High Desert Issues: Off-Road Vehicle Use

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High Desert Off-Road Vehicle Usage
High Desert Chair: Anne Mitchell - highdesert@oregon.sierraclub.org

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Off Road Vehicle Damage - Steens Mt. Areai

Off Road Vehicle Damage - by Richard Beckett

The high desert has an effect on people. The place has a way of swallowing you up. - Campbell Scott

The Threats:

Destruction of soil and vegetation by off-road vehicles leads to erosion, lack of forage and habitat for wildlife. The BLM predicts a statewide increase in off-road vehicle (ORV) use of 200% over the next 20 years. Before creation of the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management Area, only 7,000 acres on Steens Mountain were closed to ORV use; on the remaining one million acres, ORV trails stretch for hundreds of miles and criss-cross much of the area. A similiar situation exists in the Owyhee country with the only obsticle to ORVs being the rugged terrain. While current ORV problems in the Owyhee Canyonlands area are isolated, the damage is still all too evident and is increasing, including soil erosion and compaction, vegetation damage, degradation of wilderness values and cultural sites, harassment of wildlife, and destruction of desert biotic crusts. Presently, the BLM does little to monitor ORV use, much less enforce regulations.

Conservationist's Solutions:

Permanent wilderness and other protective designations for the Owyhee Canyonlands and elsewhere are the first steps toward limiting ORV damage, along with road closures and education of public land users. However, additional funding and staff are also necessary to monitor and enforce existing regulations governing ORV use, along with other forms of destructive recreation.

Currently one of the main controversies stalling protection of the Badlands WSA east of Bend is the issue of enforcing closed ORV routes where fragile soils bear the scars for years. Designating the area as wilderness will help protect the area permanently.

On Steens Mountain the BLM has been slowly working on a belated travel management plan which will decide the future ORV use and and potential road closures. Closing unnecessary vehicle routes would help protect wildlands on the mountain.

Take Action Now!

Thank your congressional representative for their support last session in protecting Steens-Alvord and encourage them to provide permanent protection for additional wilderness on Steens as well as other areas such as the Owyhee Canyonlands. Please contact:

Senator Wyden to thank him for his efforts.

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This page last updated Monday, January 28, 2008

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