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<br />C-9 <br /> <br /> <br />002775 <br /> <br />2. <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />Increased Accessibility: <br /> <br />A wide variety of recreation vehicles came on the market and <br /> <br />provided the recreation public with new almost unlimited <br />capability to explore this "newly discovered" open space. <br /> <br />BLM recognized what was happening, then State Director, R. J. Penny <br /> <br />initiated the first studies and reports to give identity and visibility <br />to the problems and developed the concept of the California Desert Pro- <br />gram. <br />Broad public support for this program developed and this resulted in the <br /> <br />submission of a number of bills in Congress during the late sixty's. <br /> <br />Some of these bills recognized that the desert region did not end at the <br />California state line and proposed that the study boundaries include the <br />entire Colorado River Drainage areas. As these efforts for legislative <br /> <br />recognition continued, the rapid increase in public use and demands re- <br /> <br />quired that the BLM initiate a initial effort without waiting for special <br />legislation. In March 1977, a special Planning Task Force (the Desert <br />Planning Staff - DPS) was established as a division of the California <br />State Office, with a field office located in Riverside, California. The <br />mission of this DPS was to concentrate on resource inventory and planning <br /> <br />while the District Offices in Riverside and Bakersfield were to increase <br /> <br />their efforts on interim management. Thus the Desert Planning Program <br /> <br />began in a "crisis atmosphere" and it's initial assignment was to develop <br /> <br />a interim management plan for recreation vehicles. <br /> <br />With this background, let me now use the slides to bring you up to date <br /> <br />and illustrate our current planning program. <br />