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/125881
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"The average person with an offroad vehicle who comes to the
desert isn 't here because he loves
the desert. He's here because he
loves his vehicle, " remarked an
active Sierra Clubber named
George Service recent ly . Service
recalls for a reporter a case in
Southern California where a club laid
out a cross-country race course that ran
over an ancient archeological site.
"The BLM asked them to move the
- course, but because they had no
authority to arrest anybody, the club
simply told the agent to go to hell ."
That 's enough information to turn a
loyal Sierra Clubber into an
environ-mental case. Which is what is
happening to t he Barstow-Vegas event
right now . The Berkeley-based
Environmental Defense Fund is waging
a legal battle against the federal age ncy
charged with overseeing Am erica's
deserts to make t he BLM close all desert
areas to h uman beings with vehicles.
Th e an n ual Barstow-Vegas hare an d
ho und is the pride and ioy o f the San
Gabriel Val ley Mo to rcycl e Club. It is
th e greatest OR V event in th e desert.
A spo kes man fo r the San Gabriel
club say s t ha t the recent public action
by B LM of tem porarily denying
pe rmission for the 1974 event, and
rejecting the proposed route, is only a
gesture to the anti-human forces. He
feels certain t hat the age ncy will relen t
in time for the banner-drop on
November 30. BLM age nts are
cooperating with the club in lay ing out
an accepted route, and he rem in ds us
that BLM limited the entries to 2500 in
1972, but placed no limit on the 1973
event , where
the disputed
dollar-per-rider
desert use fee
was
first imposed. "We will not be paying
for them to harass us." Doesn 't every
desert rider love the desert at least as
m uch as the desert-lovers d o? Might as
well ask Evel Knievel if he loves the
canyon.
No doubt the BLM will le t the event
run - this time. They have not the
power nor the inclination (so it appears)
to try and prevent 3,000 motorcycle
racers from staging their annual sport
biggie in the desert. They will again
plead lack of funds , lack of guns, lack of
- autho rity. They will try to keep damage
to the desert and certain "cultural
values to a minimum, of co urse .. "If we
do not relent," BLM will plead to the
desert de ny ers, " t he club mig h t tell the
agency to RO to hell. "
tI
This kind of Service we
can do w ithout
George Service , whose quote we found
in Sout hland magazine dated September
22, 1974 is not alone in his views; but
he is principally mistaken. For he fails
to grant others the love that he accords
hi mself. Service, who owns Desert
Expeditions, a guided tour-by-trailer
business, "wants to change desert haters
into desert lovers," the magazine says.
Unfortunately, by spreading his
half-baked gospel that we who love our
vehicles do not also love the desert, he is
ma king the world a worse place to be :
He is labeling us as the enemy, while his
drivers lecture the tourists as they view
the Mojave fr 0 m his fleet of
comfortable trailers. (By keeping his
tours under 25 at a time, Service avoids
paying the so