A Dismissal of the Most Recent Lawsuit by the ORVers

[Desert Jeepin]

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Budlong [mailto:TomBudlong@RoadRunner.com]
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 6:33 PM
To: Friends of the Panamints
Subject: Surprise Canyon Motor Access Denied -- Again



Monday, September 24, 2007

To the Friends of the Panamints

A Dismissal of the Most Recent Lawsuit by the ORVers

Related Press Release

Chris Wicht Camp Cleanup — Volunteers Needed (Oct 27, 28)

A Dismissal of the Most Recent Lawsuit by the ORVers

Off-road enthusiasts have failed in their second recent attempt to get a court order to open Surprise Canyon to motors. The first attempt, based on the 1800’s-era RS2477 statute, was dismissed in July.

This most recent attempt was described in the July 31 report to the Friends of the Panamints. To recap: The 2001 court stipulation that closed Surprise Canyon to motors conditionally excepted private land owners. After the closure, the off-road groups purchased small parcels of private land in Panamint City to take advantage this clause. They then asked the BLM permission to use motor vehicles to get to Panamint City via Surprise Canyon. Since the BLM has not issued a permit, the off-roaders sued, claiming the BLM was contemptuous of the court’s private land owner exception. The motion to the court was titled ‘Third-Party Beneficiaries’ Motion for Contempt’—Third-Party since these off-road groups were not associated with the original suit that resulted in the closure stipulation.

The motion was filed on August 6, with a hearing date set for September 13. The same judge who authorized the stipulation agreement in 2001, William Alsup, presided over the hearing. He issued the denial on September 17.

Judge Alsup ruled that the stipulation did not give the land owners an ‘affirmative right’, and neither did it relieve the BLM of its responsibility to obey BLM rules and regulations regarding land management. It was on this basis that he denied the motion for contempt and refused to order Surprise Canyon open to their motor vehicles.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Sierra Club were part of the original suit in 2000 that led to the 2001 closures, and opposed the motion for contempt. After the decision they issued the following press release.

NEWS RELEASE, 9/18/07

Judge Denies Off-road Vehicle Access to Surprise Canyon,

A Unique Oasis in Death Valley National Park

SAN FRANCISCO – Judge William H. Alsup denied a motion brought by off-road interests (the Little Chief Millsite Partnership and the Owners of Independence Millsite) seeking to gain access to Surprise Canyon, a rare and fragile desert stream. This is the second failed attempt in the past year by the same individuals to gain motorized access to the creek, which begins in Death Valley National Park and flows through an Area Of Critical Environmental Concern and wilderness managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

In 2000, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club sued the Bureau of Land Management for violations of the Endangered Species Act because the agency had failed to evaluate the impact of off-road vehicle use and other management policies on endangered wildlife. As a result of a 2001 settlement and consent decree, the agency closed several sensitive areas including Surprise Canyon in order to protect the spring-fed creek flowing through the canyon and the habitat and wildlife it supports. The National Park Service closed the upper portion of the canyon to vehicles in 2002. Since these closures, Surprise Canyon has experienced a remarkable recovery, evidenced by thriving vegetation and the return of such endangered species as the Inyo California Towhee after decades of absence.

"This is a great day for Surprise Canyon. The creek is a haven for people and wildlife, with its cascading waterfalls, towering cottonwoods and lush willows that are home to desert bighorn sheep, endangered birds, and rare species found nowhere else in the world," said Chris Kassar, a wildlife biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity.

The off-road interests had purchased inholdings on old mining claims in Death Valley National Park with the intention of using their ownership of those lands to seek motorized access to the canyon, and brought this motion for contempt against the Bureau of Land Management when it attempted to enforce the consent decree entered in 2001. The groups argued that the consent decree gave them a right to motorized access, but the court disagreed . And to the off-road groups' argument that the Bureau is taking too long to process their access applications, the court replied that the issue must be raised in a new lawsuit "rather than seeking to enforce an old decree in someone else's case concluded years before any agency action was requested."

Karen Schambach, California director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, says her members — employees of federal and state resource agencies — welcome the decision, but are still concerned about the future of Surprise Canyon. "We have our finger in the dike, and so far it is holding. But the longer challenge is somehow getting the off-road community to adopt informed land ethics. Unfortunately, this newest generation of extreme off-roading is doing more and more damage every year to these special areas that were formerly safe by virtue of their inaccessibility. We need more than lip service to environmental responsibility from groups like Blue Ribbon Coalition, who think it is all right to destroy sensitive habitat as long as they pick up their trash."

Previous off-road vehicle use caused serious damage to the canyon. In the 1990s, highly modified four-wheel-drive vehicles began to scale the canyon. The drivers cut down plants and trees, filled in portions of the streambed with rocks, and used winches to pull vehicles up near-vertical waterfalls. A number of vehicles overturned when trying to negotiate the waterfalls and other steep terrain, dumping oil and other pollution into the stream.

Because Surprise Canyon is narrow and constrained through much of its length, it is not possible to resume off-road vehicle use without causing substantial adverse impacts to the creek, the wilderness character of the area, important water resources and other natural values.

"Surprise Canyon is on a path to natural restoration. It was torn up and damaged, but now is thriving with native plants and wildlife," concluded Kassar. "Allowing damaging off-road vehicle activity to return to the canyon would set recovery back by decades, and this decision is at least one more step toward ensuring that doesn't happen."

