In response to a lawsuit filed by three environmental groups, the
Bureau of Land Management announced this week that it is going back to
the drawing board on its proposal to build a new road through Furnace
Creek, a rare desert stream located in the eastern Sierra Nevada.
The creek is a perennial stream that winds its way through the White
Mountains Wilderness Study Area, which Chris Kassar, a wildlife
biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, a lead appellant in
the case, said is part of the largest unprotected wilderness in
California.
"We're hoping they're going to make a good decision because the
opening of this creek and proposing the construction of a road was a
bad idea from the beginning for both ecological and financial reasons,"
Kassar said. "[BLM] is getting the clear message that the proposal is
bad for the ecosystem."
BLM's decision to withdraw its
proposal comes after several years of debating how best to balance
protecting the fragile ecosystem of the area while continuing to allow
for some off-road recreation, according to John Dearing, spokesman for
the Bureau of Land Management's California office.
In
2001, the Center for Biological Diversity, along with Sierra Club and
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, filed a lawsuit to
protect Furnace Creek's fragile ecosystem, reflecting public concern
that trails and a small road along the creek and through habitat areas
were negatively affecting the riparian diversity.
As part
of a settlement to that lawsuit, Furnace Creek was closed to off-road
vehicles in 2003, and BLM was required to complete an environmental
assessment.
That assessment came out in May and included
plans to widen the existing road for 4-wheel vehicles. The agency
received more than 7,000 comments during the public comment period
against the proposed construction, Kassar said. The magnitude of the
responses led BLM to re-evaluate its decision.
"We're
going to start over again," Dearing said. "We have to come to some sort
of agreement. We're going to try to do it better this time."
Dearing
said the agency would work with the Forest Service in proposing a new
assessment. The new evaluations will include how wide to make the road
and how far back to go into the wilderness area so as not to violate
wilderness protections.
"We have to see what the proposed impacts might be and mitigate against those as much as possible," he said.
Cost vs. benefit
One of the concerns brought by the
environmental groups was the financial implications of building a road
in an area that is not frequented by many people. Kassar said that
currently about 12 people go through this area per year.
"Right
now they're going though a big process that creates a lot of work and
debt for themselves to open the space up for just 12 people," she said.
Dearing
said the field office would go back and re-evaluate the various aspects
of the plan, and open the new decision up for public comment as well.
Meanwhile,
Furnace Creek remains closed to off-road vehicles, which the
environmental groups believe is the appropriate future course of action
as well.
"What evidence there is of damage to the creek
has been obscured by the return of willows, cattails and other native
vegetation," Kassar said. "The fact that this area continues to grow
back and be restored makes it more difficult for the government to
ignore its own regulations and build a road through a desert stream as
it recovers."
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
