The BLM California Desert District is seeking additional applicants interested in serving on subgroups that assist the Desert Advisory Council, a citizen-based advisory committee that develops recommendations for the BLM on public land management issues. Responsibilities include reviewing information, seeking input from the public and user groups on various programs, projects, and agency decisions, and providing recommendations to the Desert Advisory Council on the management of these areas. 

The Desert Advisory Council established two subgroups focused on recreation and management of the Dumont Dunes and Imperial Sand Dunes recreation areas and both need additional members.

To be considered for the Dumont Dunes or the Imperial Sand Dunes recreational area subgroups, applicants need to demonstrate experience and/or knowledge in recreation management, education and outreach, volunteer and partnership development, natural resource management, safety, and community representation. The Dumont Dunes subgroup needs four additional applicants with experience in education and outreach, volunteer and partnership development, safety, and a community representative. The Imperial Sand Dunes subgroup needs five additional applicants with experience in recreation management, education and outreach, safety, and an industry and community representative.

For more information about the Dumont Dunes or the Imperial Sand Dunes recreation areas subgroups visit the DAC webpage. Interested applicants must complete the application on the webpage and send to Public Affairs Officer Kate Miyamoto at kmiyamoto@blm.gov. All applications received will be provided to the Desert Advisory Council for consideration. 

The Desert Advisory Council is one of 28 BLM advisory councils formally chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Each council consists of 10 to 15 members from diverse interests in local communities and provides recommendations to the BLM. Desert Advisory Council members provide guidance on the management of more than 12 million acres of public lands across eight counties spanning southern California.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Recreational visitors observing a fine flaky substance this morning at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA) will be pleased to hear it is not snow but judicial manna. Barely a month following argument, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. Northern District Court of California yesterday issued a long-awaited decision on the 2013 ISDRA management plan, ruling almost entirely on the side of the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and sand-rider organizations, and against the latest challenge led by the Center for Biological Diversity. The ruling sets the stage for implementation of the 2013 plan, which would allow resumption of access to areas placed off-limits to riders through “interim” closures imposed over a decade ago.

The litigation over riding at the ISDRA began in 2000, and has resulted in multiple trips to Judge Illston’s courtroom where BLM, USFWS, and recreation enthusiasts have suffered multiple setbacks. The 2013 plan followed lengthy public input and was designed in response to the Court’s 2006 ruling and new critical habitat designation by the USFWS for the Peirson’s milk-vetch (PMV), the plant species of primary concern at the Dunes. Preservationist plaintiffs raised an array of challenges under the Endangered Species Act and other laws to the new plan, but yesterday’s decision rejected those claims and upheld BLM’s plan, with the limited exception of finding that a recovery plan for the PMV is overdue and must be issued by 2019 unless the USFWS makes a specific finding that a recovery plan will not promote conservation of the species.