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Conservation Action Network, San Diego Chapter, Sierra Club

Email Alert #23
June 17, 2002

SPEAK OUT TO PROTECT THE ALGODONES DUNES!

The Bureau of Land Management has drafted a new Management Plan for the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (aka the Algodones Dunes) that almost completely fails to protect this unique dunes ecosystem. The plan is not based on science, and puts off-road vehicle (ORV) recreation ahead of conservation, and ahead of other forms of recreation. (See the "Background" section below for more on why the Algodones Dunes are important. Also, visit www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/goldenstate/cdca/algodones.html or www.dpcinc.org/theplacenooneknew.html).

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Your comments are needed now to encourage the BLM to make conservation a higher priority, and, specifically, to prohibit vehicles from a larger area of the dunes than called for in the draft plan. Be sure to write that you would like to comment on the Imperial Sand Dunes Draft Recreation Area Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

RECEIPT DEADLINE: June 28, 2002

Mail your comment to:
Jim Komatinsky
BLM-El Centro
1661 South 4th Street
El Centro, CA 92243

E-mail your comment to: caisd@ca.blm.gov

Send in an Internet response form (least preferred of the three methods, but good if it's all you have time for): http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/algodones.

If you've visited the dunes, please tell the agency what the place means to you. If you've ever driven from San Diego to Yuma on Interstate 8, then you've been through the dunes! Tell the BLM you'd like to see the dunes around I-8 in their natural state, rather than denuded of vegetation and covered in dune buggy tracks.

If you've never been there, you might say that you want to visit the dunes in the future. Then, choose from the bulleted points below, using your own words and changing the order as much as possible:

  • The current balanced management plan, with the interim vehicle closures, now in effect at the Algodones Dunes is the best long-term alternative. The current balanced management plan is fair to both sides, providing significant areas for conservation while preserving off-roading and vehicle-based camping in the most popular sites. Half of the dunes are open for off-roading, and the other half are open to other, lower-impact uses.
  • Alternative 3, the "Conservation Alternative," could also provide for significant conservation of the dunes, with some adjustments.
  • There is no scientific basis for the BLM's assertion that off-roading does no harm to the milkvetch and other species of concern. A simple comparison between the thriving wilderness area to the north of Highway 78 and the barren vehicle play area to the south reveals how devastating vehicle use can be.
  • Protection in the North Algodones Wilderness is not enough to protect the diverse habitat types represented dunes-wide. To protect the over 80 animal and 60 plant species found in the dunes, BLM must also protect large representative areas in the central dunes and southern dunes.
  • Hundreds of vehicles riding in the "adaptive management area" make for a major impact. No vehicles should be allowed in the old "South Algodones Dunes Wilderness Study Area." The BLM's first mistake was its decision in 1980 to leave this Wilderness Study Area open to off-roading, despite the clear mandate of the Federal Land Policy and Mangement Act to avoid impairment of wilderness values in WSAs.
  • The "Buttercup Vehicle Closure" south of Interstate 8 should be left in place so that the public can see what the dunes look like in their natural state.
  • The new plan does not meet the requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management act for the BLM to provide a "combination of balanced and diverse resource uses." The presence of off-road vehicles effectively "locks out" non-motorized visitors who seek solitude and contact with nature. BLM has never promoted low-impact visitation at the dunes, despite a mandate to do so.
  • The Dunes must cease to be a "law enforcement sink." Too many BLM rangers are pulled from surrounding areas on busy dunes weekends, leaving wilderness areas, limited use areas, and other sensitive lands completely unprotected. Whether this goal is achieved through limiting the number of people who visit the dunes, or accommodating all of them in the remaining open areas, the goal should be to make law enforcement at the dunes self-sustaining.

    • BACKGROUND

    The Algodones Dunes are a strikingly beautiful sand dune system in the eastern Imperial Valley. At 40 miles long, over 5 miles wide, and up to 300 feet high, this is the largest area of sand dunes in the southwestern U.S. Several rare plants and animals live only here, including the Peirson's milkvetch, Algodones Dunes sunflower, Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard, and Andrews dune scarab beetle.

    On the eastern edge of the dunes, runoff from the nearby Cargo Muchacho and Chocolate Mountains creates a lush woodland of palo verde, ironwood and desert willow. This area has been described as the northernmost extension of dry tropical forest (which exists mainly in Mexico), and certainly the only such habitat in California, making it a unique destination for birders and botanists. The wildflower displays in and around these woodlands have have been described as breathtaking.

    The 150,000-acre dunes have long been managed solely for off-road vehicle use, with the only nod to conservation being the 30,000-acre North Algodones Wilderness. Then, in November 2000, through a settlement agreement between the Bureau of Land Management, conservation groups, and several off-road vehicle groups, 49,000 additional acres were temporarily closed to vehicles to protect the threatened Peirson's milkvetch.

    This compromise plan is working on the ground right now. It is both reasonable and balanced, leaving roughly half of the dunes open for ORV recreation, while preserving habitat and welcoming low impact recreational uses on the other half.

    Despite the effectiveness of this approach, the BLM's new proposal would almost completely remove these protections, re-opening all 49,000 acres to off-roading in one form or another. The only nod to conservation is a cumbersome plan for a 34,000-acre "adaptive management area" that would allow 525 riders per day, itself a significant impact to dunes habitat.

    We don't believe this system will work on the ground, and it will be tougher to enforce than a simple vehicle closure. The approach of re-opening the area to vehicles and then testing the effect on endangered plants certainly doesn't follow the precautionary approach to conservation.

    For more information contact Larry Hogue, Sierra Club San Diego Desert Chair at lhogue8182@aol.com.

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