Chris Wicht Camp Cleanup—Volunteers Needed—October 27, 28

Chris Wicht Camp, as reported earlier, burned completely last September. It was the historic camp at the end of the county maintained road in Surprise, about a half mile below the Surprise Canyon Falls.

The Ridgecrest BLM has done their hazmat evaluation (reportedly found nothing dangerous), and has tentatively scheduled their cleanup for the weekend of October 27 and 28. BLM is calling for volunteers to help with some of the lighter work. (Removing vehicle and building carcasses is reserved for the professionals.)

If you are interested, call Marty Dickes, the BLM Wilderness person, at 760-384-5444 for more details.

Tom Budlong, 310-476-1731, TomBudlong@Roadrunner.com

Email comments, and to be added or removed from the Friends of the Panamints list. Or call.

[Chris]

Left a message for MS. Dickes about the cleanup.

I'd like to hear more about the desert big horn sheep, endangered birds and rare species found NOWHERE else on earth. Nowhere? Really?

[Chris]

From a call back-Meet at the store at Ballarat at 8 am on Saturday and bring gloves, trash bags, etc. Potluck on Saturday at the wilderness clearing near Surprise on Saturday night with camping. MOstly handwork(picking up trash and brush). Also establishing small walk in camp sites.

[whyt]

FYI -
friends of the panamints is NOT "Friends of Panamint Valley" FOPV.
They are an extreme green organization closely afflicated with ridgecrest blm.

It would be nice to have a bunch of "ORV'ers" at the cleanup.

[Mustard Dog]

Originally Posted by whyt

It would be nice to have a bunch of "ORV'ers" at the cleanup.

I sure would have a hard time not punching a few of them in the face, just because.

edit: shoulda grabbed more of the quote, I wanna punch some greenies, not the wheelers

[Bebe]

Karen Schambach, California director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, says her members — employees of federal and state resource agencies — welcome the decision, but are still concerned about the future of Surprise Canyon. "We have our finger in the dike, and so far it is holding. But the longer challenge is somehow getting the off-road community to adopt informed land ethics. Unfortunately, this newest generation of extreme off-roading is doing more and more damage every year to these special areas that were formerly safe by virtue of their inaccessibility. We need more than lip service to environmental responsibility from groups like Blue Ribbon Coalition, who think it is all right to destroy sensitive habitat as long as they pick up their trash."

We need to show them that we do more than just Pick up trash.

[cruzila]

They totally forgot about the SINGLE rain event that washed untold millions of cubic yards of earth out of there, exposing BEDROCK and leaving the road almost 100 feet lower in places. Talk about damage, we should sue Mother Nature.

[Krusty]

Establish 'walk in campsites'-- for whom ???
I am of the condition that i can't really 'walk in' much of anywhere !

Has anyone done a taly on the population per square mile, of the sabre tooth tigers that i am sure i saw one of last trip up ??
(or did we 'off roaders' kill them off also ?)

'native' Cotton Wood trees---- NOT native to this area, but what does that matter.

It just isn't comfortable to me to be told what I can and can not do by some 'group' that isn't in the area and has no real intrest in this area, other than a political agenda. My life and persuits of my intrests are being dictated by some one on a 'bench' and / or, by folks that have never seen the canyon and will never do so from the airconditioned office in another state.

I- I am just about at the point of 'civil-unrest'. I have nothing going on right now and wouldn't mind being a 'guest of the government'---

[luvrox]

Originally Posted by cruzila

They totally forgot about the SINGLE rain event that washed untold millions of cubic yards of earth out of there, exposing BEDROCK and leaving the road almost 100 feet lower in places. Talk about damage, we should sue Mother Nature.

Just so we aren’t guilty of spewing bullshit and rhetoric the way our opposition is so famous for, I am sure you meant to type "10 feet lower in places."

[J-Bone]

"...the longer challenge is somehow getting the off-road community to adopt informed land ethics."

Translation: We are closing you out of Public Lands, get used to it.

[J-Bone]

Originally Posted by cruzila

They totally forgot about the SINGLE rain event that washed untold millions of cubic yards of earth out of there, exposing BEDROCK and leaving the road almost 100 feet lower in places. Talk about damage, we should sue Mother Nature.

That's basically what I said at the scoping meeting 6-7 years ago, right after some kook from the Wilderness Society spoke about pristine this, fragile that....

[LuckyPabst]

Originally Posted by whyt

FYI -
friends of the panamints is NOT "Friends of Panamint Valley" FOPV.
They are an extreme green organization closely afflicated with ridgecrest blm.

It would be nice to have a bunch of "ORV'ers" at the cleanup.

If I'm not mistaken, Tom Budlong and Marty Dickes are BLM or at least I've seen pictures of Budlong in uniform and both their names many times over in official BLM headed paperwork.

Ask Budlong about having building materials delivered by helicopter into Inyo mountain wilderness for his personal stabilization of a cabin between Beveridge and Keynot and his stance on non-BLMers doing similar stuff in Beveridge.

You guys should come out here to Panamint Springs that weekend. There will be a group here for some mellow wheeling and good campfire chat.

Chris

[Haole]

Originally Posted by Desert Jeepin

"Surprise Canyon is on a path to natural restoration. It was torn up and damaged, but now is thriving with native plants and wildlife," concluded Kassar. "Allowing damaging off-road vehicle activity to return to the canyon would set recovery back by decades, and this decision is at least one more step toward ensuring that doesn't happen."

Trash is thriving?