JUDGE DENIES OFF-ROAD VEHICLE ACCESS TO SURPRISE CANYON

[nosmokes]

This is a terrific win! I do hope it holds.Surprise Canyon is one piece of real estate that really shouldn't be turned over to the lizard killers so they can tear it up w/ their loud ass polluting earth destroying machines trying to prove their drunken macho.
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original-peer

For Immediate Release: September 18, 2007
Contact: Carol Goldberg [phone]

JUDGE DENIES OFF-ROAD VEHICLE ACCESS TO SURPRISE CANYON

— Unique Oasis in Death Valley National Park Saved

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 (BLM).

In 2000, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, and sued the BLM 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.

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 BLM 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 PEER Director, 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.

“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.

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complete release here

[mike_c]

1. this is excellent news!

Bravo!

[hang a left]

2. That is great, but, do you have to scream???? Really. nt

[nosmokes]

5. Tell it to PEER. I just C&P the headline . And yes, as a matter of fact,

I am too damned lazy to retype them.;)

[Richard Steele]

3. Good news. K&R

[Kiouni]

4. Why can't they get off their fat asses

and hike into it? Real men (and my kind of women) backpack!

[Riktor]

7. This is hardly an isolated case

Americans feel compelled to see this country's greatest natural treasures, but few are compelled, or physically able, to get to them under their own power. If you were to go to, say, Grand Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, or Zion National Park (arguably the three most impressive in the nation), most visitors keep to the paved roads.

We are instructed to love this country's scenery, but our lifestyles tend to be ones of relative luxury. Thus, the attitude: "I'll go the Grand Canyon, but we're going to the North Rim... they have air conditioning."

[Felinity]

9. Somewhat confusing, but I think I agree with you

If the "off-roaders" had their way, there would be no peaceful, unspoiled areas left.

If you can't hike, try horseback; if you're in a wheelchair, you'll find many accessible trails and areas in our national parks. If you really need to drive a motorized vehicle over rough terrain, stinking up the air and tearing up the environment, try driving the county backroads in Texas, and some of the aging highways all over the country. These self-centered assholes would be the first to complain about potholes or badly maintained roads while driving their luxury pickups with the four-wheelers in the bed.

[Riktor]

10. Reminds me of...

... Sandy Pittman. You know, the wealthy New York socialite who tossed thousands of dollars to whoever could guide her up the Seven Summits. She summited Everest in 1996, dragging along a wireless internet connection (at the time, they weighed about 80 pounds), expensive food, cappuccino machine, fine china and flatware... the works, expecting the Sherpas to drag these crap up and down the southwest ridge. Naturally, she's a horrible mountaineer and was practically carried up to the summit by one of her guide's Sherpas.

[Felinity]

11. Whatever happened to her?

Do you think she's still wallowing in the guilt of sending several people to their death?

[Riktor]

12. Glad You Asked...

http://www.getoutdoors.com/goblog/index.php?/archives/531-Sandy-Pittman-Where-Is-She-Now.html

After reading that, I have conclusively decided that she's probably one of my least favorite people. She traipses around the world, sets foot on a mountain she has business climbing, and wears out her guide's Sherpas to the point of being practically useless, which contributed to the death of numerous others. After all of that, you'd think this woman would take a hard look at herself and reevaluate her priorities.

HELL NO.

She hops a plane to London to "get away from people defaming her good name". Call me crazy, but it is hardly fair that two of the world's preeminent mountaineers, Rob Hall and Scott Fisher, lay frozen to the slopes of Everest while the condescending bitch who practically killed them walked away to eat caviar and drive Bentleys.

[Felinity]

13. Holy Shit Batman!

You might consider posting this as a separate thread on a slow news day, or when the next Idiot With a Dream pollutes the highest mountain in the world with their frozen, irretrievable body and a couple more dozen oxygen canisters.

This article literally gives my faith a kick in the kidneys. Where is the simultaneous law of cause and effect when you need it? Either this woman is pure evil, or was a regular Mother Teresa in her past life.

Edit to delete movie comment, went back and watched the trailer, not about her!

[Riktor]

14. Oh, I'm definately hanging onto this one...

Although if this woman was a regular "Mother Theresa" in a past life, something tells me she isn't on the path to Nirvana just yet. You know, both Jon Krakauer and Ed Viesturs wrote about Scott Fisher's financial situation in both of their books. You'd think she would have at least tossed a little bit of that fortune towards Fisher's wife and kid. She practically killed the guy, so it is the least she could have done.

[hunter]

6. Good.

Real men do it without cars.

[H2O Man]

8. Great!

That is good news.