two large wildlife areas overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that are designated as critical to the survival of the tortoise. Other washes in the two areas, 1.7 million acres all together, were already closed to off-roading under a plan adopted by the Bureau of Land Management in 2002. However, 1,700 miles of designated routes still remain open, said Linda Hansen, the bureau's desert district manager.
In a statement, Hansen said Tuesday that the bureau will launch a closure order and initiate public education to spread word of the ban.
Diane Noda, a supervisor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the assessment of off-roading impacts on the protected species is expected to be completed by the last week in February.
"Given the biological importance of washes ... they're going to have to go back to the drawing board and decide whether they can permit off-road use," said Daniel Patterson, desert ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity in Idyllwild.
The center, the Sierra Club and other groups sought the injunction, fearing that off-roading allowed in open wash areas could crush the reptiles and their burrows, kick up unhealthy dust and destroy plants that tortoises need to survive.
Judge Illston took issue with the BLM statement that most off-roading occurs when tortoises are hibernating in burrows.
"The weight of scientific authority suggests that adult tortoises forage during the fall and hatchlings and yearlings emerge during the late fall and winter months," Illston wrote.
She cited a declaration by Glenn Stewart, a Cal Poly Pomona biology professor, who said the reptiles spend an "inordinate amount of time" in washes and that it is very likely that continued off-road use in the washes "will significantly harm the desert tortoise's recovery both in the short and long term."
The injunction is part of a larger lawsuit in which the judge last August struck down opinions by federal biologists that allowed off-road vehicle use in tortoise critical habitat.
In essence, Judge Illston ruled that federal agencies need to consider impacts on imperiled species' ability to recover and not just their survival.
"The court finds that Congressional intent in enacting the Endangered Species Act was clear: Critical habitat exists to promote the recovery and survival of listed species," she wrote. "Conservation means more than survival; it means recovery."
Judge blocks off-roaders
WILDLIFE: The ruling temporarily bans access to washes to protect the desert tortoise.
12:20 AM PST on Wednesday, January 5, 2005
By JENNIFER BOWLES / The Press-Enterprise
Siding with environmentalists, a federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to temporarily ban off-roading in desert washes across 572,000 acres in Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties to protect the desert tortoise.
The ban will be in effect until biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reassess the impacts of off-roading on tortoises, a species threatened with extinction, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston wrote in issuing the injunction Thursday.
"It's a total travesty," said Ed Waldheim, president of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association. He said he has ridden motorcycles through the area for nearly 30 years. "Washes have been part of the road system for as long as we've been out there," he said.
The off-road ban affects portions of two large wildlife areas overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that are designated as critical to the survival of the tortoise. Other washes in the two areas, 1.7 million acres all together, were already closed to off-roading under a plan adopted by the Bureau of Land Management in 2002. However, 1,700 miles of designated routes still remain open, said Linda Hansen, the bureau's desert district manager.
In a statement, Hansen said Tuesday that the bureau will launch a closure order and initiate public education to spread word of the ban.
Diane Noda, a supervisor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the assessment of off-roading impacts on the protected species is expected to be completed by the last week in February.
"Given the biological importance of washes ... they're going to have to go back to the drawing board and decide whether they can permit off-road use," said Daniel Patterson, desert ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity in Idyllwild.
The center, the Sierra Club and other groups sought the injunction, fearing that off-roading allowed in open wash areas could crush the reptiles and their burrows, kick up unhealthy dust and destroy plants that tortoises need to survive.
Judge Illston took issue with the BLM statement that most off-roading occurs when tortoises are hibernating in burrows.
"The weight of scientific authority suggests that adult tortoises forage during the fall and hatchlings and yearlings emerge during the late fall and winter months," Illston wrote.
She cited a declaration by Glenn Stewart, a Cal Poly Pomona biology professor, who said the reptiles spend an "inordinate amount of time" in washes and that it is very likely that continued off-road use in the washes "will significantly harm the desert tortoise's recovery both in the short and long term."
The injunction is part of a larger lawsuit in which the judge last August struck down opinions by federal biologists that allowed off-road vehicle use in tortoise critical habitat.
In essence, Judge Illston ruled that federal agencies need to consider impacts on imperiled species' ability to recover and not just their survival.
"The court finds that Congressional intent in enacting the Endangered Species Act was clear: Critical habitat exists to promote the recovery and survival of listed species," she wrote. "Conservation means more than survival; it means recovery."
| QUOTE (chbix @ Jan 5 2005, 11:58 AM) |
| This just maybe a sign of more to come. How does that affect glamis? |
This could set a very negative precedent for our sport in general and regarding the PMV in particular.
Critical habitat has recently been designated for the PMV, using the guidelines that existed prior to Illston's interpretation that critical habitat must not only protect a species but must also improve the species (paraphrasing).
Allegedly the Fish & Wildlife Service has been waiting to hear the final ruling in the desert tortoise critical habitat matter before making any more moves for our area.
Why these fools haven't learned yet that there is no way to ever completely protect themselves from anti-access lawsuits is beyond me.
