Haley Hills Report (7/11/07)

THE HALEY HILLS REPORT

for photos accompanying this report please visit

www.judykennedy.com/july102007.htm

JULY 11, 2007, Wednesday

Purpose: to keep the general public and relevant government agencies informed as to the ongoing status of the environmental degradation due to illegal off-road vehicle (ORV) activity in the BLM region known as the Haley Hills in northwestern Pinal County in the heart of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona.

Scope: biweekly and/or monthly in general

Summary: New illegal ORV tracks through sensitive areas;

LIVE DESERT TORTOISE and BURROW FOUND NEXT TO VEKOL WASH!

New report reveals solutions to ORV abuse of public lands; PEER kicks off campaign to raise awareness regarding ORV “Wreckreation” and its impact on public employees; Haley Hills campaign broadens outreach and online exposure.

June 22, 2007- June 30, 1007

June 22, Fri: We took the main road almost all the way to the west ridge. On the way back just north of the Vekol Wash, I saw Granddaddy’s tracks crossing the road for the first time this year! Granddaddy is the name of a huge rattlesnake that I see each summer in that particular vicinity. Of course I have no idea if it’s a male or female – I just chose that name to reflect its size and age. The width of his track is 3 inches in some places. June 23, Sat: Covered the west wash which parallels Ivory and the southernmost boundary of the BLM land. Saw a red-tailed hawk flying back and forth between the trees in the wash and the west side of the hill.

June 26, Tues: A fence wire was cut again and the gate was lying flat on the ground. The ORVs ran over it and just left it there. So this time I put it back together very well with the materials at hand. Added a new wire and a few wood posts to make it more secure and harder to cut.

June 27, Wed: Patrolled the first east wash and the far east Vekol. ORVs had been all over the place. June 28, Thurs: Patrolled the west Vekol and found fresh tracks there too. Saw 2 red-tailed hawks flying together around the west side of the hill and then northward into the canyon. This was the third time in recent weeks that hawks were sighted over the hill and I realized that these may have been the same two that were circling overhead when I was filming Glow the Gila Monster a few weeks earlier on the east side of the hill. I’ve found abandoned nests on both sides of the hill before. Could this be a breeding pair?

Around 10:00 a.m. we saw a huge dust cloud coming out of the Vekol heading north toward the west ridge. My friend Marshall got in his truck and went back there. He came across a group of ORV riders – 8 or 9 of them. They were riding up the road to the top of the west ridge. Two had already made it to the top and the others were on their way. The guys on the top told the guys below to go see what he wanted. Marshall warned them that if they didn’t stay on the road they could get fined. They replied that they were staying on the road, but he told them that we saw their dust cloud way to the east of the road. They said “Oh we came down the wash.” So he told them they were not supposed to be there either. They said “they didn’t know that” even though the signs are clearly posted in the middle of the wash. He also told them that someone had cut the fence and that there was a fine for that too, so if they knew who might have done it, to pass the word around. They thanked him for the information and then they all turned around, got on the road, and left the area. I filmed all of them as they rode past.

Then they turned on Ivory and headed east. We saw all of them leave except for the two on top of the hill. We don’t know where they went. According to Marshall, their ORVs were yellow, which leads me to suspect they were the same guys I had that uncomfortable encounter with a few weeks back and who frankly admitted they didn’t care what the law said. In any event, all these guys looked like they were in their early twenties. They did not return that day at least. June 30, Sat: Fence was still up although we saw where ORVs had driven up to it and turned around. A full size vehicle had come down the east Vekol. All over the road just a little north of the arroyo and south of the gate, we saw tracks in the dirt that looked like a Gila Monster’s. Could have been some other kind of lizard but I doubt it because they were pretty wide. Wasn’t a snake because the feet/claw marks were barely visible. They led to a small hole on the east edge of the road.

July 1, 2007 – July 9, 2007

July 2, Mon: Late morning -- a guy wearing a helmet on a red ORV puttered up on the road next to our house and then turned around, heading south on Sage. Around 7:00 pm, 2 guys without helmets with a cooler on their ORV sped out of the Vekol. After dark I heard another ORV out there somewhere but never saw it go by.

July 3, Tues: Saw where the guys with the cooler had been. They’d driven up to the very secure fence and just sat there drinking a six pack. They tossed their beer cans under a creosote bush with some other litter. But at least the fence was still intact. Behind the hill on the west Vekol plain, found recent small ORV tracks coming out of the highly vegetated west Vekol and going less than 10 feet from a large burrow – possibly tortoise. They went up the west side of the hill a ways, stopped, turned around and went back into the west Vekol. This was much to close to the hawk nests.

