Happy with the BLM, for a change.

We could complain that the BLM's finally closing just part of the Sonoran Desert National Monument to ORVs is too little, too late, but hey, it's better than nothing, which is what the BLM usually does. No, instead, we're going to celebrate the BLM's "banning all vehicular traffic, including motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, from 55,000 acres of the popular desert wilderness because of extensive environmental damage."

Sure, we could note that the environmental damage has gotten so bad that even the motorheads are admitting that it needs to be closed... and that the non-motorheads have been asking for this for years and the slow wheels of bureaucracy have just now cranked into action.... and that the BLM has made it just a temporary closure... sure, we could point out all of those shortcomings but, hey: This is some pro-conservation movement by the BLM, something we haven't seen in Arizona for far too long. Congratulations to those of you who worked hard on this!

When Karen Kelleher, Monument manager, leaves this week for cooler climes in Washington state, she can look back and know that she accomplished something worthwhile to protect the desert lands. Even if it was too little, too late, it's more than we expect from the Arizona BLM and that's saying something.