Juniper Dunes Planning

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Grumpy
Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
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Juniper Dunes Planning

Postby Grumpy » Tue May 14, 2019 10:43 am

United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Border Field Office
1103 N. Fancher Rd.
Spokane Valley, Washington 99212
http://blm.gov/or
May 14, 2019
In Reply Refer To:
8300 (ORW030) P
Dear Interested Stakeholder,
The Border Field Office, Spokane District, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking your input on your public lands known as the Juniper Dunes. We will be addressing recreation use and needs for approximately 19,600 acres of public land in Franklin County. The area known as Juniper Dunes encompasses the Juniper Dunes Wilderness designated in 1984, and the Juniper Dunes off-highway vehicle (OHV) open area.
Why Now?
For over three decades there has been no legal public access to the privately-surrounded Juniper Dunes area. In 2011 Federal Highways granted $1.2 million to Franklin County, and BLM contributed $1 million to develop a legal public access road to the Juniper Dunes area. Road construction commenced in late 2018 and is anticipated to be completed by late spring 2019. Currently, BLM estimates 30,000 visitors annually use the area.
Purpose of requesting public input:
With completion of the new county road, BLM recognizes the possibility of a significant increase in visitors, to both the OHV area and adjacent Wilderness Area. In anticipation of the increased use of this new access will bring, the BLM is committed to engaging with long-term and new stakeholders. Prior to developing any proposals regarding the management of the Juniper Dunes area the BLM is seeking your input.
The Spokane BLM hired Kearns and West (K&W) to provide facilitation services to assist in gathering stakeholder/public perspectives. Our objective is to understand why Juniper Dunes is important to you.
What part of Juniper Dunes do you use, and how do you use it?
Do you have a concern with an increase in use?
What are other people, for example, your friends and neighbors, concerned about?
Do you know about any existing/anticipated user conflicts?
Is there any potential future development you would like to see?
If you are interested in meeting with a BLM representative during the week of July 22, at the Red Lion Columbia Center in Kennewick, WA, we would greatly appreciate your participation. We have scheduled two sessions, July 22, starting at 5:30 pm and ending at 8:30 pm and July 23 starting at 9:00 am and ending at 1:00 pm.
In addition, we would also welcome your written input that responds to the questions identified above. For anyone that is unavailable on these dates or is located out of the area, we could arrange for a phone interview. Please send written input to
BLM Border Field Office
1103 N. Fancher Rd.
Spokane Valley, WA 99212
Or via email to blm_or_sp_mail@blm.gov. Please put Juniper Dunes in the subject line of any email correspondence.
We will use the information we gather to incorporate into future management of the Juniper Dunes area.
Sincerely,

Eric Holborn
Acting Field Manager
Border Field Office
Dave
Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe


Quote:
Originally Posted by Oregon80
-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.
-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.

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Grumpy
Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
Posts: 6049
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:38 am
Location: Kennewick, WA

Re: Juniper Dunes Planning

Postby Grumpy » Sat May 18, 2019 1:46 pm

Time to get after this. Here's a draft that you can help me with. I'd like to send it next week.

BLM Border Field Office
1103 N. Fancher Rd.
Spokane Valley, WA 99212

Attn: Eric Holborn

Comments on Juniper Dunes Development
8300 (ORW030) P


Mr. Holborn,

Thank you for the opportunity to have input on the future of the Juniper Dunes Wilderness and OHV Area. Juniper is in my area, and is a favorite area to go have a day of off-road recreation, picnicking, and occasional camping. Our club, the Peak Putters of Tri-Cities, spend a good amount of time out at Juniper, not only using our 4x4s, but cleaning up and helping maintain the area. We take a lot of pride in these activities, and have enjoyed a good relationship with BLM staff, something we look forward to growing in the future.

Following are comments/answers to the questions put forth in your request:

1-What part of Juniper Dunes do you use, and how do you use it?
The OHV open area is our area of interest.

2-Do you have a concern with an increase in use?
There is always some concern about this when an area becomes more accessible. Increased traffic will generate the need for more maintenance, and needs to be factored into budget requests, along with education and enforcement. E&E will be critical to how the area is treated. Additionally, there will be a need for volunteer agreements with the local users groups. This will allow BLM to see projects done that might otherwise be problematic budget wise.

3-What are other people, for example your friends and neighbors, concerned about?
See answer to #2.

4-Do you know about any existing/anticipated user conflicts?
Access to the wilderness by the horse and hiker folks. I would recommend an ad hoc group to work on this made up of some of the RAC members and local users.

5-Is there any potential future development you would like to see?
There should only be minimal upgrades so that the overall character of the area can be maintained as much as possible. Vault toilets at each end of Smith Canyon and one in the upper parking area would about all most users would like to see. Info kiosks will be necessary, and should be stout enough to withstand some abuse, which will happen.

Again, thank you for the chance to comment, and all of us in the Tri-Cities area look forward to working with BLM for a long time to come.

Regards,

Dave Walters
Tri-Cities Peak Putters
Land Use Coordinator
Kennewick, WA
509-734-8694
http://www.peakputters.com
http://www.wohva.org
Dave

Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe





Quote:

Originally Posted by Oregon80

-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.

-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.

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TJDave
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Re: Juniper Dunes Planning

Postby TJDave » Sat May 18, 2019 2:40 pm

Looks good Dave. I'm hoping to attend one of those July meetings. One concern for me is pallet burning. Yes, I was young and dumb and partied in the desert, but we were smart enough to not burn pallets, due to the nails. Not sure how to address that.
2018 JLU Rubicon
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User avatar
Grumpy
Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
Posts: 6049
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:38 am
Location: Kennewick, WA

Re: Juniper Dunes Planning

Postby Grumpy » Sat May 18, 2019 8:12 pm

Pallets are a concern Dave. It's been kicked around, but it'll be a hard one to conquer.
Dave

Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe





Quote:

Originally Posted by Oregon80

-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.

-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.


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