Desert Dog Blog

Remember Dezert Magazine?

The 1937 edition of The Desert Magazine

Remember the old Desert magazine?  It’s publication ran from 1937 all the way to 1985, when its management decided to close up shop.

The original Desert Magazine was published from 1937 to 1985 by a man named Randall Henderson.  In 1958 he passed the torch, and other editors kept the magazine afloat until 1985.  Since then, efforts have been made to resurrect Desert magazine in print and as an online magazine.  The latest, and most promising, effort is www.dezertmagazine.com.

This online magazine is founded by John Grassom.  Grassom said Dezert Magazine is “a quarterly online publication dedicated to all things southwest. This includes archeology, anthropology, history, 4×4ing, travel, wildlife, botany, rock hounding and treasure hunting.”

Grassom added, “We are simply moving forward with the same commitment and passion as the first.”

The first Desert Magazine focused on archaeology, wildlife, human interest stories, history, geology, and anything desert-related.  And that’s what Dezert Magazine is going to be about.

Grassom invited the Desert Dogs to participate in providing content to their magazine, with the first issue coming up on October 1. We hope that this will be the beginning of a long and enduring friendship.

I’ll finish with this last bit, written by Mr. Henderson himself, in the very first edition of Desert Magazine, waaaaay back in 1937.  He wrote that there’s the desert that poets and authors dredge up – a purely imagined world, and then there’s the real desert. 

“The other Desert—the real Desert-—is not for the eyes of the superficial observer, or the fearful soul or the cynic. It is a land, the character of which is hidden except to those who come with friendliness and understanding. To these the Desert offers rare gifts: health-giving sunshine—a sky that is studded with diamonds—a breeze that bears no poison—a landscape of pastel colors such as no artist can duplicate—thorn-covered plants which during countless ages have clung tenaciously to life through heat and drought and wind and the depredations of thirsty animals, and yet each season send forth blossoms of exquisite coloring as a symbol of courage that has triumphed over terrifying obstacles. To those who come to the Desert with friendliness, it gives friendship; to those who come with courage, it gives new strength of character. Those seeking relaxation find release from the world of man-made troubles. For those seeking beauty, the Desert offers nature’s rarest artistry. This is the Desert that men and women learn to love.”

Let the new Dezert Magazine forge its own trail, but we let it also keep alive the tradition of giving the desert its due respect and homage.

The Dogs are Barking in Trona

A German Shepherd barking.  U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger

Apparently, the sounds of barking dogs reverberate through the desert air in Trona, and some residents are getting mad!

Some of the solutions that are being talked about on the web are heavy fines and taking away the dog (especially if it’s not being cared for), according to a conversation going on the Trona News forum.

Being a Desert Dog, I have compassion for the dogs and I agree with the forum posters:  Neglecting one’s own dog is tantamount to animal abuse, and the owners of these dogs should be treated harshly.  And yes, it’s not as engaging a topic as the Catholic Church child molestation scandals, but dammit, it’s a problem.

Hippies And Jocks Duke It Out Over Surprise Canyon

An appeal by “extreme off-road enthusiasts,” as the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) calls them, to gain access to the remote ghost town of Panamint City, was rejected for the third time in two years.

First of all, “extreme off-road enthusiasts” makes these guys sound like they’re extremists – almost fanatical, violent off-roading extremists. I assure you they are not. Over the last two years, these off-roaders have helped clean up Chris Wicht’s camp at the bottom of the canyon, as well as debris inside Surprise Canyon. No doubt about it, these guys do care about the canyon. They’re just regular guys who actually do care about Surprise Canyon, but aren’t nearly as extreme in their care as the CBD. Incidentally, the CBD’s idea of caring about Surprise Canyon is to DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (aka “preservation”), except complain about the offroaders of course (aka “preservationism”).

The Center for Biological Diversity’s Associate Public Lands Director (whew, that’s a mouthful!), Chris Kassar said, ”Death Valley is a national park – not a playground for offroad vehicles.” Chris, by the way, is a hot chick, so don’t let the name “Chris” deceive you.

On the other hand, the offroaders say they’re losing their rights to gain access to their own private property (many offroaders purchased land up near the top in order to make this case).

Now, before I rant I’d like to focus our attention on the two groups, and try to distance myself from both. The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit group of preservationists who are concerned about keeping a natural habitat safe from groups they think are dangerous to life. So …. they’re basically hippies, right?

And a loose coalition of offroading groups who want a chance to utilize their expensive trucks, winches, and gear.

ISN’T THIS THE AGE-OLD HIPPY VS. JOCK DICHOTOMY!?!?!

Environmental activists are the new, well-educated and less stinky hippies; and the offroaders – well, they’re offroaders, which is nothing more than a subgroup of larger family called Jocks, or Bros; meaning a bunch of Americans looking for a tough, rugged, but basically fun, time.

This is a very interesting issue. I can see both sides of the argument, and I think there’s a compromise that can be had. Definitely, maintaining biodiversity is a great thing; but at what cost? I don’t think the winches and vehicles could cause THAT much damage! Clearly, the CBD is exaggerating their claims for PR reasons. It’s not like the offroaders are a logging company, or a band of vigilante hunters bent on killing bighorn sheep and Inyo California towhee birds.

I can definitely see how offroading has torn up certain areas of the desert (when they actually go off the road). Wanton offroading is a real problem.

But if these offroaders play it cool and consistently show that they respect the land, and make sure others do too, and drive home that the winning argument is conservation (doing something) vs. preservation (doing nothing), then they are displaying that it is possible for both the conservation of a natural environment, and offroading, can indeed coexist in a friendly manner. And yea, they can actually reach their properties at the top of the mountain.