Update!Sample letters now online. See below BLM Declares War on D-38 OHV Use The rich history of OHV recreation and competition in Southern California goes back several decades. Tens of thousands of competitors battled across rugged terrain in the legendary Barstow to Vegas race. Parents and their children explored the deserts desolate beauty, the scenic vistas of the Sierras, and the sandy beaches of the California coast. Life was good. Then came the "environmentalist", and shortly thereafter, The Bureau of Land Management.. At some point, the government lost control of the BLM, and suddenly endangered species were popping up behind every endangered bush, aside every endangered stream, lake, river, and sand wash. As a result, California, and in fact the entire country suffered a heavy loss in both freedom, and finance. Supposedly "Public" lands were deemed "Protected Habitat", devalued, and placed off limits to all but a select few. For many years, the BLM has been straying farther from its mission statement which reads... "It is the mission of the Bureau of Land Management to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations". Truly fine and noble words, unfortunately, they are put to lie, yet again, by the BLM's recent action in Southern California's District 38. Background info. - The 1980 California Desert Plan"When the 1980 California Desert Plan was passed by Congress it mandated that the BLM come up with a management plan for limited use areas. We had been very fortunate to have had very competent heads at the El Centro BLM Resource office. Area Manager Mr. Roger Zortman started the ball rolling in 1980 when the management plan for the Yuha Desert drawn up and approved. The 1985 Plan Amendment changed the West Mesa from open to limited use. This plan amendment mandated that a management plan for the West Mesa be enacted. Area Manager Mr. Ben Koski accomplished said mandate." "In a nutshell, the management plans allow competitive events (including racing) if certain rules are obeyed; Competitive events are allowed during the lizard hibernation period on designated routes of travel only 100 feet wide. "Mark it down on your calendar August 12, 1997. That is when the El Centro BLM officially informed me that effective immediately the Yuha desert and the West Mesa were CLOSED to competitive events. That is only about 70% of the land we race on. Here we go again, another fight"So said racing promoter and long time land use advocate Otis Fudpucker (Fud to his friends), in recent correspondence with Off-Road.com. After the S-21 fiasco, one would think that several million "protected" acres were enough, but sadly, that never seems to be the case with the "lock it up" mentality of modern environmentalism . "The BLM decision to close these areas is a result of a Management Strategy for the Flat Tailed Horned Lizard. According to the BLM they had to take these steps to prevent the lizard from being listed as a threatened or endangered species. "According to Fish and Wildlife however, This was not the case.. As stated in the July 15, 1997 Federal Register, I quote..."withdrawal of the proposal to list this species as threatened is not based solely on the CA and Management Strategy". "Participation in the CA/Management Strategy is voluntary and the agencies may withdraw from participation with 60 days notice" What all this means is even
if this plan was not enacted, Recent meetings in the District office of the BLM in Riverside CA. were held to determine how to mange the limited use areas. "The other BLM officials could not believe that the El Centro Resource Area had had management plans in use for years. Even though Congress had mandated that these plans be drawn up years ago, none were. The Flat-tailed Horned Lizard Range-wide Management Strategy is an opportunity to make BLM resource areas other then El Centro legal with no work. It instantaneously creates a management plan for limited use area's, something Congress mandated them to do way back in 1980. "Approximately 2-3 years ago Mr. G. Ben Koski saw through this. He had invited me to a meeting with him and his representatives that were part of the planning process for the lizard management strategy. He told his representatives to go back to the committee and tell them competitive events HAD to be allowed in the Yuha Desert and the West Mesa. If they were banned he would not approve the document. Every few months I would inquire about what had happen to this plan and each time told in was on hold."
"Thus, Route Closures (D38 Lizard Management Strategy) and not permitting competitive events (p37, 2.5.2- LMS) can not be justified. The LMS discriminates against off-road vehicles (D38, 2.5.3 LMS) by allowing everything but motorized vehicle use. Fighting Back - D-38 responds to BLM Land GrabFud has been quick to take action against the tyranny of the BLM. As is often the case, the BLM has vastly overstepped it's authority. This time however, it has also abused the Endangered Species act, and is being called on it with the documentation (see above and below) to prove it. "Using the Endangered Species Act as guise, the LMS is a ploy by the environmentalists to close the desert to motorized vehicles. They are doing an end run around the normal channels to force it through. They think people will hear the words "Endangered Species act, and back off thinking "well, there's nothing we can do now. Well we don't intend to let them get away with it. This is their initial program. If they get away with this, they can close anything." Just how much land are we talking about here? The figure will utterly amaze you. While the BLM is famous for multi million acre atrocities like S-21 and now Utah, they are not above whittling away at motorized access.
