Sandrider
10/20/03, 1:45 AM
Just to let you know, the parking fee for the ISDRA is $25 for a week (there are no daily fees) or $90 for the season. According to posts made on the ASA BBS, the BLM is actively enforcing compliance for the pass. Make sure you let your friends know to get a pass.
NOW, for the rest of the story:
The Imperial Sand Dune Recreation Area (ISDRA) is but a small sector of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) El Centro District. The El Centro District compromises over 1.2 million acres, of which 150,000 acres are the ISDRA. Not all the acreage in the ISDRA is available for riding, as there is a wilderness area and temporary closures in effect.
In the 1990’s, the President Clinton administration allowed a law to be enacted to have public land managers to require a fee to users of the public to help pay for the management of that land. The ISDRA set up a “Demo Fee” program and charged $30 for a season pass, and $10 for a daily pass.
Due to increased popularity of the ISDRA in the late 1990’s, problems began to occur. There were more demands on the BLM to provide basic services, from trash removal to emergency medical service (EMS). As more visitors came to the ISDRA, they brought their “big city” problems with them, causing an increase in criminal activity. The BLM responded to these problems by increasing the staffing of law enforcement officers (LEOs) and support personnel. The increased staffing costs and no more funds were forthcoming from Washington DC. The BLM managed to find the funds through grants and by “borrowing” the funds from other districts.
In the past, the BLM has spent a disproportionate amount of money to run the ISDRA. Some of this money came from other projects in the El Centro District, and some came from other BLM districts in California, leaving their projects under funded. The BLM has applied for grants from the California Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) or the “Green Sticker Fund”. {This fund generates it’s money from California residents registration of off highway vehicles (OHVs) and a portion of gasoline taxes that OHVs owners pay when buying fuel for their OHVs} In the past, the California OHMVR Fund has helped with operational grants and law enforcement grants to the ISDRA.
The California OHMVR committee is made up of appointees by the governor and the legislature of California. Over a period of time, the Democratic / liberal leaning of California’s government led to the California OHMVR committee to consist of anti-OHV members. The OHMVR committee has made some anti-OHV access conditions to some of the proposed grants. The BLM does not want to have the politically motivated California OHMVR committee to run the Federal ISDRA and the grants may not be funded, as the BLM would not agree to some of those restrictions.
This year, the BLM El Centro District was told not to rely on any funds from the OHMVR grant program and structure the fees for recovering the costs. If any grants are obtained, they will offset some of those costs. Grants for law enforcement and some legally mandated environmental monitoring have been applied for but the BLM El Centro District won't know the outcome of the grant applications for some time.
The BLM has to have a certain amount of money to run the ISDRA and it was told by the state BLM director that the ISDRA could not continue to take money away from other districts. The BLM had to raise fees to accommodate the lost revenue from the grants. NO NEW resources will be added with the increased fees, as the fees will only help fund the resources that ISDRA visitors are already receiving.
It is IMPORTANT that everyone pay the fees, as the BLM is relying on our compliance to make this work. If there is increased compliance, the fees can be reduced next year, or at least left the same. If there is decreased compliance, the fees would have to be raised, leaving the law abiding, fee paying visitors to pay for the non-compliant visitors
NOW, for the rest of the story:
The Imperial Sand Dune Recreation Area (ISDRA) is but a small sector of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) El Centro District. The El Centro District compromises over 1.2 million acres, of which 150,000 acres are the ISDRA. Not all the acreage in the ISDRA is available for riding, as there is a wilderness area and temporary closures in effect.
In the 1990’s, the President Clinton administration allowed a law to be enacted to have public land managers to require a fee to users of the public to help pay for the management of that land. The ISDRA set up a “Demo Fee” program and charged $30 for a season pass, and $10 for a daily pass.
Due to increased popularity of the ISDRA in the late 1990’s, problems began to occur. There were more demands on the BLM to provide basic services, from trash removal to emergency medical service (EMS). As more visitors came to the ISDRA, they brought their “big city” problems with them, causing an increase in criminal activity. The BLM responded to these problems by increasing the staffing of law enforcement officers (LEOs) and support personnel. The increased staffing costs and no more funds were forthcoming from Washington DC. The BLM managed to find the funds through grants and by “borrowing” the funds from other districts.
In the past, the BLM has spent a disproportionate amount of money to run the ISDRA. Some of this money came from other projects in the El Centro District, and some came from other BLM districts in California, leaving their projects under funded. The BLM has applied for grants from the California Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) or the “Green Sticker Fund”. {This fund generates it’s money from California residents registration of off highway vehicles (OHVs) and a portion of gasoline taxes that OHVs owners pay when buying fuel for their OHVs} In the past, the California OHMVR Fund has helped with operational grants and law enforcement grants to the ISDRA.
The California OHMVR committee is made up of appointees by the governor and the legislature of California. Over a period of time, the Democratic / liberal leaning of California’s government led to the California OHMVR committee to consist of anti-OHV members. The OHMVR committee has made some anti-OHV access conditions to some of the proposed grants. The BLM does not want to have the politically motivated California OHMVR committee to run the Federal ISDRA and the grants may not be funded, as the BLM would not agree to some of those restrictions.
This year, the BLM El Centro District was told not to rely on any funds from the OHMVR grant program and structure the fees for recovering the costs. If any grants are obtained, they will offset some of those costs. Grants for law enforcement and some legally mandated environmental monitoring have been applied for but the BLM El Centro District won't know the outcome of the grant applications for some time.
The BLM has to have a certain amount of money to run the ISDRA and it was told by the state BLM director that the ISDRA could not continue to take money away from other districts. The BLM had to raise fees to accommodate the lost revenue from the grants. NO NEW resources will be added with the increased fees, as the fees will only help fund the resources that ISDRA visitors are already receiving.
It is IMPORTANT that everyone pay the fees, as the BLM is relying on our compliance to make this work. If there is increased compliance, the fees can be reduced next year, or at least left the same. If there is decreased compliance, the fees would have to be raised, leaving the law abiding, fee paying visitors to pay for the non-compliant visitors