American Sand Association

Below are two documents that the ASA has been working with our partners on. One is to open a dialog with the Union Pacific Railroad after a meeting with Imperial County Board of Supervisor Wally Leimgruber.

The second letter is to BLM California Desert District manager Steve Borchard, requesting his support of the team from Imperial Country that are traveling to Washington DC to try and get some of the federal stimulus money for Imperial country. Hopefully some of this money can be directed to the BLM El Centro field office to support the project to construct a new access road to the camping areas on the east side of the ISDRA. This new construction would be entirely on BLM land.

This letter is an outgrowth of a conference call today (3/5/09) with Board Chairman Wally Leimgruber, UDG, ASA and others from Imperial Valley to encourage the BLM, at the Washington level, to support the construction of a new access road.

Here are links to the coorespondence

Letter to Union Pacfic Railroad

Letter to Steve Borchard re Wash Road Funding

LETTER TO STEVE BORCHARD

March 5, 2009
Steve Borchard, District Manager
Bureau of Land Management
Desert District Office
22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos
Moreno Valley, CA 92553

RE: Local Effort to Secure Federal Stimulus Funding for Wash Road

We are writing to you today to let you know a contingent from the County of Imperial will be
traveling to Washington D.C. tomorrow and Saturday to meet with Bureau of Land Management
officials to discuss the use of federal stimulus funds for projects in Imperial County that impact
the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.

As you are well aware, we have an issue with access to the camping areas on the east side of the
Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA). The camping areas have been traditionally
accessed via Union Pacific (UP) Railroad right of way (ROW).

The UP recently began a project to fence this ROW and has given notice that complete closure of
the ROW will take place May 31, 2009. This project will completely close access to most of the
camping areas off Wash Road in Imperial County. If a new access road is not built on BLM land
before the beginning of the next duning season, it is feared we will see a notable reduction in
visitors to the ISDRA. As you are aware, this reduction in visitors will impact not only the
ISDRA, through a reduction in fee revenue, but will affect local gateway businesses too.

To continue access to these public lands and to allow visitors to utilize these camping areas will
require that a road, of some sort, be constructed on BLM land. This road will require a
commitment from the El Centro Field Office to generate the required planning, permits and cost
estimate for such a project. We believe that this commitment is in the best interests of the ISDRA
visitors, BLM and the local community.

The issue of reduced availability of recreation access to these camping areas was discussed with
Mr. Tom Zale, BLM El Centro Field Office Assistant Field Manager, at a recent Imperial County
Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting. The importance to the local community of the ISDRA
visitors was stressed and the BOS requested the BLM make this a high priority endeavor to
secure continued access to these camping areas. Mr. Zale agreed that this was an important issue.

We would like to request your assistance in communicating with your upper management that
the community, the local ECFO and the Board of Supervisors has identified this project as a high
priority and believes it qualifies for funding through available federal stimulus funds.

The ISDRA is one of the premier recreation areas in the United States and we believe it is
deserving of federal stimulus funds that will be allocated to preserve the public's access to
recreate on their lands. Please join us in supporting this effort to allocate funds to this project.

Sincerely,
Wally Leimgruber
Chairman of the Board
County of Imperial

Charla Teeters
Program Manager
United Desert Gateway

Nicole Gilles, CEO
Brawley Chamber of Commerce

Cathy Kennerson, CEO
EL Centro Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau

Dick Holliday
Member Desert Advisory Council

Cc: Mike Pool, BLM,Acting National Director
Vicki Wood, BLM, ECFO Manager
Tom Zale, BLM. ECFO, Assistant Manager
Congressman Bob Filner


LETTER TO UNION PACIFIC


March 5, 2009


Robert W. Turner, Senior Vice President Corporate Relations
Scott D. Moore, Vice President Public Affairs Corporate Relations
Luis A. Heredia, Director Public Affairs Corporate Relations
Wesley J. Lujan, Director, Public Affairs

Gentleman,

The American Sand Association (ASA) represents approximately 35,000 Sand Sport enthusiasts that recreate at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA). We also have approximately 400 business sponsors. The mission of the ASA is simple: "Unite, Inform and Mobilize" We accomplish that mission through the use of volunteers. We believe in responsible resource management for the people. The ASA supports a national cooperation of local and regional sand sport organizations and shares with them ideas and information to help them Unite, Inform and Mobilize. You may learn more about our organization at our website http://asasand.com/

The ASA is a respected partner and has facilitated numerous partnership with the local, state and federal agencies responsible for the management of the ISDRA. We believe our record of positive stewardship regarding not only the dunes themselves, but respect for our neighbors stands on it’s own as a testament to our commitment to responsible land use.

