Sacrificing 'jobs' for clean air, as I see it. Its more than the plant, its the area that is protected from development. This 'insignifigant' plant needs a place to grow without homes every ten feet, especially if this is one of its only protected areas. Didn't you say yourself it is very easy to step on this plant and destroy it? Doesn't that mean you should keep people's feet away from it? I hate people like you that want to disregard environmental protections when they convienently don't suit yourselves or your purpose. What are you thinking? "I like that there's thousands of acres to ride my motorcycle on but I want these environmental restrictions removed, so that homes and paved roads can invade where I ride." STUPID!!! And as far as the 'insignifigant' goes, some would say riding motorcycles in the desert is insignifigant; internal combustion engines certainly have no more of a right to use land in the desert than indigenous plant life, probably less since the ATV's weren't born there like indigenous plant life.

Additionally, the air in the high desert has 2 and a half times more particulate matter on a daily basis than it did 10 years ago. You'd have to be an idiot to not know that it comes from the increased traffic loads, congestion, and development. Any more dust and dirt and the sky will be brown everywhere, not just out to the east. And land protected from development is less land that creates pollution.

Stop using the laws when they serve you and fighting them when they don't. Laws are meant to be restrictions advanced in the interests of public policy. If you have such a problem with environmental laws then you have two choices. Either you should change the law, through lobbying or electing yourself to office, or you should find yourself a society that does not agree with these policies, maybe in Mexico or something. I hear they don't care about their land as much. Until then don't bitch.

BTW, thanks for the Freedom Trail replies, gonna try that way out this week.