In a recent letter to Rep. Duncan Hunter (who in turn, delivered a copy to Edward L. Hasty - BLM State Director), Fud wrote... "There are many discrepancies between the LMS (Lizard Management Strategy) and what was published in the Federal Register on July 15,1997. After a through review of the LMS I was shocked to discover that it is not a means to help the lizard recover, but instead just another method to eliminate motorized recreational vehicles. The total amount of land in the West Mesa is 106,300 acres and only approximately 0.006 or 727 acres is available to motorized recreational vehicles or 0.006 of the total. In the Yuha Desert approximately 0.008 of the total acreage is for motorized recreational vehicles. This is insignificant! If the lizard can not survive with over 0.992 of the land set aside to protect it, then it is doomed and will disappear. On behalf of the your constituents and our racers, their families and friends I urge you to stop the LMS from being implemented."Local government has gotten involved in keeping these areas open. Like other local governments around the country, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors are no longer taking the statements and policies of the BLM at face value. "The Imperial County Board of Supervisors are behind us 100%. They're working very hard to get the BLM to back off. They looked at this situation and said, "Wait a sec...". Going a step further to minimize impactHow has desert racing impacted the Flat Tailed Horned Lizard? Is there some compelling threat to it's very survival that would cause the BLM take such immediate and drastic action? No."While we are permitted to have more events in these areas, to cut down on impact we have only had two per year in the Yuha Desert and two on the West Mesa. We took another step, we rotate use of these designated routes of travel for every event. It takes 3 years before the identical course is run in the Yuha Desert These plans work. There has never been a recorded take (kill) of a Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard." "During the 1996 24 hour endurance world championships for buggies, cars and trucks, a study was done to find out the effects this would have on a lizard colony near the track."
Fish and Wildlife said in the July 15, 1997 Federal Register It goes on to say, and I quote
"With this documentation why should competitive events be banned from the Yuha Desert and the West Mesa? Why should we be punished for doing everything by the book?" This affects You! For those of you thinking "Why should I care, I don't race?" You should care because the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard Range-wide Management Strategy is an end around the 1980 California Desert Conservation Area Plan and the amendments made to it by the U.S. Congress. If the Department of the Interior succeeds here, all public lands are up for grabs, as congressional decisions will mean nothing! You should care because the BLM is making their own rules and ignoring the law. You should care because some day, it could be your favorite riding areas. Fud, Off-Road.com, and the racers, fans, and vendors of D-38 ask you for a few muinets of your time, to Write in support of our position. Your letters DO make a difference. If we remain silent, we have only ourselves to blame. Sample letter Duncan Hunter,
Representative I am vehemently opposed to the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard (FTHL) Rangewide Management Strategy. It is not a strategy to protect the FTHL, but a new tool to eliminate motorized recreation from public lands in Imperial County. The Strategy closes 166,500 acres to competitive events and discourages all motorized recreational activities, but encourages non-motorized recreational activities, such as rock hounding, hiking, backpacking, non-vehicle based camping, picnicking, bicycling, horseback riding, hunting, bird watching and nature study. The 166,500 closed acres were "Limited Use" areas with designated routes of travel used for both competitive events and recreational use, however these designated routes of travel use less then 1% of the land, which is INSIGNIFICANT! Thus the actions taken against motorized recreational vehicles is not justified! The strategy pays no attention to the 1980 California Desert Conservation Area passed by Congress, ignores the 1985 Plan Amendments, disregards the 1985 BLM/Navy cooperative agreement and tosses aside the current management plans of the West Mesa and the Yuha Desert. I urge you have the entire Flat-tailed Horned Lizard Rangewide Management Strategy rescinded. However, this takes time and in the meantime two (2) interim steps must be taken. The first is to allow competitive events in the Management Area's under the current management plans and the other is to permit competitive events on the fringe of targets 101 and 103 as agreed to in the 1985 BLM/Navy cooperative agreement. Please use all your influence and skills to rescind the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard Rangewide Management Strategy.
Mail to: FRT - 250 Kennedy Unit # 2 - Chula
Vista Ca 91911 FUDPUCKER RACING TEAM
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