Back to the point though... could it effect our beloved sand? Even though critical habitat does not automatically mean closure, designating an area as critical habitat makes it more tricky to manage. The anti-access bullies are most assuredly going to try to use Illston's ruling to alter the way the BLM is managing the critical habitat designation at Glamis.
They will be applying pressure.
We need to apply equal amounts.
Vicki
| QUOTE (SailAway @ Jan 5 2005, 12:21 PM) | ||
This could set a very negative precedent for our sport in general and regarding the PMV in particular. Critical habitat has recently been designated for the PMV, using the guidelines that existed prior to Illston's interpretation that critical habitat must not only protect a species but must also improve the species (paraphrasing). Allegedly the Fish & Wildlife Service has been waiting to hear the final ruling in the desert tortoise critical habitat matter before making any more moves for our area. Why these fools haven't learned yet that there is no way to ever completely protect themselves from anti-access lawsuits is beyond me. Back to the point though... could it effect our beloved sand? Even though critical habitat does not automatically mean closure, designating an area as critical habitat makes it more tricky to manage. The anti-access bullies are most assuredly going to try to use Illston's ruling to alter the way the BLM is managing the critical habitat designation at Glamis. They will be applying pressure. We need to apply equal amounts. Vicki |
Anything specific we could do to help, other than (and of course including) donations to ASA, Blue Ribbon, etc.. ?
| QUOTE (PWR MAD @ Jan 5 2005, 12:40 PM) |
| Anything specific we could do to help, other than (and of course including) donations to ASA, Blue Ribbon, etc.. ? |
That's an excellent question.
At this point you can hold on to your wallets... no money will change what is happening right now. But there might be a future need if this gets to a lawsuit stage.
We have made some calls and are waiting to hear back to see if any ripples are hitting our area yet. Nothing back so far.
I will say this... the BLM has the responsibility of managing the land we play on, including the areas that have been designated critical habitat. As I said before, although habitat does not mean eliminating motorized access, we need to make sure the BLM does not follow their historical pattern and "manage by closure."
How do we do that? As users of the area, we need to make our demands, our interests, very well known.
Showing up at the next Desert Advisory Council meeting en masse might be a good way to show the people who manage the people who are managing our lands just what a force we are to be reckoned with.
Vicki
| QUOTE (SailAway @ Jan 5 2005, 12:54 PM) |
| [Showing up at the next Desert Advisory Council meeting en masse might be a good way to show the people who manage the people who are managing our lands just what a force we are to be reckoned with. Vicki |
That sounds like a great idea. Is there some place that lists the times and dates of these? I only find out when I get the news letters from ASA.
Thanks.
| QUOTE (PWR MAD @ Jan 5 2005, 12:58 PM) |
| Is there some place that lists the times and dates of these? |
The very next one is this Saturday... probably too soon to really rally the troops.
And, more than likely this weekend would even be too soon for the DAC members to have digested this recent news.
I'm thinking the one after that would be perfect, which is April 2nd in Needles.
Vicki
I’m no desert tortoise professor but it seams to me that a tortoise would not dig a burrow in a wash because of the possibility of drowning
It also seams to me that the reason someone would think that
It also seams to me that the reason someone would think that
| QUOTE |
| reptiles spend an "inordinate amount of time" in washes |
is because that is when they are easier to see because of less cover
In the summer time I see more tortoises outside of washes than in because they go for shade and cover
This is just one more crock-pot shot to close whatever is still open
So this rule is pretty much just for The high desert area`s like Lucurne Valley and Barstow-Stoddarrd wells then and has nothing to do with Gamis and Ocotillio Wells? 
| QUOTE (drtstar @ Jan 5 2005, 04:15 PM) |
| So this rule is pretty much just for The high desert area`s like Lucurne Valley and Barstow-Stoddarrd wells then and has nothing to do with Gamis and Ocotillio Wells? |
Right I don't think it affects glamis...more High Desert area. There is a Desert Tortoise refuge near California City. Idiots use em as target prcatice sometimes.
BLM has this MAP on their site. Is the dark grey areas the only restricted areas or the whole area inside the boundry line? 
| QUOTE (PWR MAD @ Jan 5 2005, 12:40 PM) |
| Anything specific we could do to help, other than (and of course including) donations to ASA, Blue Ribbon, etc.. ? |
How about we bring Ted Kazinsky ( The Unibomber ) out of retirement and have him send a package to Daniel Patterson, of the Center for Biological Diversity and Elden Hughes from the sierra club?
Been going to Glamis for nearly 35 years, and have never seen a tortoise.
Judge Susan Illston; oh yeah, I remember that name; a real gem. One would have to imagine that a ruling regarding an issue so frought with political history, and belabored to the extreme, would send up flags all over the place. Once again, the liberal residue of former Administrations rears its ugly head with another way to stop off-road usage. It sure would be neat if there were a way to recall some of the judges who make these type decisions always from the same side of the road.
| QUOTE (FunRunner @ Jan 6 2005, 03:17 PM) |
| Judge Susan Illston; oh yeah, I remember that name; a real gem. One would have to imagine that a ruling regarding an issue so frought with political history, and belabored to the extreme, would send up flags all over the place. Once again, the liberal residue of former Administrations rears its ugly head with another way to stop off-road usage. It sure would be neat if there were a way to recall some of the judges who make these type decisions always from the same side of the road. |
Are they appointed, or elected? If it's elected, we could cause a stink.
