Impact review may hurt Chile Challenge

Diana M. Alba

LAS CRUCES - The status of this year's Chile Challenge off-roading event is up in the air until the federal government finishes an environmental review, an official said Monday.

"We haven't completed the analysis, but we're looking at alternatives that would include the way it was last year through not permitting it," said Tom Phillips, with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Las Cruces office.

The Chile Challenge, hosted by the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club, consists of drivers maneuvering off-road vehicles over rugged terrain.

Last year, the agency restricted spectators at a Robledo Mountains site that has been troublesome in the past, but Phillips said there were still too many attendees who weren't registered participants.

Though the BLM hasn't made a final decision, off-road enthusiast Blu Riedemann said the club is moving forward with plans to host the event. The study is something carried out each year in advance of the event, he said.

"Registration is happening now, and it's open," he said. "We don't see any huge problems, and right now it's business as usual."

Phillips said the environmental impacts caused by Challenge participants aren't big because vehicles stick to designated trails. However, he said, the agency is concerned about impacts from spectators and spectator safety. One idea, he said, is to shift the scheduling so it doesn't fall on a weekend, when most of the public has attended in the past.

"The reason we're looking at that is we've never understood it to be a true spectator sport," he said. "It's more for the guys and gals that drive the vehicles."

The club has said as many as 2,000 to 3,000 spectators have attended over the four-day event in previous years.

Phillips said the option to not permit the event is being considered mostly because of a change in land designation that has occurred in the past year. Congress approved a law creating a national monument out of the Robledo Mountains site.

"I'd presume there aren't a lot of monuments that would authorize the event, so it would look a little odd if we didn't consider the difference," he said.

The club has scheduled the Challenge for Feb. 24 to 27. Registration ends Jan. 31.

Riedemann noted the federal legislation, at least in initial versions, accommodated continued off-road vehicle use. He said the BLM is in the process of developing a long-range management plan for the Robledos monument, but until that's done, an older version applies.

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Source: http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_14220212

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