Maps for Road Closure Designations and the Proposals

As promised, I have added some photos(that if you double-click, open for a larger view), and added some helpful links for recreating responsibly. Now, in this post, I'd like to clear up some confusion having to do with the route designation and road closures in ACEC(Areas of Critical Environmental Concern) within the areas of North Eastern Clark County, which includes Gold Butte. A direct link to these documents and maps of the different road closure proposals is located @ http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_information/nepa/acec_ea.html. The Maps are quite extensive, but for the closures that were finally decided on, you want Alternative A. And for Gold Butte,you want the E's. The Closures are marked in red, while the designated routes are marked in green.Blue roads are open as well, and mark the byways and highways. As you can plainly see, only about 10% or less of the approx. 906 miles of routes was closed in this area. And for those of you who claim to have had no say in this decision, this process took ten years or more to research and decide on and included an ample appeals process in all the affected communities. So, any lack of say is your own fault for having a lack of community involvement. I hope these maps are a help to you all, and help clarify which roads are actually open. Alot of these roads still could be closed, as alot of them are duplicates or go to a road closure(the roads should just be closed back at the main roads intsead of driving a few hundred feet, only to turn around and make a bigger mess). But, for now, we need to follow these designations, otherwise you will end up with more barriers and more restrictons. How are the younger generations supposed to "respect their elders", when they are acting like hoodlums themselves?

The Shameful Behavior in Gold Butte, NV and offroadinghome.blogspot.com 's Silence - Could They Be Related?

Off Roading Home is ignoring my posts to their Blog, so I decided to start my own. What could they be afraid of? If they can't take the heat, maybe it's time for some Snowbirds to get outta the Desert, and migrate somewhere else.

Over the weekend, I will be posting some photos of the ridiculous damages done to the many cultural and biological sites in Gold Butte done by irresponsible users. I will also be posting photos of responsible recreation practices. I'll begin correcting the misinformation provided on offroadinghome.blogspot.com and start providing factual information on the treasures of the Mojave, desert ecology and restoration techniques, volunteer opportunities, and eventually providing maps that show the hundreds of miles of designated routes(still open in Gold Butte) as well as the route closures(which comprise a small fraction of the area). And much, much more....

I am also more than happy to answer any questions that I can, and point people in the right directions for information sources, so we can protect this fragile habitat.

Cheers

Before I begin.........

This Blog was created in response to the discovery of another blog which you should check out: offroadinghome.blogspot.com. I was appalled by the complete ignorance of this blogger and the multitudes of misinformation provided about the Mojave Desert Ecosystems, Land Management, the concept of Public Lands, Conservation techniques, Desert Flora and Fauna identificatons, and even some conspiracy theories. I would also like this blog to serve as a resource to people who like to recreate responsibly, and would like information on how to do this whether you ride OHV, Horses , or enjoy Hiking, etc. This Blog will mostly focus on Southern Nevada, but these principles can be applied anywhere.
Some very good sources for this sort of information is provided on the Tread Lightly! website: www.treadlightly.org and also the Leave No Trace website: www.lnt.org .
I think I will leave it at that for now. So, everyone can see the blog I am referring to and check out the two websites I suggested. I will continue posting regularly and adding more information sources, recreation opportunities, photos of the damage "not caused" by the Public, and I plan to also attempt to correct the misinformation on the offending blog one post at a time. :)

And because, I doubt it will be posted on the other blog due to censorship or maybe because the truth hurts, I am going to repost a message I attempted to leave on Offroadinghome.blogspot.com. It was in response to his latest post "Ride 3 - Petroglyph Trail".

Here it is:
"I've been on "The Butte" over 50 times in the past three years, and Charley even more. I can honestly say that the ONLY DAMAGE I'VE SEEN INFLICTED IN THAT WHOLE TIME HAS BEEN DONE BY THE BLM AND FIENDS OF GOLD BUTTE!" -quoted from offroadinghome. blogspot.com

I haven't seen such a ridiculous statement in quite awhile.....Do you not see the hundreds of OHV tracks everywhere? Most visible in the cryptobiotic crusts(which can take up to 100 years to recover and play a huge role in the Mojave Ecosystem). Did you not notice the graffiti on the petroglyphs, as well as bullet holes(Really?!..Who shoots rocks)? How about the old CCC structures near Whitney Pockets, some of which have been destroyed forever. And surely in your infinite knowledge of the area you noticed that roads leading to "falling man" and near Whitney Pockets drive straight through Native American Agave Roasting Pits. How about all the garbage left to never decompose in the overabundance of fire pits at each campsite/staging area? These things, are real damage. Speaking of OHV staging areas, who made those multiple acre dumping grounds? Not the BLM or the Friends of Gold Butte. I could go on and on...And neither the Friends of Gold Butte nor the BLM did any of this true damage. Volunteers,Individuals, and the BLM actually restore these things. The thing I think you don't understand is that Desert ecosystems rehab extremely slowly. We're talking decades or longer. Cultural sites are just lost forever when damaged. So, it is important to stay off these areas to give them a chance to recover. Have you ever stopped your ignorant rantings and done any volunteer work yourself? You seem to think you can do a much better job. Prove it, instead of putting down the efforts of selfless volunteers(some of them children and elderly). Shame on you!

And please, please give quit using the "some are too old to hike" excuse. If you can ride an ATV(the "Off-Road Couch", you can walk a little bit. Seriously, where do you stop with that reasoning? Do you envision escalators up mountain peaks, moving walkways instead of trails? Give me a break.

I suggest looking into the Tread Lightly or Leave No Trace websites. Both of which contain a wealth of information, that you and your blog followers should check out and use when doing any sort of recreating.

And remember, education is key. If you follow the designated routes and use good outdoor ethics, as you claim. Why not spread the knowledge to the multitudes of people who aren't as enlightened. The bottom line is, it's public land. If the Public doesn't take care of it and take some ownership, it will continue to be destroyed by the Public until there is nothing left to enjoy. Are you that selfish, that you'd deprive future generations of visitors to these areas the ability to enjoy these areas in the same condition that you've seen them?


BTW...I think it's kind of ironic that the last poster is named Desert "Walker", but it doesn't sound like they do much "walking" in the desert from their post.

And, lastly, I hope you actually let this post on your blog. I enjoy recreation of all types, including ATVs, but I recreate responsibly. If we can get the word out to as many people as possible, and they adhere to the common sense principles of LNT and Tread Lightly, there would be no reason for closures, fences, barriers, etc.

Cheers