It was recently learned that the Center For
Biodiversity, Sierra Club, and others are flooding BLM and Forest Service fax
machines with comment letters requesting the total closure of Furnace Creek to
motorized access.
Yesterday alone, the BLM received 500 letters supporting the closure.
This is NOT the Furnace Creek located within Death Valley
but another Furnace Creek in the White Mountains between Bishop, CA and Dyer,
NV.
Thanks to Randy Banis of Death Valley Dot Com we now
have our own Internet fax software to easily send faxes to the BLM and Forest
Service to support a modified version of Alternative #6 which would keep the
long existing road open for public use. The comment period is open until
February 17 so we have enough time to offset the closure advocates mass faxes.
Please help us keep this fabulous backcountry
experience open to the public.
The Furnace Creek Road is an incredible 8.5 mile
road on the eastern side of the White Mountains that begins near Dyer Nevada.
The road was originally built at the turn of the last century for ranching and
mining.
It was improved with heavy equipment in the early 1950s. The road
passes old mines, old corrals, an elaborate old cow camp, and many points with
breathtaking vistas. Up until the CBD lawsuit, it was one of the best kept
secrets and used almost exclusively by locals. Roger Mitchell, in his 1969
book, "Inyo Mono Jeep Trails", states, "Furnace Creek Road
undoubtedly offers one of the most interesting jeep trips in the county.
Mitchell goes on to say, "Unlike many canyon roads, the jeep trail up
Furnace Creek did
not just happen. As you will soon see, the route has been carefully
constructed. In places where the canyon bottom was impassible, a-road was
bulldozed out of the canyon wall". The road, at least the two-track
portion, ends at Tres Plumas Flat, a most beautiful aspen dotted flat situated
at 9200 ft. elevation. There are several deer hunter's camps dispersed in
the aspen groves. The view from Tres Plumas Flat is astounding and makes
one think of a calendar quality photo.
The Inyo National Forest Land Use and Management Plan
designated the entire Furnace Creek Road corridor to Tres Plumas Flat as
"Semi-Primitive Motorized Recreation". The environmentalist have
fought for 20 years to close the road because it would be a corridor into their
proposed wilderness legislation, however, there has never been adequate
resource concerns to justify closure. There are no Threatened or
Endangered flora or fauna, no fishery, or any other identifiable significant
issues. The riparian issue is associated with only a very tiny portion of
the road. In fact, there really isn't any creek as there is no water flow
except during spring runoff and heavy rains.