Sad State of Affairs at the Racetrack

rando said:
True, and I am OK with that. There are already special and unique places that I cannot get to and plenty that I can get to. To me it is more important that these places continue to exist at all than it is important that I personally can get to all of them.
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As I age, I find there are many places I used to go, and many things that I can no longer do. My days of 70 pound backpacks and 20 miles a day on the trail are gone. I agree that not every place needs to be easily accessible by every one. Do what you can, while you can, leave the wild places to be discovered anew by those who follow in our footsteps.
 
I am not suggesting they close the playa, I am suggesting that they block the road a short distance back so that people can't drive on it and they don't steal the rocks. For the access issue they could put a gate in and have it open (with a ranger there) on a schedule so that folks with mobility issues can also see it. Another option would be to start a permit system like in Canyonlands - I think people would be much less likely to break the rules if they know that the rangers knew who was there and when.

My understanding is that this a truly unique feature (maybe I am wrong on that) where scientists have only recently been able to explain how it came to be. Unfortunately this is not a one off incident, the rocks have been moved, and some have been stolen, people have hiked out on it when it is wet, there are older vehicle tracks etc. What are other ideas about how these areas can be protected?
 
ski3pin said:
SunMan, thanks for the update. If only I was retired..................... I'm already trained in all the duties. We have met retired folks from other agencies who volunteer in DVNP. I hope this is a workable solution.
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Even though I'm retired, as much as I'd like to volunteer for this, I can't break away until some serious down sizing takes place. SunMan, thanks for posting!
 
Man I'd love to do that but like others have stated I'm not retired yet.

I was at the Racetrack a week ago and seeing the vandalism in person ticked me off even more than seeing it on the web. Before I arrived I thought maybe using a broom to somewhat smooth out the tire tracks would be an option to let mother nature do her work more quickly but some of the tracks are quite deep. Now I wouldn't do something like this without park approval and that would probably take just as long as mother nature to fix the scars.
 
I would love to see the RT inundated, as most of our town is tonight (!), to repair the thoughtless vehicle damage.
I think Gene has photos of the Race Track filled with water and ice. Let nature erase the indiscretions of man!

On a side note, we recently noted (illegal) OHV tracks in the Saline Dunes, which also part of DVNP. I'm not sure whether the answer is full time stewardship or video monitors, but there appears to be an increase in illegal vehicle abuse of the areas we enjoy wandering in the west.
 
That is indeed sad, SunMan. Unbelievable that it occurred at Badwater Basin. We are appalled. I just hope our prosecutors and magistrates are just as appalled and the punishment imposed reflects it.
 
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