Tough laws are an important element in a strategy to reduce impacts on private property from uncontrolled OHV use. The proposed San Bernardino County OHV Ordinance, now in the discussion phase, is a step in the right direction. However, laws by themselves won't do the job. The BLM has laws dealing with OHV use on the public lands it administers, and the local BLM office has not utilized much of them in the last few years.

Responding to a written complaint, BLM California Desert District Manager Linda Hansen wrote the following more than 2 years ago:

"I also want to assure you that the BLM is very committed to reducing, as much as possible, off-highway vehicle impacts occurring on private lands located adjacent to BLM-managed public lands. It is a challenging task. Our Barstow Field Office, which manages the public lands in your area, has recently undergone a reduction in law enforcement staff due to attrition and transfers. BLM is working diligently to fill those ranger vacancies. I want to assure you that filling these vacancies is a high priority for me."

How are they doing 2 years later? There are now even fewer law enforcement rangers working for the Barstow Field Office, despite what I've been told are intensive recruitment efforts. Complaints abound about the lack of law enforcement patrols "On private lands located adjacent to BLM-managed public lands", while the Barstow Ranger staff concentrates its resources in the OHV open areas (El Mirage, Dumont Dunes, etc), where lots of tickets can be written to bulk up their statistics.