Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125822
By Larry Langley Ul ~ w Z W ...J U > U - You've heard the rumors...the desert IS being closed - BLM IS shafting the riders, etc: A lot of emotional charges have been made recently, and I thought it was time to go to the source and get some straight answers. So I arranged an interview with Neil Pfulb, Director of the Desert Planning Program at the J{iverside office of the BLM. Here is the transcn'bed text: CN: What is the purpose of the desert planning program? Plulb: The original assignmen t of the Desert Planning staff was to begin the job of developing a comprehensive plan for resources of the total California desert. It began with a small staff in March, 1972 and was making progress when earlier this year the State Director of the BLM, Russell Penny, indicated to us that he considered the importance of planning for off-road vehicles (ORV) to be a high priority in terms of an elemen t of the overall plan, and'he directed that the planning staff coordinate the effort to pu t together a 0 R V plan for the total desert. The work is being accomplished not just by the Desert Planning Staff, but jointly by the district staffs and my staff. CN: What authority do you have over the final plan? Plulb: My assignment is inventory, planning and advisor to the District Managers. My role as a planner is to develop the data and the inventory and do the analysis, and to consider as many of the factors as we can to put together a plan, but I do not have the finID authority over the plan. That is a joint decision to be made by the District Managers and ultimately by the State Director. CN: What standards or criteria are being used to determine whether a section of the desert IS to be closed or remain open? Plulb: The criteria being used go back to the criteria specified in the original ORVAC report (Note: Off-Road Vehicle Advisory Council) and the criteria spelled ou t in the law of the federal regulations in effect today. CN: Are . you talking about the Presidential Proclamation? Pfulb: No, the federal regulations. We must proceed by the proper regulations and also the advice that we have officially been given by the ORVAC committee that was established by the State Director. The criteria in the ORVAC report are quite extensive, and they set out not only general criteria, bu t technical criteria, use cri teria, and also criteria for non-use. We are going to attempt, to the best of our ability, to consider all of these factors in making any judgment. 1 think the most important criteria we have to recognize is the meeting of the needs of the ORV , user in the desert. We do recognize 0 RV use as a legitimate recreational use of the desert. We want to meet their needs and still meet the general criteria as far as environmental factors, etc. It's our opinion that the desert is large enough to, in most cases, meet all the needs and still fit the general criteria. It's probably true that in some poin t in time there has to be some limit on the total freedom thafwe have enjoyed in the past. I think it's very important to get on the recOl"d that those who are interpreting any plan, or anything the bureau does as having the result of closing the desert, or in any substan rial way not meeting the need and demand, are just plain WTOng. We've been,into the problem far enough now where, I'm convmced we can reach a reasonable balance between what the need is and what the desert wiH support. CN: Are you a member of the Sierra Club? Pfulb: Yes. I've been a member for, oh, 14 to 15 years. CN: Can you separate your duties as Planning Director apart from the Sierra Club doctrine? Pfulb: I certainly feel I can separate between the two. In fact, I've been in the business of trymg to. resolve serious ccmfli<:ts in land use planning for 20 '''.8. tMt! .aim