Contact: Jane Hendron, Carlsbad FWO, (760) 431-9440 ext. 205


U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE COMPLETES ITS REVIEW OF RECREATION PLAN FOR IMPERIAL SAND DUNES

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it completed its
review of the Bureau of Land Management's draft Recreation Area Management
Plan for the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, and determined that the
proposed plan would not jeopardize Peirson's milk-vetch (Astragalus
magdalenae var. peirsonii) or the desert tortoise (Xerobates agassizi) ?
two federally threatened species that occur within the dunes. The Service
also concluded that implementation of the recreation plan would not
adversely modify Peirson's milk-vetch designated critical habitat.

Federal agencies are required to consult with the Service if an agency
determines that an action it is proposing to undertake, authorize or fund
may affect federally listed species or their designated critical habitat. A
biological opinion summarizing the effects of the proposed recreation plan
on Peirson's milk-vetch and desert tortoise was prepared by the Service and
provided to the BLM.

Completion of this consultation will allow the BLM to move forward with
its efforts to finalize the Recreation Area Management Plan for the
Imperial Sand Dunes, including the lifting of temporary closures on
approximately 49,300 acres of the dunes.

The biological opinion covers the 15-year life of the proposed
recreation plan. A copy of the biological opinion is available on the
Internet at www.ca.blm.gov.

"Although the Service acknowledges that increased off-highway vehicle
use in the dunes can impact Peirson's milk-vetch, there are flexible
management options available to ensure the natural resources in the dunes -
including Peirson's milk-vetch and the desert tortoise - will be
conserved," said Steve Thompson, the Service's Manager for California and
Nevada.

There are 8 Management Areas identified in the proposed RAMP, one of
which is the 26,202-acre North Algodones Dune Wilderness which is closed to
recreational OHV use. The other areas are classed for varying degrees of
OHV use. The majority of critical habitat for Peirson's milk-vetch occurs
in the wilderness area and the Mammoth Wash area which receives limited OHV
use. About 5,335 acres of critical habitat is designated within the
21,710-acre Ogilby Management Area.

The Service determined that little degradation of critical habitat would
occur, given that no OHV use is proposed in the wilderness area and only
limited use is anticipated in the Mammoth Wash management area. Even in the
Ogilby area, which is expected to receive moderate use, potential adverse
impacts to critical habitat would be neither detectable nor measurable
within the 15-year life of the recreation plan.

A baseline has also been identified for Peirson's milk-vetch to allow
for the detection of changes in the population of reproductive plants. If a
decline of more than 50 percent below the baseline is detected, the BLM can
exercise its authority to manage a particular area to ensure the plant is
not jeopardized.

Both the Service and BLM are also cooperating in the development of
monitoring and research programs to obtain additional scientific data about
OHV use patterns and effects of OHVs on Peirson's milk-vetch. Other species
in the Imperial Sand Dunes will also be monitored, including flat-tailed
horned lizard, desert tortoise, microphyll woodlands, and avian species.

The Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area is not located within the
Northern and Eastern Colorado and Mojave Desert regions of the California
Desert which are the subject of a separate consultation between the BLM and
the Service. That consultation is expected to be completed in late
February.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and
plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services
field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores
nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance
program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes
on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050128-9999-7m28dunes.html
Wildlife agency opinion gives off-roaders boost

Plan endorsed to reopen large part of dunes area
By Mike Lee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 28, 2005

Off-road enthusiasts took a major step toward reclaiming nearly 50,000 acres of the popular Imperial Sand Dunes yesterday when a federal agency said their activities would not jeopardize two protected species in the area.

With its biological opinion, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endorsed a plan by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that would lift dune-buggy closures put in place in 2000. The closures affect almost one-third of the 160,000-acre recreation area. At the time they were enacted, concerns had been raised about the impact of off-road vehicles on native plants and animals.

Under the BLM plan, sand-car drivers would need permits in a large interior section known as the "deep dunes."

Bureau spokesman Stephen Razo would not speculate about how quickly the agency would remove buggy bans. Various groups have filed formal challenges to the bureau's long-term dunes management proposal. These need to be addressed before the agency can move ahead.

Vincent Brunasso, a founder of the off-road advocacy group American Sand Association in La Verne, praised Fish and Wildlife's decision. He pledged to continue fighting for access to the dunes east of El Centro.

"If we lose this, there are not a lot of alternatives," Brunasso said.

Southern California is dotted with off-roading areas – for instance, the Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area near Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. But unlike anywhere else, Imperial Dunes is prized for its vast expanse of sand dunes.

Yesterday's announcement was criticized by conservation groups concerned that lifting bans on motorized vehicles will damage an irreplaceable desert habitat for dozens of species and ruin it for photographers, birders and hikers.

The biological opinion could spur more challenges, said a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, a plaintiff in a lawsuit that forced the agency's habitat review.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service really has reached a new low in bending over backward for the off-road lobby," said Daniel Patterson, an ecologist for the center in Tucson, Ariz.

The Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, also known as the Algodones Dunes, is the largest and most popular "duner" haven of its kind in the country, with more than 1 million visitors per year. On three-day weekends from October to March, it's not unusual for more than 150,000 off-roaders from San Diego, Phoenix and Los Angeles to descend on the remote terrain.

For years, the dunes have been a battleground between preservationists and off-road enthusiasts. Conservation groups blame off-roaders for crimes, litter and destruction of native plants. Off-roaders accuse their opponents of trying to keep the public off public land.

Both camps say they're lured to Algodones by its sparse beauty, but they differ about how it should be protected. Both groups also say they're interested in expanding public access, but they disagree about who should get priority.

A central legal dispute concerns a purple-flowered, sand-lover called Peirson's milk-vetch. The plant was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1998 partly because off-road vehicles were destroying its habitat. The Algodones Dunes provide the plant's primary habitat in the United States.

Under an agreement with conservation groups in 2000, the bureau blocked access to off-road vehicles on 49,000 acres while the agency prepared a long-term strategy for plants and people in the dunes.

Now, along with plans to reopen that land to off-road vehicles, the agency wants to monitor the milk-vetch population and take action if it shrinks too quickly. Other species, including the desert tortoise, also would be monitored.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said yesterday that its sister agency's proposal creates little threat to the milk-vetch because most of the plant's habitat is in a federal wilderness area that would remain off-limits to motor vehicles.

"Although the (U.S. Fish and Wildlife) Service acknowledges that increased off-highway vehicle use in the dunes can impact Peirson's milk-vetch, there are flexible management options available to ensure the natural resources in the dunes . . . will be conserved," Steve Thompson, the agency's manager for California and Nevada, said in a statement.

It was the decision that Brunasso had awaited since he started the American Sand Association about three years ago in response to the Imperial Dunes access disputes. Today, the group claims nearly 20,000 members. "We just thought the best way to . . . fight the closures was to get some members, raise some money, form an association and file lawsuits where necessary," he said.

Brunasso said the milk-vetch is thriving and insists that sand cars don't pose a major threat. "If you managed to come up with a $5 bounty on each one of (the plants), you wouldn't be able to kill them all," he said. "You couldn't eradicate them if you tried."

Patterson in Tucson couldn't disagree more.

He said a bumper crop of milk vetch, benefiting from an unusually damp winter, is all the more reason for vehicles to stay away. "If they try to rush out there into that area, all that recovery will be wiped out," he said.