Off-roaders subject of lawsuit
COALITION: Environmental and property groups take action against federal agencies over desert plans.
10:00 PM PDT on Monday, August 14, 2006
By JENNIFER BOWLES
The Press-Enterprise
Environmental and private property groups filed a lawsuit Monday against federal agencies they allege allow off-road vehicles to run rampant in Southern California deserts, harming imperiled wildlife and disrupting homeowners.
The lawsuit by the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity and eight other groups seeks to overturn major land-use plans by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management across 7.1 million acres of the desert -- including large swaths in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The plans were approved in the past few years.
"This is no question that excessive off-roading causes extensive damage to desert soils, vegetation and wildlife," said Jeff Aardahl, a veteran desert biologist who recently retired from the BLM and now works occasionally for the Center for Biological Diversity.
He said that although BLM officials are aware of the harm the vehicles cause to desert tortoises, "they are doing little to nothing to stop it."................

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