July 4, Wed: An ORV had crossed the Vekol at the road, veered off road to the east, and just weaved in and out of the east Vekol over a half mile or so. When crossing the first east wash it ran right over a bush. Then to my horror, it found my foot trail and followed it into the east Vekol. This is the very first time ORVs have used this entrance to the Vekol. It’s very narrow, steep, and brushy so only a smaller ORV could do this. What’s so horrific about it is that it is a highly sensitive vegetated area and exactly where I’ve sighted desert tortoise before. When the ORV got back into the Vekol they blazed a new illegal trail right across the island over some brush next to some baby Palo Verde trees into the south lane. On the south bank of the east Vekol, we found a small skull hanging from a branch. Looked canine – baby coyote or fox perhaps? Also looked like someone placed it there deliberately.

July 6, Fri: I’d planned to check out the west Vekol, but saw more ORV tracks veering off the road to the east so I followed them. Glad I did because they led me to the first east wash and the foot trail where to my delight I saw the desert tortoise! It was in the exact spot where I previously sighted one 1-2 years ago. This tortoise was about 7-8 inches in length and from what I’ve read, I believe it is a female because she didn’t have those lumps under her chin and her tail was short. Therefore I named her “Gloria” because it was glorious to find her. Gloria was peacefully grazing on dried grass. I quickly took a few close-up stills for identification purposes and then backed off quite a ways to video with zoom so as not to disturb her. After a while she started to walk and headed straight for the Vekol and into a burrow underneath a creosote bush less than 3 feet from the wash. Her grazing location was right over some old ORV tracks, and along with her burrow, less than 12 feet from the foot trail where ORV tracks were spotted for the first time a few days earlier! The whole area is less than 80 yards from the east trail that is frequently and illegally used by ORVs. The burrow was in typical half moon shape which I understand is common for tortoise burrows near dry washes.

And here’s the video: Desert Tortoise in the Wild

All my desert tortoise sightings in the Haley Hills (4) have been within a quarter mile of each other. Same with all the suspected burrows.

Gloria’s appearance calls for more immediate and effective measures for stopping ORV abuse here. The US Fish & Wildlife’s top recommendation is:

Reduce or prohibit vehicle travel off existing roads. Disturbance to desert soils increases the potential for alien plants to invade and become established, causing significant and deleterious alterations to the flora. And, although washes and washlets constitute only a small portion of desert habitats, they have a disproportionate share of the forage plants favored by tortoises and are frequented by tortoises a significantly greater amount of the time. Therefore, vehicle travel off existing highways and established roads—particularly in desert washes and washlets—in desert tortoise Critical Habitat should be minimized and, where possible, prohibited (see USFWS, 1994).

Therefore, all major vehicle access points into the Vekol Wash should be barricaded as the posted signs are having little effect.

July 7, Sat: Very hot and humid – even at 6:30 a.m. Walked down the road to the gate which was still intact fortunately. Saw 3 separate snake tracks over the ORV tracks on this road that should be closed.

Hiked down the west trail a bit and came back down the west Vekol. ORVs had made fresh tracks over some bushes and a highly vegetated island. That night we found 6 Sonoran Desert Toads all clustered around the AC drip by the side of the house.

Seeing several each morning now around sunrise.

July 9, Mon: Went back to check on Gloria. Didn’t see her anywhere but there were no new ORV tracks fortunately. I’m hoping those tracks were just a fluke and that whoever made them never goes back there again. But just in case, I disguised the narrow entrance into the Vekol with some brush so it doesn’t look so obvious. There are other places near by where people and horses can enter the Vekol but I haven’t seen evidence of others using this particular foot trail but me for the past couple of years. From what I understand, the desert tortoise in this particular part of the Sonoran Desert is not technically “threatened”, but is listed as a “sensitive” species with the BLM. Previous scientific plots have shown the tortoise population in Arizona to be stable except for in the Maricopa Mountains region which is less than 5 miles from the Haley Hills. Likewise, the flora and fauna of the Haley Hills is facing permanent damage and degradation due to ORV abuse unless effective action is taken immediately.

New Report: “Six Strategies for Success: Effective Enforcement of Off-Road Vehicle Use on Public Lands,” explores solutions in these times of limited resources and tight budgets.

What you permit, you promote.

- - Rick Lint, District Ranger, Ocala National Forest

The ORV abuse issue on public lands and the role of the responsible public agencies has been very much in the news lately. Here are just a few stories that warrant your attention:

Outdoor damage: Former land managers are right: ATVs are threat, Salt Lake Tribune.

Reckless off-roaders called scourge, LA Times, June 29, 2007.

Off-Road Vehicles Rev Up Controversy, CBS News, July 3, 2007.

Driven to fight: A retired BLM special agent finds herself battling the very agency she once worked for, High Country News, March 19, 2007.

Finally, published in full for your convenience, a copy of the press release regarding the new report revealing solutions to ORV abuse on public lands. I’ve read this report and it contains excellent remedies that are particularly relevant to our problems. For instance, in remote locations like the Haley Hills where live law enforcement may not be practical or realistic – closing off an access road that is no longer used except by ORVs to illegally access the rest of the area can have a powerful impact. Check it out:

New Report Reveals Solutions to Off-Road Vehicle Abuse of Public Land

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact:

May 24, 2007 Jason Kiely, Wildlands CPR, 406-543-9551, 406-239-9432 (cell)

Jim Furnish, former deputy chief, Forest Service, 240-271-1650

For Forest Service response: Joe Gallagher, Acting Off-Highway Vehicle Program Manager, 202-205-0931.