We are pleased to learn of your recent meeting with Wally Leimgruber, Chairman of the Imperial Count Board of Supervisors. Wally was encouraged by the Union Pacific's (UP) willingness to work with the land manager and the ISDRA stakeholders in identifying an alternate access route to the Wash Road ISDRA camping area. The engineering, environmental process and funding of alternate access is a time consuming process. During this time of national austerity advance planning and communication with our neighbors and associates is even more important. An open and transparent planning process is the key to a mutually successful outcome. We look forward to working with you, the land manager and the local community in developing both short and long term solutions for access to this important recreation asset.

We believe that a face to face meeting with UP representatives will reinforce the process that UP initiated in the March 3rd meeting with Wally Leimgruber. Your willingness to continue the planning process with the ISDRA stakeholders will be appreciated.

Bob Mason
President, ASA Board of Directors

Outstanding work by the board.

Very nice and proactive!
Thank you ASA!

On Monday (9/14) I stopped at Glamis on the way back from Tucson to Escondido. I had the Jeep behind the motorhome so we thought it would be a great time to check out the new wash road. I have followed every bit of information on the new road as it developed. I'm sorry to report we were GREATLY disappointed. We drove to wash 25 on the "new road". The new road looks like one or two passes of a blade have been made at the most. As you would expect from scraping off soft sand I allmost got the Jeep stuck even in 4 wheel drive. I saw 2 tractors sitting several washes apart. No base delivered or on site. A water truck might have been delivered this morning. There really wasn't a defined road of any width visible, we used a few stakes in the ground to guide us.
I was under the impression the road would be done by the end of September. Not a chance in h*ll. This posting is not intended to stir up trouble, in fact we appreciate the many hours several people have put into this. This is just a real life update on the new wash road. I have been in construction most of my life and I know what stage this road is in.
Can ANYONE give and honest update on the road's schedule. At this point no motorhomes are going in. We have heard that the railroad would leave the old wash road in use until the new one is done. If this is true, great, except you will not get a motorhome pass the new road grading as you turn into a wash. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but with so many involved you would think we would have a clearer picture.

The BLM gave an update on the wash road construction at the DAC sub group meeting last Friday.

The road is behind in the planned schedule. There have been difficulties in getting operators for the heavy equipment. The BLM had three local maintenance employees at the ECFO and one left and one passed away so they now only have one BLM maintenance employee available. That person has been doing the preparation work you have seen. There is also a volunteer that is working 40 hours a week on a D8 Cat preparing the road base.

Link to story on volunteer Darren Iezzi

It is anticipated that the bottom dump trucks , a water truck and vibrating roller will be working next week.

When completed the road will be 24 feet wide and be up to 12 inches thick of rolled and compacted road case. This will be similar to the camping pads along Gecko road. Once this material is watered and rolled it will be very hard. This road has been designed to be above the camping areas where possible for drainage issues and to help keep campers off of it. The goal is still to have this completed prior to Halloween.

When complete it will designated for street legal vehicles only and will be so signed.

As far as the access via the old wash road the RR has been quoted as saying will allow travel on the their ROW until the new road is completed. This may change at any time so the BLM is trying to do all they can to get the new road completed as soon as possible.

Doc,
Thanks for the reply. We are excited about the project and await its completion. Your's is the first posting that noted the delay and hopeful finish date. We are glad the road will be street legal only and posted as such. Let's hope the duning community will honor this. Again, to all those who have a part in this; behind a desk, out in the trenches, holding out their wallets, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
wayneman