Looking for that common ground; Interior chief visits Imperial Sand Dunes to reassure off-roaders about a plan that stresses recreation as well as preservation

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.

The daredevil antics were driven by a serious intent: to reach out to a constituency often antagonistic to federal officials and their management of public lands in the West. To that end, Salazar and Bob Abbey, director of the Bureau of Land Management, toured Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area on a busy holiday weekend.

The pair came to mend political fences by stressing that motorized recreation fits into the Obama administration's vision of America's Great Outdoors, a conservation and health initiative rolled out last week that is heavy on land preservation.

"When we talk about the great outdoors, this is the kind of recreation we are talking about, " Salazar told a group of off-road enthusiasts, raising his voice to be heard above the deep rumbles and high-pitched whines coming from fleets of "sand toys" racing past near the town of Glamis.

That message of inclusion is seldom heard here, a 160,000-acre BLM-managed recreation area for Jeepers, dirt bike riders and dune buggy drivers. Also known as Algodones Dunes, the area for years has been the focal point of legal wrangling between off-roaders seeking to keep acreage open and environmentalists demanding protection of the dunes' sensitive plant and animal species.

The Imperial Sand Dunes also carry the lingering reputation as one of the most dangerous off-road recreation areas in the United States. Thanksgiving weekend gatherings draw more than 200,000 people and have led to homicides, traffic fatalities and mass arrests.

Bill Jones, president of the American Desert Foundation, which promotes safe and environmentally conscious off-roading, said the "criminal element" that used to run roughshod has been largely driven out.

"There were just a bunch of guys out here who thought laws didn't apply to them," Jones said. "There were areas that were very dangerous. It made families stay away."

--

Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/21/local/la-me-sand-dunes-20110221

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites