Rich, [BLM Outdoor Planner]
After finding out about an ATV group's efforts to establish something called Whiplash racing on BLM lands in the Ajo area, I can react only with horror and head-banging frustration.
To me, because the Ajo area is a part of the Sonoran Desert where plants and animals from the Arizona Uplands subdivision, the Colorado River subdivision, Mexico and regions to the north and east mingle together, the species compositions are more diverse than many other areas. This makes the area uncommonly interesting and special in terms of the natural history. This is in the face of already increasing pressure from ATV and vehicle traffic off the roads as well as other human disturbances.
Because, to many of us who live here part or full time, the desert around Ajo is a special place due to its plant life, wildlife and scenery, we look with alarm at this newest threat from people who are oblivious to any values other than those of tearing around with noisy destructive machines. It is my understanding that the whiplash racing activities are to be conducted in washes, which many consider to be worthless, sandy places where there would be no harm done. However, rather than being worthless, washes and their edges are the home for the greatest biological productivity, and greatest density and diversity of birds (and probably other wildlife) in the desert. Although the birds are found along the wash edges, rather than in the washes themselves, and therefore may not necessarily be susceptible to being run over by speeding ATVs, they are going to be severely disrupted and disturbed, nonetheless. Many species of wildlife do walk around in the wash itself where they would be run over. The only gila monsters I've seen in the wild were walking across washes. More than likely, there could be tortoises there also and a lot of other kinds of lizards, snakes, scorpions and tarantulas. These lizards and other small animals may be seen as worthless to some, but all animals have a value and a right to live without being run over by guys whose only fun seems to be in seeing how fast they can tear things up.
It is apparent that most of the values of desert natural history are lost on most segments of the human population. It's unfortunate that so few have experienced the satisfaction of learning about and understanding the birds, plants, wildlife and geology of the area they are in, but whose only interest in such areas is as places to blast through on a noisy machine. I've nothing against people riding ATVs responsibly on established roads and getting out and enjoying the desert. I can't see letting them go into new, relatively undisturbed places and wrecking them. For those who can't have fun without seeing how fast they can go on a machine, it seems like there are already heavily disturbed places around (like the racing area near Gila Bend) where they can do that sort of thing. Perhaps they could talk Phelps Dodge into using parts of the tailings pond for racing (?!). Another concern is that increasing fuel costs may be making it more difficult for many city ATV riders to travel long distances to places like Puerto Penasco and the Algodones dunes. But I hope we don't do something that encourages them to transfer their activities to the deserts around Ajo (or other relatively undisturbed areas of desert). The relatively undisturbed desert with its natural history values is a fast diminishing resource and I wish we could hold on to what we have and try to get people to appreciate it for what it is.
Hank Jorgensen An Ajo winter resident, Pima County property owner and taxpayer, and contributor to the economy of Ajo
***************************************************
Dear Penny,
My husband Don and I really appreciated the call from you on Monday. Although I felt embarrassed to be taking so much of your time, you reassured me in a polite and cordial manner. Our communication was valuable, on both sides.
We feel that your best way of informing the general population of Ajo about the Whiplash Racing permit process is through the Ajo Copper News, and I have included both Gabrielle and Kate as Cc on this email. Also included is the attached copy of the letter I wrote for last week's Copper News.
As I told you on the phone, I received two calls in response to my letter to the editor of the Ajo Copper News (attached above). Both calls were from grandmothers in Ajo who have sons and grandsons involved with the Ajo Toe Tag racing team. They said that there are 13 racers who live in Ajo, that the racers are respectful of the desert, and that the general racing crowds are salt-of-the-earth good people. They both told me that the course has been laid out ... a 32 mile circle in the desert northeast of Ajo ... and that the races will be 3 laps of that circle. The grannies agreed with me that most of the racers and spectators bring their own RV's and campers, as well as their own food and supplies. Both ladies said they have lived here in Ajo for many many years, spent a lot of time in the desert, and they both said, "Don't worry! The desert will bounce back. When we get rain, the desert will recover."
Our objections to Whiplash Racing are as follows:
Please count our names in the column "OPPOSED TO WHIPLASH RACING IN AJO".
Don and Gayle Weyers
***************************************************
To: Key Decision Makers for Southwest Arizona
Subject: "Whiplash Racing" on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in the Ajo area
From: Leland Renz and Jeanne Eddy (husband and wife)
Conducting vehicle races on BLM property (lands held by the Federal Government on behalf of the entire citizenry) would be similar to the ideas presented in the Tragedy of the Commons by Eric Hardin in which a few stakeholders benefit in the short term at a high cost to all in the long term.
As home owning Ajo residents we are very interested in the futures of both the Ajo community and the surrounding Sonoran Desert. It is our desire that you as a key decision maker make decisions and recommendations regarding the '"whiplash racing"' requests for the Ajo area that are in the long term best interests of both the Ajo community and the Desert.
It is our opinion that although the Ajo community is in need of business-related activities that will help revitalize Ajo (in its broadest sense) the approval of "whiplash racing" on the nearby Desert is neither a long-term nor a short-term answer to the desired revitalization. The vehicle racing will destroy a valuable section of the Desert and will only make a contribution to the immediate recreational needs of the participants.
Proponents of "whiplash racing" propose to use up resources of the Desert for their personal gain without investing anything in the Desert or the community. Utilizing public lands for the benefits of a few without any reinvestment into the Desert and the community will be a detriment to the environment as a whole and not provide any significant benefit to the Ajo business community.
Enterprises wishing to conduct a business in a community usually purchase or lease property, reconfigure the property, employ members of the community and embark on a business plan that benefits both the investors and the community. In the instance of "whiplash racing" there will be no additional property taxes or investment that returns to the community as a whole other than the possible sales of fuel, food and beverages for the duration of the event(s).
Persons who wish to conduct activities in the Desert that damage the crust of the Desert (analogous to polluting the air or water) should be held to high standards and not conduct the activity. Approving the pollution of the Desert is a serious matter.
Although the Ajo community is taking steps to develop and maintain a viable business environment, it appears to be in need of a comprehensive business development plan that will enable self-sustaining businesses to flourish.
We recommend that you not only disapprove the "whiplash racing" request but that you and other decision makers set in motion a process that will enable the Ajo area community to develop a realistic, community development plan that will help insure long-term business survival and overall community success plus protect the Desert.
Thank you for any consideration that you give to our requests.
Yours truly,
Leland Renz and Jeanne Eddy
***************************************************
Thank you, Penny, for your response. We have many anxious people here in Ajo and elsewhere in Arizona who are profoundly opposed to this potential invasion by whiplash racers of the Sonoran Desert here.
As you know, there is a very extensive invasion already long in existence here with numerous and pervasive border issues. With tons upon tons of trash, hundreds of miles of illegal trails and roads was well as scores of disabled vehicles throughout Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the T'Hono O'odam Reservation and, at times, the Ajo Block, I believe Mother Desert should not be subjected to an assault by a relative handful of people on destructive machines which inevitably, in the name of recreation, will ravage habitat and disturb, as well as potentially kill wildlife. This, potentially, in desert washes, the most vibrant, important and sacred places in the entire desert.
Penny, it's time to say no to this kind of activity. About eight years ago I learned that an acre per hour of Sonoran Desert around Phoenix alone was being lost to development. Add in Tucson, Maricopa and who knows how many other sites today where this and other kinds of desert-loss activities are occurring and how man acres per year do you suppose are permanently lost to all of us now?
I ask all of you there at the Phoenix BLM to do a gut check, yea, a soul check, before authorizing this activity.
Sincerely,
Tim Lengerich
***************************************************
I, along with many other older people, retired in the community of Ajo to get away from the bustle of larger cities and to enjoy the natural beauty, fauna and flora of the Sonoran Desert. The proposal of some people to introduce cross-country ATV racing into this environment is repugnant to all of us who came here to live.
We cannot believe that this idea is even being considered as a legitimate use of these public lands. This activity is completely destructive to the environment and has no redeeming features. There is plenty of illegal violation of these areas now. We don't need authorized destruction. Please deny any use of public lands for such harmful activity as ATV racing. Your mandate is not to conduct a popularity contest, but to care for these lands for future generations.
Thanks for allowing me to share our concerns.
Stan and Connie Skousen
***************************************************
Open Letter to the BLM:
I am an Ajo resident who has heard rumors that Whiplash Racing® is seeking to establish a 10-mile ATV circuit through the nearby BLM desert.
My candid reaction is: This is INSANE!! Let them buy their real state like anyone else, in places that have already been abused!
If Whiplash Racing® is allowed to appropriate 1000± acres of Sonoran Desert for the destructive enjoyment of a few, what’s next?!
What’s to stop small interest groups or would-be developers from demanding land for, say, rock concerts, race tracks, the next Woodstock, a Million Man March, flea markets, storage units, RV parking, an auto row, a shopping mall, a sanitary landfill, an airport, a golf course or a bio weapons test site? I’m sure they’d all have their very vocal advocates (What developer wouldn’t love the prospect of free land!), and they could all claim a right to recreate in their own fashion on public lands. Once you had accommodated them all, there would be no desert left. (Nor much reason for the Phoenix BLM office.)
The desert already is all it needs to be. It is its own unique, rare and fragile ecosystem that needs only to be left alone to provide enjoyment for generations—of man and animals—yet to come.
One has to draw the line somewhere. Let's begin by reserving what's left of Arizona's desert ecosystem to awe and inspire future generations; let's leave it pristine, untrammeled and wild.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Ruef
Ajo, AZ 85321