BIKING BAN IN FUTURE? PROPOSAL PUT FORTH FOR 5,000 ARID ACRES.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer MOJAVE - State parks officials have proposed banning camping, mountain biking mountain biking Sports medicine A sport in which participants use specialized bicycles to navigate rough, steep trails covered with unforgiving rocks Injury risk Concussions, fractures, death. See Extreme sport, Novelty seeking behavior. and motor vehicles from about 5,000 acres of arid ar·id adj. 1. Lacking moisture, especially having insufficient rainfall to support trees or woody plants: an arid climate. 2. mountain and desert in a 20,500-acre addition to Red Rock Canyon There are more than 30 parks and canyons in the U.S. named Red Rock Canyon: Parks
The proposal is a feature of three alternative plans for managing the park's Last Chance Canyon addition, and officials say each is aimed at balancing protection for nature and cultural resources while allowing visitors to enjoy public lands. ``This is intended to stimulate conversation,'' said Jeff Brown
The Last Chance Canyon area is east of the original park, in the El Paso Mountains The El Paso Mountains are located in central southern California in the United States. The range lies in a southwest-northeasterly direction east of Highway 14, and north of the Rand Mountains and Randsburg Red Rock Road. between Highway 14 and Red Rock-Randsburg Road and south of Black Mountain. The addition was the result of the 1994 California Desert Protection Act. In setting guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. for the addition, parks officials said they were trying to juggle the desires of environmentalists, off-road enthusiasts and a host of others, including archaeologists Archaeology is a discipline that was virtually unknown until the 19th century. Archaeology, originally an amateur pastime, is becoming increasingly popular, and it is now possible for archaeologists to become minor celebrities as a result of media exposure. and astronomy astronomy, branch of science that studies the motions and natures of celestial bodies, such as planets, stars, and galaxies; more generally, the study of matter and energy in the universe at large. enthusiasts. It will probably take about a year for park staffers to prepare the general plan amendment for consideration by the state Parks and Recreation Commission. Parks officials said they will accept public comment on the general plan amendment virtually up to the last minute. A common element of each of the alternatives is to designate about 5,000 acres as natural or cultural preserves. Those areas are Scenic Canyon or Nightmare Gulch area, Cudahy Camp and an archaeological district in the northeast corner of the addition. Depending on which alternative is looked at, another 1,300 to 2,195 acres would be designated as sensitive-resource zones. The natural and cultural preserve and sensitive-resource zones would be for what park officials call low-level uses, offering ``minimal contact with others and maximum opportunities for solitude and tranquillity.'' No camping or mountain biking would be allowed and motor vehicles would not be allowed in the natural or cultural preserves. Under all three plans, much of the addition would be designated as a primitive zone. The amount of acreage in that zone would range from about 8,200 acres to 9,200 acres, depending on which alternative is selected. Under that designation, moderate to low levels of use would be permitted. There would be limited camping, and motor vehicles would be allowed on designated roads. A third use zone in the plans is called the focused-use zone, which would be more open for recreational uses. The amount of acreage in that designation would be from 420 acres to more than 2,000 acres, depending on which alternative is selected. Focus areas would have primitive campgrounds, some restroom facilities, designated picnic areas, trail heads and staging areas staging area n. A place where troops or equipment in transit are assembled and processed, as before a military operation. Noun 1. for hiking, biking and horse use. Motor vehicles would be allowed on designated roads. The alternatives do not cover private lands within the Last Chance Canyon addition. Mining claims in the Last Chance Canyon addition are managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The general plan amendment will be the primary management document for the park and will provide guidelines for future development, but it will not provide specific designs or locations of facilities. About 25 miles north of Mojave on Highway 14, Red Rock Canyon was made a state park in 1968 because of its spectacular time-weathered sandstone sandstone, sedimentary rock formed by the cementing together of grains of sand. The usual cementing material in sandstone is calcium carbonate, iron oxides, or silica, and the hardness of sandstone varies according to the character of the cementing material; quartz cliffs. Since the 1920s, the cliffs have provided backdrops for countless movies and television shows, usually westerns and science-fiction, from ``Bonanza'' to ``Jurassic Park.'' CAPTION(S): map Map: Red Rock Canyon State Park |
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