California

Elizabeth Varin

Groups flocked to the dunes last weekend for one of the final big holidays of the off-roading season.

The Bureau of Land Management estimates about 85,000 people visited the dunes this weekend, though official numbers will be coming in the next few days, said Margaret Goodro, El Centro field office manager. The rain had an effect on the numbers, but it was still a good weekend.

Julie Cart

Freed from the confines of Washington, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Sunday kicked up his heels in the California desert, where he raced across undulating dunes in a souped-up sand rail.

And, perhaps as a reminder of the gridlock he left behind on Capitol Hill, Salazar's vehicle became mired in the sand as he attempted to surmount a steep dune.

Recreation managers at Los Padres National Forest are seeking public comments on project proposals for the California Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) grant program, the U.S. Forest Service announced. The public comment period begins March 8 and runs through April 4.

A two-step application process is required to allow public comment and feedback before final submittal. May 2 is the deadline for final applications.

April Reese

A federal judge has ordered the Bureau of Land Management to reconsider portions of a sweeping management plan for the western Mojave Desert governing off-highway vehicle (OHV) use, affirming environmental groups' contention that the plan failed to adequately protect desert species and their habitats, air quality and cultural resources.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ruled Jan. 30 that BLM must consider alternatives in its West Mojave Plan that would scale back an estimated 5,000 OHV routes that crisscross the region, some of which have caused extensive damage, according to the coalition of environmental groups that challenged the plan.

Phil Taylor

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) yesterday introduced a bill to create two new national monuments, expand national parks, designate a quarter-million acres of wilderness, protect four waterways and improve recreation in Southern California.

Feinstein's "California Desert Protection Act of 2011" includes many proposals she pitched in the last Congress but is being introduced separate from provisions in last year's bill seeking to accelerate renewable energy development on private and disturbed public lands.

David Danielski

Several environmental groups and the U.S. Forest Service have agreed to settle a lawsuit with an accord that conservationists say will better protect nearly a million acres in the four national forests in Southern California from road construction and other forms of development.

The deal calls for increased environmental reviews of proposed road projects, the establishment of an advisory panel, and a commitment to examine where roads can be closed and the land restored for habitat.

David Danielski

Several environmental groups and the U.S. Forest Service have agreed to settle a lawsuit with an accord that conservationists say will better protect nearly a million acres in the four national forests in Southern California from road construction and other forms of development.

The deal calls for increased environmental reviews of proposed road projects, the establishment of an advisory panel, and a commitment to examine where roads can be closed and the land restored for habitat.

State Parks may be completely justified in proposing to install towers to gather more data about wind patterns at the Oceano Dunes. But absent a clear explanation of why the additional data is needed and how it might be used to improve air quality on the Nipomo Mesa, it’s hard not to question the motivation of state officials.

After all, the agency is hardly an objective party; it’s operated a popular off-road vehicle park in Oceano for decades, and would face enormous pressure from OHV enthusiasts from throughout the state if it tried to shut it down.

Ryan Morrison, 20, was arrested for possession of stolen property at about 12:30 a.m., San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Hesperia station officials said.