In an effort to gather additional public comments and recommendations
on the preparation of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) and
proposed amendment to the 1980 California Desert Conservation Area Plan
that will establish route designation in the Surprise Canyon Area of
Critical Environmental Concern, the Bureau of Land Management has extended
the public comment period to October 3, 2002. Surprise Canyon is located in
the Panamint Mountains in Inyo County, CA.

The Draft EIS will evaluate a full range of alternatives regarding
access into the Surprise Canyon Area of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACEC). Upon completion of the EIS and decision processes, BLM will issue
a Record of Decision that will amend the 1980 California Desert
Conservation Area Plan.

Comments should be sent to Hector Villalobos, Field Manager, Bureau of
Land Management, Ridgecrest Field Office, 300 S. Richmond Road, Ridgecrest,
CA 93555. Public comments must be postmarked by October 3, 2002.

Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be
available for public review at the Ridgecrest Field Office during normal
working hours (7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
holidays), and may be published as part of the environmental Impact
Statement or other related documents. Individuals may request
confidentiality.

If you wish to withhold your name or address from public review or
from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this
at the beginning of your comment letter. Such requests will be honored to
the extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations or
businesses will be made available for public inspection in their entirety.

For more information contact Jeffrey B. Aardahl in the BLM
Ridgecrest Field Office at (760) 384-5420, or e-mail at jaardahl@ca.blm.gov

Does anyone know who requested the comment period extension -- the OHV and Mining Community, or the anti-recreation closure advocates?

I ask, because usually they only extend the comment period when a group lodges protest.
Protests by the closure advocates are usually followed by a last minute "best available science" study & report -- sometimes a questionable report that is not available for legitimate scientific peer review. We need to be vigilant of what drives the comment extension.

The comment period does provide for a coordinated review of the travel classification with respect to the NEMO plan eligibility consideration for Surprise Creek as a Wild and Scenic River (WSR). We need to get letters submitted reflecting the flaws in the BLM consideration of Surprise Canyon Creek (and road) as a WSR.

The NEMO record makes no acknowledgement of route P17, Surprise Canyon Road, existing on the same canyon bottom as Surprise Canyon Creek (something that would immediately exclude it from WSR eligibility -- a major flaw in the NEMO Decision). In simple terms, the BLM record of WSR eligibility decision (as printed) ignores the fact that Surprise Canyon Road exists (even as the BLM recognizes it as Route P71).

You need to know that an area under consideration as a Wild and Scenic River (deemed to be potentially eligible for congressional designation as a WSR) must be managed as a WSR. This eligibility consideration will close Surprise Canyon Road, until the eligibility is rejected by congress or accepted by congress. This is the same tactic of "temporary" lockout employed in Wilderness Study Area considerations -- permanent closure due to lack of reopening review.

Letters are needed demanding the BLM record to acknowledge that Surprise Canyon Road shares the canyon bottom with Surprise Canyon Creek. The BLM must acknowledge Route P71 crosses and parallels the Surprise Canyon Creek many times, and the established route runs through the creek, in numerous locations of the canyon.

We need to address the NEMO conflict restricting any motorized access to the canyon's West entrance. The map indicates that the "Scenic" segment of the river is determined to be 1-mile long starting at the West entrance, and the "Recreation" segment is 4-miles long to the DVNP East boundary. The "scenic" portion will restrict all motorized travel, preventing any motorized access to the "recreational" segment.

The "scenic WSR" designation for the first mile essentially gates the entire canyon road to motorized travel through management guidelines. We need to write letters rejecting any consideration of Surprise Canyon Creek as a WSR, under any designation.

This travel classification comment period may not be the decision stage of the process for recognizing the illegitimacy of WSR eligibility. However, any and all documented recognition of opposition and fact rejecting claim of WSR eligibility is a benefit as it prevents the BLM from pleading ignorance of their own recognized landmark roads, creeks, and terrain conditions.

Happy Trails!