MISSOULA, Mont. – Motorized vehicle abuse has been called one of the biggest problems facing public lands – but many solutions are within reach, a new report says.

Public interest groups released a report today on successful strategies for enforcing the law on public lands to stop off-road vehicle abuse. Five case studies illustrate how authorities have combined six strategies to protect safety, recreation opportunities, wildlife habitat, water quality, and private property.

“Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but no one has the right to abuse these lands or ruin the experience of others enjoying America’s Great Outdoors,” said Jason Kiely of Wildlands CPR, a Montana-based group who commissioned the report. “Fair and effective law enforcement helps everyone who values public land, whether you ride a machine, mount a horse or rely on your own two feet.”

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have struggled to prevent environmental damage, conflicts, and even violence sometimes associated with the abuse of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), dirt bikes, and other powerful off-road vehicles. Former Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth called unmanaged motorized recreation one of the greatest threats to public land.

The report, “Six Strategies for Success: Effective Enforcement of Off-Road Vehicle Use on Public Lands,” explores what can be done to solve this problem, in these times of limited resources and tight budgets. Read the report and related materials at http://www.wildlandscpr.org/Reports/EnforcementReport.html.

The report is based on more than 50 interviews with public land managers, law enforcement officials, and community leaders, landowners and volunteers. Joe Gallagher, Acting OHV Program Manager for the Forest Service called the report “thoughtful and insightful” and is concerned that funding is not adequately prioritized to enable the use of many of the strategies detailed in the report.

Nonetheless, the report highlights case studies where officials and citizen groups have succeeded after making enforcement a priority. Rick Lint, a District Ranger on the Ocala National Forest in Florida requested additional officers and trained 15 existing field staff to make contact with riders. He said, “What you permit, you promote. We’ve permitted largely uninhibited access to public lands for so long that it’s come to be seen as a right. We’re putting in a structure to manage motorized use to sustain the quality of the land over time.”

In most cases, however, public lands agencies are overwhelmed by enforcement challenges. Lawbreakers too often scar the land, muddy streams and wetlands, damage habitat and create conflicts with law-abiding forest visitors. In the worst cases, these conflicts have erupted into violence and injury. (Visit http://www.wildlandscpr.org/Reports/EnforcementReport.html to read recent news of off-road vehicle abuse and a western Montana case study.)

Jim Furnish, former deputy chief of the Forest Service, tackled the issue in the early 1990s when he developed the management plan for the Oregon Dunes (see update on page 30 of the report). Furnish recently said, “What’s been lacking is the assurance of tough enforcement and the backbone needed to bring the runaway problem under control. Folks visiting our public lands expect enforcement that protects natural resources, ensures visitor safety, and reclaims a family-friendly atmosphere.”

-- 30 --

PEER reports Off-Road “Wreckreation” Plagues Public Lands

The brave folks at PEER.ORG -– Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility whose slogan is “Protecting Employees Who Protect Our Environment” – have adopted the ORV issue as one of their most urgent and important. PEER protects and gives voice to public employees with a conscience who dare to tell the truth about where our taxpayer dollars are really going or not going as the case may be. Whistle-blowers and undercover activists find them an excellent resource and support system. PEER and Rangers for Responsible Recreation are campaigning to draw attention to the growing threat posed by ORV misuse and to assist overmatched state and federal land managers. For more information, please visit http://www.peer.org/campaigns/publiclands/orv/index.php.

Our public campaign is revving up as well. We are broadening outreach and exposure in many venues. For instance, my Sonoran Desert wildlife videos are in the process of cross-posting to several other video hosting sites across the Web: Revver, Magnify.net, Google, AOL, and MySpace.TV to name a few. Our YouTube audience has grown to over 3000 viewers a month. That number is expected to increase exponentially very soon as a result of these multiple postings. For instance, a video that would take a couple of days to get 30 hits on YouTube only takes a couple of hours on Revver and other sites due to better promotion, selectivity, and quality of resolution. So take care, enjoy, and stay tuned for more news about Gloria and her fellow reptilians in the Haley Hills.

For the Haley Hills,

Judy Kennedy

www.judykennedy.com
www.waywardmuse.com

P.S. CORRECTION TO A POSTING IN THE 6/21/07 HALEY HILLS REPORT: THE RATTLESNAKE IN THE VIDEO IS NOT A WESTERN DIAMONDBACK. IT’S A MOHAVE! VIDEO DETAILS HAVE BEEN UPDATED ACCORDINGLY.

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This report is published online at Judy Kennedy’s Haley Hills Blog

For more info: Save the Haley Hills

*NEW VIDEOS* Gila Monster’s Return and Desert Tortoise in the Wild

More Haley Hills Wildlife Videos on the Waywardmuse Channel

Contact:

Judy Kennedy
PO Box 1211
Maricopa, AZ 85239

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