How did our wonderful goverment of checks and balances get so screwed up? If 99% of the people vote to pass a law and the other 1% somehow walks the issue before a judge ( sometimes within hours if not days) in their favor. That one person can put a halt to the peoples vote or law that went through all the govermental system of checks and balances by people we voted there.
Am I to far off base here?
Do the judges decide which cases they hear? Or do these enviros have a red carpet to the door of judges that will close areas or issues down until proven not to be a real issue? Not just the environment anything from abortion to immigration.
That gives these judges more power than the president!
Am I to far off base here?
Do the judges decide which cases they hear? Or do these enviros have a red carpet to the door of judges that will close areas or issues down until proven not to be a real issue? Not just the environment anything from abortion to immigration.
That gives these judges more power than the president!
| QUOTE (t2duner @ Jan 6 2005, 05:40 PM) |
| How did our wonderful goverment of checks and balances get so screwed up? |
To many democrats...THATS HOW!
Does this mean the washes will close ?
| QUOTE (Dunedemon @ Jan 6 2005, 12:30 PM) | ||
How about we bring Ted Kazinsky ( The Unibomber ) out of retirement and have him send a package to Daniel Patterson, of the Center for Biological Diversity and Elden Hughes from the sierra club? |
Big problem with that idea is that Kazinsky was one of the most radical of greens. The people he sent bombs to were scientists and researchers, his manifesto was all about decivizilizing society and turning back science in exchange for nature.
He'd be sending Patterson big green bundles (and I'm not talking about cash) and sending those other packages to people like Grant and the ASA Lawyers
| QUOTE (badgas @ Jan 6 2005, 09:28 PM) |
| Does this mean the washes will close ? |
Not the Glamis washes, no.
But other desert washes are closed to travel, just until that plan's biological opinion is released, which is expected next month.
This is just a big ol' waste of money and resources, with the CBD forcing the agencies to waste time doing something unnecessary so that later they can sue because the agencies didn't have time to do the necessary things.
What a vicious cycle.
Vicki
Updated MAP on BLM site.
This really affects some friends of mine that live at the spa in northern Imperial Valley. I love to go up there and cruse the trails and washes through the mountains to I-10 Characo summit area. The the main reason they retired there is for the riding area.
This really affects some friends of mine that live at the spa in northern Imperial Valley. I love to go up there and cruse the trails and washes through the mountains to I-10 Characo summit area. The the main reason they retired there is for the riding area.
| QUOTE (jhitesma @ Jan 6 2005, 11:17 PM) | ||||
Big problem with that idea is that Kazinsky was one of the most radical of greens. The people he sent bombs to were scientists and researchers, his manifesto was all about decivizilizing society and turning back science in exchange for nature. He'd be sending Patterson big green bundles (and I'm not talking about cash) and sending those other packages to people like Grant and the ASA Lawyers |
I did not realize this at all, was just trying to crack a joke.
Roy Denner (ORBA) debated Daniel Patterson (CDB) on the radio today regarding this. Roy Rocks!
Here is the link: These Days - KPBS
If that doesn't work, go to http://www.kpbs.org/Radio/DynPage.php?id=911 and click on the Monday 10AM show of "These Days"
Here is the link: These Days - KPBS
If that doesn't work, go to http://www.kpbs.org/Radio/DynPage.php?id=911 and click on the Monday 10AM show of "These Days"
Nice find.
What a POS DP is.
What a POS DP is.
| QUOTE (Mike330R @ Jan 10 2005, 04:26 PM) |
| What a POS DP is. |
Most certainly is.
I'm sorry I used headphones... feel like I need a bath after having his voice so close to my ears.
Vicki
WOW !!! That was damn disturbing.
SOOOOOOOOOOO !!!! If this damn SAND TURTLE did go extinct >>>>
would we have more earth quakes, hurricanes, tsunami's, floods,
would a certain other animal cease to exist, because they are in food chain for
another creature ????
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND...
To set the record straight on my above post , in case someone wants to read into
it.
I do not advocate killing off anything. The vegetation in the dunes is growing wild,
from my last two trips out for Thanksgiving and New Years.
I can't see where we are causing any damage. I have not ever seen one of these
animals out there and I surely haven't run over any of them.
That takes alot of balls to say that we, the dunning community and off roaders, are responsible for any of the cause of their extinction...
DUNE SAFELY AND SMARTLY
Ban Crows
In Aug of 2004 retired from the National Guard, having drilled many times at Ft Irwin I never once saw a desert tortoise thats over 20 years of rippin up the desert in a tank. There is almost 1/3 of that Army post closed, and our fine sentor feinstein wanting the whole place closed.....when will this stop????
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