Comments on BLM off-road closures at Sand Mountain

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 | 8:04 a.m.

Some comments on the federal government's closure of off-road trails at Nevada's Sand Mountain:

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"We're going from a wide-open, cross-country, go-over-any-of-the-bushes-if-they-get-in-your-way kind of situation, to trying to conserve as much of the vegetative resources that is out there as possible." - Mark Struble, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

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"The closure is a good first step toward protecting the Sand Mountain blue butterfly, which exists nowhere else in the world," said Lisa Belenky, staff attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Ariz.

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"It was one of those things where we felt like any time an environmental group sues, off-road users usually lose." - Richard Hilton, president of the off-road group Friends of Sand Mountain.

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"We hope that this closure is an indication that the bureau is finally stepping up to its responsibilities to preserve this area for future generations of Nevadans," added Charles Watson of the Nevada Outdoor Recreation Association.