Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Judge: Redo off-roading routes in Mojave Desert

A federal judged ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to re-designate more than 5,000 miles of off-road vehicle routes in the western Mojave Desert within three years. The Jan. 29 decision by Judge Susan Illston in U.S. District Court in San Francisco said the agency, in designating the routes in 2006, did not properly follow rules that protect wildlife and other resources on public land. The judge rejected demands by the environmentalists who sued to close off-roading routes in the Juniper Flats, Wonder Valley and Edwards Bowl areas of the Mojave Desert. However, Illston instructed the BLM to develop plans in the coming months to place signs on routes, update maps, monitor for illegal off-roading activity and beef up law enforcement. She also required the agency to evaluate the status of various habitats in the region, to monitor air quality near off-roading areas and provide informational kiosks at access points to such areas...more

That shows you who is managing federal lands today: enviros and the courts.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's right and look at the great job they are doing! Soon the Mojave will be paved over with solar panels, wind generators will be in wilderness areas, and when they get tired of playing with our national resources they will put them on the market "for the greater good".