PEER going after Vegas to Reno

[Wayne_Nosala]

http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1346

For Immediate Release: May 17, 2010
Contact: Kirsten Stade (202) 265-7337

OFF-ROAD ABUSES PROMPT CALL FOR PROBE OF BLM-NEVADA — Recreation Planner Resigns in Frustration After “Body Part” Incident in Ghost Town

Las Vegas — Federal authorities need to investigate mismanagement of cultural and natural resources, including off-road vehicle environmental violations and theft of skeletal remains from a historic ghost town by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Nevada, according to a complaint filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) with Robert Abbey, the BLM Director.

The PEER complaint was prompted by the resignation of Stacey Antilla, a BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner at the southern Nevada BLM station. Ms. Antilla resigned in frustration, after her efforts to properly plan and mitigate the damage resulting from the thousand-mile “Vegas-to-Reno” off-road vehicle race across endangered Desert Tortoise habitat in the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts. BLM Tonopah manager Tom Seley refused to address documented problems from past races and ignored violations of agency policy, permit stipulations and resource law, including:

* Routing the race though sensitive desert areas rather than keeping the course on already established roads;
* Allowing heavy equipment into a desert river that is habitat to endangered species; and
* Refusing to survey and correct post-race damage.

Off-road issues were compounded by cultural resource desecration this winter. Ms. Antilla learned a tourist at the ghost town site of Rhyolite, near Death Valley National Park, found what looked like skeletal remains in one of the buildings. Despite objections from BLM volunteer site steward, BLM managers in Tonopah allowed the tourist to dig up the bones and take them away. Ms. Antilla called BLM law enforcement with the information and requested an investigation. No investigation occurred, however agency managers threatened Antilla with suspension.

“Stacey Antilla did the right thing as a BLM planner by trying to reduce the impact of the off-road race and protect cultural resources. She should have been rewarded, not run out of the agency,” said Southwest PEER Director Daniel Patterson, an Ecologist who formerly worked with BLM. “BLM should take a close look at the big problems with its management in Tonoaph.”

Prior to serving in Nevada BLM, Stacey Antilla spent years working for the BLM in Colorado, where her experience was positive. After a few years out of federal service, she wanted to return, expecting a similar experience in Nevada. Ms. Antilla was asked to sign a two-year contract, as the Nevada BLM office seemed to have a hard time retaining employees. But she resigned after one year.

“BLM needs to be able to attract and retain conscientious workers. What happened in Tonopah should not be tolerated in a public resource protection agency,” added Patterson. “We are looking to the leadership of Director Abbey to look into and correct this situation.”

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[Bro_Gill]

Funny. It is obvious that the journalist is trying to tie the possible theft of possible bones from a possible site in Rhyolite with the Vegas to Reno race. What??? And Daniel Patterson is a member of PEER even though he no longer(did he ever actually?) works for the government. Or was that in his dreams or previous contract by one of his employers? He is a higher up with the Center for Bialogical Diversity (read- No humans outside of metropolitan areas) and a vociferous anti-offroad vehicle environazi. I hope folks are finally seeing what has been happening over the years. The anti-recreation crowd has entered the public workforce of the land use agencies in order to force their beliefs into the agencies management agenda. It has become very apparent what they are pushing. Antilla sounds like a schill for the cause, trying to come up with some way to protest and draw attention to her cause against the race. Apparently all she could come up with was a possible theft of bones by a non-racer and probably someone who wasn't even an offroader.

[Vtr_Racing]

Wow, thats a stretch!!! How can they say that the missing/stolen/whatever bones are from the result of our race? I thought I saw a Ghost when I went through Rhyolite! Hey, Coast to Coast had a story about UFO in the area!

[HDRA1]

http://www.lvrj.com/news/some-say-bl...-95599089.html

made the local las vegas paper today just not needed for sure there idea of driving across a road is destroying things i just don't get there "idea's" of things such F'ing nazi's

[Vtr_Racing]

Now having someone inside with no proof of this is disturbing to say the least.....As reported by By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

a former Bureau of Land Management recreation planner at the agency's Tonopah office who alerted a watchdog group that federal permitting guidelines for the race were violated.
Stacey Antilla, resigned in February, about six months after the Vegas-to-Reno race because of "on-the-job stress and harassment,

This is the first I have heard that any violations took place, or may have taken place. The start of the Vegas to Reno was on a dirt road outside of Beatty and staging was NOT near the Armagosa river. We were not made aware of this as competitors. Usually Casey will go ballistic at the drivers meetings if the racers or chase crews do something stupid. I believe we all try to comply with the guidlines set forth by BITD and BLM.

[MattV]

Most of this sounds like typical PEER lies and hyperbole. They are one of the most malevolent organizations in the arena of public land management and have a track record of making statements that are later proven false, or at minimum have no factual backing. Bringing in completely unrelated incidents is also nothing new for them. The problem is, that it's usually been printed and read in 500 places before the truth catches up.

[Ol' Curmudgeon]

X2! But they know best, NOT!

[Dezert-Racer]

Who would have thought