OHV Group Watching the Watchdogs
The Shasta Trinity National Forest is doing a study on the impact of ATVs using national forest areas which are the home to spotted owl, a federally protected and endangered bird. The BlueRibbon Coalition has offered to help with the study.
The University of Washington Center for Conservation biology seems to be very pleased with the fact that the OHV group has offered to help, but I'm not sure they fully understand the scope of the situation the way I do.
You see, I'm familiar with the Pearson's Milk Vetch fiasco that is taking place in Glamis' Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA). Wildlife groups, like the Center for Biological Diversity, CBD, have done similar impact studies on the weed at Glamis and reported that it was in danger, and being destroyed by ATVs and other OHV use.
Unfortunately, that's not the case at all. In fact, when you consider what the weed goes through with just the heat wind and sand, the occasional getting run over by a rubber tire doesn't have much impact on the weed. Not only that, but the weed grows in areas where people with expensive tires don't typically ride for fear of getting a hole in their hundred plus dollar tires.
A local OHV group decided to hire a renowned botanist Art Phillips, to do a study in Glamis on the weed, and he found it was thriving, and that OHV use didn't harm it, and may be responsible for helping it grow.
So the Shasta Trinity deal with the Blue Ribbon Coalition isn't just because we care about the environment, it's because we're tired of so many green groups lying and cheating on these impact studies and we want to keep an eye on them.
Author's note: The reference to the biologist hired by the OHV group is from memory from a TV show some weeks ago. I will attempt to research and verify the story this weekend