BLM Lifts Restriction Order Prohibiting OHV
Travel in Desert Washes
Moreno Valley, CA (April
1, 2005) - Effective
immediately, the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) California
Desert District has terminated the restriction
order prohibiting
off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in wash zones associated with the
designated Desert Wildlife Management Areas within the Northern and
Eastern Colorado desert bio-region in parts of Imperial, Riverside and
San Bernardino counties.
A Federal Court in San Francisco issued an
injunction on Dec. 30, 2004,
prohibiting OHV use in wash zones within 571,000 acres of public lands
in the Northern and Eastern Colorado Desert region of the California
Desert to protect the threatened desert tortoise. The Court ruled the
injunction would remain in place until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) prepared and issued a new biological opinion.
The BLM received a new
biological opinion (1.45mb) from the FWS on March 31, 2005, and
pursuant to the restriction order of January 4, 2005, and the Court's
order, the restrictions are terminated. The FWS biological opinion is
available online at www.ca.blm.gov.
