Free Republic

The crash happened around 1 p.m. Friday in the Imperial Sand Dune Recreation Area, where four people were traveling in a 2022 Can-Am Maverick UTV. The vehicle was driving along the side of a sand dune when, “for reasons still under investigation, the Can-Am began overturning down the sand dune,” California Highway Patrol officials said in a news release. The cinematographer was partially ejected from the vehicle and sustained fatal injuries as a result of the crash, CHP said. The three other occupants, who are University of Southern California film students, survived the accident, according to Elizabeth Daley, dean of...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed its biological opinion on the much-awaited recreation management plan for the Imperial Sand Dunes, one of the country’s most popular off-road areas in eastern Imperial County. The opinion does not require temporary environmental closures stay closed but requires more monitoring and analysis of the endangered desert tortoise and the purple-flowered Peirson’s milk-vetch. Environmentalists say the opinion and the soon-to-be-released management plan will be challenged in court. “It’s really a sad day for anyone that believes in balanced land management or using good science,” Center for Biological Diversity Desert Ecologist Daniel Patterson said. “Here...