Plant and animal monitoring program launched at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area
Apr. 23, 2004 – The federal Bureau of Land Management has begun a plant and animal monitoring program at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area in southern California that is very important for riders there.
The program will likely set a baseline for future population estimates of the Pierson's milk-vetch in the area, which is popularly known as Glamis. More than 49,000 acres of the southern California desert was closed several years ago to off-highway vehicle use because of a lawsuit filed by an anti-access groups.
The closure was part of an out-of-court settlement of the suit, which alleged the BLM failed to properly consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concerning the effects of the BLM-administered California Desert Conservation Area Plan on a number of threatened and endangered species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has since issued an opinion that states allowing OHV use "is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of (the threatened Peirson's milk-vetch" plant, and the desert tortoise.
The federal agency called for monitoring the plant and tortoise populations to ensure they remain healthy. The monitoring now under way is in response to that.
The new monitoring program includes the Pierson's milk-vetch, Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard, microphyll woodland, and songbird surveys. The monitoring program is expected to be completed June 5.
The BLM has yet to implement a recreation area management plan for the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area that will reopen certain areas to OHV use. That recreation area management plan calls for long-term and in-depth monitoring of plants and animals.