News.bytes Extra, issue 556

Associate State Director Visits Imperial Sand Dunes and Yuha Desert 

Associate State Director Angie Lara took time out from her busy schedule during the weekend after Halloween to help kick-off a new riding season at the Imperial Sand Dunes.  Riding with El Centro’s Chief Ranger Ian Canaan, Angie had opportunities to see many of over 40,000 dunes visitors hard at play.   Angie also got to see some of the majestic dunes landforms from the unique perspective of a law enforcement sand rail operated by Officer George Masner.  Angie’s visit wasn’t all play, however, as her ride-alongs were intended to help her prepare to lead an upcoming Law Enforcement for Managers course at the BLM’s National Training Center.  Among other things, Angie appreciated the relative ease with which law enforcement officers climb in and out of the sand rail despite the amount of heavy gear they carry while on the job.

Angie Lara embarks on a night ride through the dunes with Officers Masner (at the wheel) and Boles.  Photo by Ian Canaan.

While in El Centro, Angie also took time to visit the Imperial Valley Solar Center South and Ocotillo Express Wind Energy project areas and to explore the open vistas of the Yuha Desert with El Centro’s acting Resources Staff Supervisor, Carrie Simmons.  Highlights of her visit included short hikes to the Spoke Wheel, a site on the National Register of Historic Places, and through fossil shell beds in the Yuha Desert Area of Critical Environmental Concern.  Standing beneath a newly erected wind turbine, Angie was impressed with the many fine examples of multiple use and sustained yield of public lands and resources that exist in this part of the California Desert Conservation Area. 

Angie Lara and Carrie Simmons at the foot of a newly erected wind turbine, one of 112 to be constructed for the Ocotillo Express Wind Energy project.  The 2.3 MW turbines are 448 feet tall.  Photo by Thomas Zale.

(November 2012)

BLM California News.bytes, issue 556 -- To subscribe to News.bytes, send an e-mail to: mailto:Join-Newsbytes@List.ca.blm.gov OR visit our News.bytes subscription page.