This was the first time I've talked to this guy... must be the new kid on the block (or just new to Glamis issues). There are a couple little misquotes but nothing major...

Off-roaders call new dunes plan "slight improvement"

BY JAMES GILBERT
Jun 10, 2003

By the time off-roaders are ready to spin their wheels in the sand in the fall, the Bureau of Land Management hopes to have in place a new management plan for the Imperial Sand Dunes that will reopen tens of thousand of previously closed acres to motorized vehicles.

That's good news for duner Vicki Warren and her family because she gets to see her oldest son "climb the Wall."

At an estimated 300 feet, the Wall is one of the tallest dunes at Glamis and it will be accessible again, now that the BLM says it plans to reopen the 49,000 acres that were closed as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by environmentalists.

"It's not for the faint of heart," Warren said. "It's almost a coming-of-age experience for riders. The closures happened about the time his skill level was where he could try it and I wouldn't have been too wor- ried."

The Warrens, of Corona, Calif., have been making weekend trips to the dunes together for the past eight years.

The BLM, based on an environmental impact statement issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has determined off-roading poses no jeopardy to the desert tortoise and the purple-flowered milk vetch plant -- a contention of environmentalists -- and plans to reopen the area in October.

The areas to reopen are mainly on the central portion of the dunes north of Interstate 8, stretching from the northwestern border of Patton Valley to Brawley Slide Hill No. 3, a few miles south of Glamis. The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity has said it will go to court to keep the closures in effect.

Other portions of the dunes that closed in the 1970s and 1980s will remain closed, under the RAMP.

Warren is the president of Duners, an organization of off-roading enthusiasts who recreate in the dunes, and while she says she is happy about some changes made to the final version of the Recreation Area Management Plan, she thinks it could be better.

"It's a slight improvement over what the draft version contained, but it still needs a lot of work," Warren said.

One concern is the loss of campsites in the event of any future dunes closures for conservation purposes, she said.

BLM spokeswoman Lynnette Elser said the dunes will continue to accommodate same number of campers as before under the RAMP, it's just that they'll be shifted to different areas.

The duning organization is also concerned about additional curfews and a ban of alcohol outside of designated camp areas and a yet-to-be-developed policy of renting out campsites in the Roadrunner campground to the highest bidder.

"The bidding for campgrounds will cause a class system out there," Warren said. "You certainly wouldn't have someone camping out there in a tent able to outbid someone with an expensive motor home, they will always get the best spots."

Warren also objects to a section of the RAMP that places restrictions that limit the number of riders on 33,000 of the 49,000 acres that would be reopened.

Under those restriction, 525 permits will be issued to groups ranging in size from two to seven riders, which means the actual number of riders permitted in the area each could be as few as 75 per week.

"What people don't understand is that if your group doesn't have seven riders, you're basically wasting the permit because other riders won't be able to get them," Warren said.

Meanwhile, an issued raised by local duners centers on the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission, which is in charge of using revenue from the state fuel tax and off-road vehicle registration fees for acquisition, development and maintenance of off-roading areas, and the construction of recreational facilities on local, state and federal land.

"If you want to ride off-road anywhere in California, you have to buy one of these green (off-road vehicle registration) stickers," said Glenn Montgomery, a Yuman who goes to the dunes every other weekend in his jeep during dune season. "Part of that sticker money goes to the commission and is set aside in a trust fund."

Montgomery said the commission gets millions of dollars a year and it seems as though it's getting harder for the agencies that manage the lands to get any of that money.

Barry Jones, of the California State Park Department, said part of the revenue goes to pay for state-mandated responsibilities and operating recreational areas, with a smaller portion going for competitive grants sought by the BLM and other government agencies for dunes-related projects such as clean- ups.

Jones said this year alone the commission has $49 million worth of grant requests and only $17 million in actual grant money.

"The problem is we can't fund all the requests anymore," Jones said. "It used to be we had requests similar to the amount of money we received, but with so many more recreational areas now, we just can't fund them all."

James Gilbert has been with the Yuma Sun for a while. He just inherited the dunes beat. I have talked to him twice concerning the dunes now and once about something else. James is eager to learn as much as he can about the dunes and would like to go out for a ride. We may be able to get him out for a night ride this summer. We at least have someone that will listen, so if you want to drop him a "thanks" or an invite it may help.

Being an AZ guy and a licensed vehicle user (the Jeep), I told him I wasn't the best person to talk to about the OHMVRC, but I winged it. James did do some other research on it though.

Good Job Vicki!

It's VERY frustrating trying to keep the sun up to date

Since I've been involved in the dunes fight (1999) the Sun has had no less than 6 reporters cover the dunes - at least three of which were admittedly biased and would do everything they could to avoid actually having to talk to a "heathen duner".

James is one of the better ones but is a little further behind the curve coming into it. Kerry was covering the dunes for awhile and I loved that because she comes out with us from time to time and has some great first hand dune experience. There were two other Sun reporters who we had the pleasure of hosting in our camp over the years.

I may be heading out for an evening in the next few weeks...maybe I can get James out there for a summer night no crowds smooth dunes experience to get him hyped for a full dunes experience when the season returns

Oh yeah, I should also mention that one of the higher-up editors at the Sun is an active off-road racer. He was co-driver of this truck last time I saw him at a race:
[img]http://hitesman.com/jason/truck/parker/parker2.jpg[/img]

There are also a number of editors and reporters andeven just lay staff at the Sun who are big time desert rats. Not that the reporting always reflects that