BLM Seeks Continued Public Cooperation for Closures at Imperial Sand Dunes

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reminds off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreational users that the interim closures on vehicle use in portions of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA) are still in effect and asks for continued public cooperation in complying with the closures.

These closures were established in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility regarding the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District, California, approved the negotiated settlement, which established these closures over two years ago on Nov. 3, 2000.

BLM Field Manager Greg Thomsen said, "We appreciate the cooperation we've received from users who have complied with the closures. Last season, the compliance level was very good, but this season the closure violations unfortunately have increased. As part of the legal agreement approved by the court, the closure areas are monitored by the plaintiffs and OHV interveners in the lawsuit as well as BLM, so compliance is very important. We need the help of everyone involved to ensure violations are minimized or eliminated."

Thomsen said the closures must remain in effect until a decision is issued on BLM's ISDRA management plan. He said BLM is currently working on finalizing the plan.

The interim closures are designed to protect essential habitat of the Peirson's milk-vetch (a Federally listed plant species) while allowing OHV recreation to continue in the heavily used areas of the dunes. The Peirson's milk-vetch was listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1998. The continued survival of this plant relies on the protection of its dune habitat.

The five closures areas are located in the northern, central and southern portions and encompass approximately 49,300 acres of the 159,000 acre open ISDRA. All closures are marked with red posts and "No Motorized Vehicle" signs. These posts have been placed at intervals of 20 feet to 1/4 of a mile depending on the terrain and use patterns. Most of the boundaries of the closures were based on monitoring data gathered by the BLM, and were placed around known populations of the milk-vetch while avoiding the most popular riding areas.

Northern Closure (3,800 acres): The western boundary is located along the New Coachella Canal. The southern boundary of the closure is common with the northern boundary of the North Algodones Wilderness Area. The eastern boundary follows along the Ted Kipf Road for several hundred yards north of the wilderness boundary. The northern boundary follows a section line across the dunes to the canal.

Central Closure #1 (2,000 acres): This circular shaped closure is located approximately 1 mile east of Gecko Road, between Gecko and Roadrunner Campgrounds.

Central Closure #2 (43,345 acres): The western boundary begins 1/4 mile south of Roadrunner campground and follows the Sand Highway to "5 mile drop" on the New Coachella Canal. The road into Patton Valley from the "5 mile drop" will remain open, but the dunes directly to the south of the road will be closed. The southern boundary is located directly north of Patton Valley and the Olgilby Camp Area. The eastern boundary follows the wash road. The northern boundary starts about 9 miles south of the Glamis Store and follows a section line across the dunes to the Sand Highway.

Southern Closure (160 acres): Located just east of Midway Campground and south of Grays Well Road.

Patton Valley Closure (310 acres): Located near Patton Valley.

Eastern Camping Closure (25,000 acres): Located near the eastern boundary of the ISDRA, but outside of the recreation area. This area is closed to camping only.


The closures do not affect the heavily used areas between the Glamis store and Gecko Road, areas around Buttercup and Dune buggy Flats, Patton Valley, and Hills 1-5.



BLM is distributing brochures to recreationists at the dunes and information and a map of the closure areas are available on BLM's webpage at www.ca.blm.gov/elcentro/lawsuit_ctrbiodiv.html.

[ 01-21-2003, 08:19 AM: Message edited by: Slappy ]

I just finished reading this exact article sent to us by the ASA. I see they are finding tracks in the closed areas which are putting us at risk of more closures to total closure. My thoght is these tracks could be created by anyone. Really how do we know it isn't the enviros helping their side by breaking closure rules and making us look bad. I mean how would anyone ever know who the culprit is. Seems like these boundaries need to be closed off with more than just stakes claiming that it is closed land. How about better fencing or something. With all the $ that is created from the OHV funds tags, camping fees, etc.. it seems a better system should be in place.. Any thoughts or am I just fooling myself to thinking the OHV loving community aren't the ones putting the land we love so much at risk??

Sand4fun, you make some good points.

First, there is no way of knowing who made the tracks. Could be BLM, INS, or any emergency vehicle. Could be an environmentalist trying to make things tough for us. Could be someone who didn't have a clue what the signs were for or someone who just plain missed them altogether.

The problem is, the same court order that put up those horrible markers also gives the bad guys a way to get the courts to close a wider area if the temporary closures are not adhered to.

That said, everyone should know that us duners have a remarkable record of staying outside the areas where we are not supposed to go. For over two years now we've walked that line and done the right thing. At least, most of us have. The good news is that remarkable record will go a long way in the courtroom when the bad guys drag us back in because there have been so many tracks in the temporarily closed areas. The bad news is no matter the outcome, going back into court is time consuming and expensive.

The problems with abiding by the temporary closures are centered not just around the bad marking job but also about spreading the word. We have so many new duners out there every weekend that don't have a clue what those markers are for, and without another strong drive to inform the duning public, these incursions will continue. As for the markers, that is being addressed by the BLM.

Vicki

quote:

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Originally posted by stonhedge:
If you are riding along one of the many illegal closures and you happen to cross a few inches or feet into the area by accident (like picking a line up a hill and finding you crossed into the area) and then go directly out, do they count that?

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Actually, they are pretty reasonable about it. It's usually pretty obvious even from the air when the tracks are accidental "geez how did I get here???" and when they are blatant. They also can tell if the tracks are fresh or left over from last week and the BLM takes detailed notes.

Hopefully they won't be around much longer but since they're here now we still have to deal with them. The next big weekend is President's Day so we have between now and then to get the word out better. We've asked the BLM to step things up and they've been doing that, but duner to duner works well too.

Vicki