Greets, gang.... don't shoot the messenger, but Elmer's is getting to be bad news, fast.
On Thanksgiving weekend, it was more crowded with motorcycles than I've ever seen it, and they had begun developing a "flat track" right in Walt's
Cove, directly in front of our camp area. This was because someone marked the aircraft tie-downs with tires and poles, so the gear-heads just started
running 'round them, until they had dug some serious banked turns into the playa surface. They were even running the course while we were camped
there, coming to within fifteen or twenty feet of our vehicles, as though we weren't even there. Thankfully, when the ranger arrived, Corey and I
spoke with him, and secured permission to remove the markers... he even carted the tires and poles away for us, so the idiots won't put them back.
The surface at Elmer's is getting seriously trashed, and it remains to be seen if the Spring rains will remove the damage... I don't think so. And the
sheer numbers of motorhomes with trailers full of motorized toys is growing every time we visit there. That new, paved entrance road produced exactly
what I predicted... now even the complete cowards will motor out ON THE PLAYA, instead of into the Off-Highway areas to the north and east. The trash
on the playa is the worst I've ever seen, too, and this so-called "shared" resource is being, in my opinion, very badly managed by a grossly
under-funded BLM.
The motor sports are going to dominate, inundate, and destroy the resource, as they've done at Glamis, Ocotillo Wells, and Dumont Dunes, and we're
soon to lose Lake Superior to expansion of Fort Irwin Military Reservation. Add to this the BLM's plans for wholesale sell-offs of huge tracts of
public lands, nationwide, and their recent "gift" of Roach and Jean dry lakes outside Vegas to Clark County, Nevada, for a cargo airport, and it's
easy to see that landsailors and buggy pilots are a seriously endangered species. Think about it... no Roach, no Jean, no Superior, and soon, no
Elmer's.
Please... take the time soon to search the web for the "Western Slopes No-Fee Coalition", and other advocates of preservation and effective management
of Mojave resources, and find out who represents you in Congress, and make phone calls and send faxes and letters to keep these issues in front of
them... the Democrats control both Houses, now, so it's time to ramp up some action on these issues before some Democrat figures out he/she can make
money from the American Recreation Coalition, which is the lobbying body representing motorcycle, dunebuggy, and Off-Highway vehicle interests in
Washington D.C. They're huge, they have lots of money, and they don't give a damn about "sharing" any resources with anyone... the motive is pure
MONEY.
The internet makes it easy to find your representatives and correspond with them... even a note once a month is better than no voice at all!
Sorry to bear this kind of news, but pretending it ain't happening won't keep our BuggyTown places free, open, and really "shared" with the other
interests who outnumber us so badly...
Happy Holidays...
-Dooley :moon:
Mike \"Lack-O-Slack\" Dooley
\"Nothing is foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool!\"
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