IMPERIAL VALLEY DESERT STUDY TRIP 10/19-20/1991
Ron & Leora Jones

Saturday morning at 8am, four folks met the leaders (a disappointing turnout for such an interesting trip) at the Cahuilla BLM Station on Highway 78 at the Imperial Dunes (aka Glamis/Algodomes Dunes). Leora and 1 had camped Friday night just east of the Dunes and were lulled to sleep with the sounds of Yamaha'S and Kawasaki's late into the night.
BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner, Greg Hill, had previously agreed to spend the day with us showing the group the many various areas of management that the El Centro District of the BLM is involved with. Greg formerly worked for the Sierra Club in Sacramento and is still a San Diego Chapter member. We started with introductions and a quick tour and visit to their Visitor Center housing brochures, maps, pictures and stuffed animals endemic to the area. The visitor Center is enclosed by a locked fence on Gecko Road, as its predecessor had been burned down in an arson fire. The nearby campground is home for as many as 15-25,000 people on Thanksgiving weekend and on into the late springtime. It is the most heavily used BLM recreation site in CA with more than 80,000 visitor/days annually.
As we were getting ready to leave, an emergency call came in reporting an accident at the Dunes. A ranger and a tow truck headed out quickly with emergency gear (they are all trained as EMT's) to the scene. As a side note, they are NOT paid for these efforts, except that a part of their wage is paid from the percentage the BLM receives from the "Green Sticker" fund from off road vehicular registration. (Only about 10% of the BLM Green Sticker fund comes from off-road money, the rest from a general recreation fund).
We caravanned down Gecko Road to its end, passing several paved parking areas for the RV's/Campers. It was overwhelming to see the thousands of bikes/3 & 4 wheels whizzing to and fro, and we wondered where they all left their bodily waste at night, (there are only 5 or 6 restrooms in the area, however most RV campers are self-contained) and realizing what a task it was for 3 BLM rangers to patrol this most heavily used BLM territory in the state. Helmets, whip antennas with a flag and speed limits are enforced as best as possible under the circumstances. They issue many Federal citations. The Dunes extend south of the highway for 40 miles, cross I-8, and cross the border into Mexico. A WSA is proposed by the Desert Protection Bill in the lower middle of this vast area. It seems impossible for it to be adequately protected when its boundaries are smack dab in the middle of this extremely heavily used BLM land.
 
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