Editorial: Let nature reclaim canyon

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005 | 7:31 a.m.

As part of the California Desert Protection Act passed in 1994 by Congress, 29,180 acres along the eastern border of Death Valley National Park were protected from intense use. Although these acres were known as the Surprise Canyon Wilderness, there were corridors within the acreage that were left unprotected -- including Surprise Canyon itself.

The canyon is about a four-hour's drive due west of Las Vegas, and for years it was a popular destination for owners of four-wheel drive vehicles. With the advent of strict air-pollution laws limiting recreational off-roading in Southern Nevada because of all the dust it creates, Surprise Canyon became popular with local enthusiasts, too.

Surprise Canyon was so named because travelers were always surprised to see the canyon walls dripping with water from natural springs. The narrow canyon was made passable, by way of a dirt road, in the 19th century to make the area accessible to gold miners, who established Panamint City (now a ghost town) at the end of the canyon.

Over the years the road has become more of a stream, with erosion, flash floods and rockfalls having made it impassible for all but wildlife and hikers -- with one exception. That exception is "extreme" off-roading clubs whose members thrill to the challenge of driving and winching their vehicles all of the way (about five miles) to Panamint City.

In May 2001 the Bureau of Land Management closed the road to vehicles, as the result of a lawsuit by an environmental group that documented the damage that was being done. As Sun reporter Mary Manning reported on Monday, "The vehicles' big tires ripped up the stream bed, trees were cut or knocked down, overturned vehicles left oil and gas in the water ... holes were drilled in the canyon walls, giving drivers a place to insert steel pipes that they could tie their lines or chains to."

Today, nature is reclaiming the streambed. Migrating birds and other wildlife are returning because the canyon is again coming alive with healthy plants and trees. Manning quoted a wilderness expert as saying that only 1 percent of the environment in the Southwest consists of such fragile riparian habitat.

The BLM is studying whether to make the closure to vehicles permanent. Many off-road enthusiasts do not agree, but we believe it should.