# Presentation: 878781

## The Anatomy, Physiology, Psychology and Economics of Desert Destruction and Restoration

**David A. Bainbridge**Associate Professor, Sustainable Management**Alliant International University**San Diego, CA dbainbridge@alliant.edu(858) 635-4616

## Play time!

## Introduction

- Desert degradation is usually caused by a set of interlocking factors
- These include the fragility of the desert environment, flawed economics, weak laws and regulations, and human "needs" for immediate gratification
- A doctor can't cure many diseases without treating the causes, neither can we

## Anatomy

- The desert remains under unprecedented assault from development, infrastructure, air pollution, nitrogen deposition, invasive species, military operations, mining, and OHV activity
- OHV activity is the least necessary, very extensive; and very damaging
- The full extent of OHV damage remains unknown

## Hill climb damage

## Physiology

- Plant communities are disrupted by direct impacts, crushing, and damage to roots
- Weed invasions are may make desert ecosystems much more vulnerable to fire
- Compaction is often severe in heavily used areas and infiltration can be very limited
- Water flow changes and erosion increases
- Reduced levels of hyphae and bacteria are found

## Change in water flow

## Damage is extensive

- The most apparent level of OHV damage is total destruction of all vegetation in high use areas
- Even in areas of moderate use the damage is quite extensive, although to the untrained eye it may appear less severe if the larger shrubs are still standing
- Extensive use of desert washes for OHVs has been a disaster for wash ecosystems

## Dove Springs

- Fence line

## Psychology 

- Understanding the allure of OHV operation is not difficult ***“its fun”***
**OHV exploration** (the more sedate part of the population) enables families to discover new areas and enjoy the beauty of the desert
- It makes it easy to reach remote areas for camping

## OHV play areas 	

- OHV play is noisy, involves speed and power, danger, and requires intense concentration
- A small percentage of the OHV population needs the added "kick" of outlaw behavior
- Flouting route restrictions, damage of undisturbed areas, vandalizing gates, signs, and displays, smashing plants

## Hill climbs

- Extremely difficult and costly to repair

## Failed education 

- The OHV community, like most Americans, have "affluenza", falling prey to relentless and sophisticated advertising, "If I just have more, I'll be happy"
- Poorly educated by a failed school system, they also have no concept of ”Nature's Services", ”Natural Capital", and "sustainability"

## Economics	“It’s the economy, stupid” 

- The OHV community of manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers and their advertising agencies and dependents is big business.
- The economic impact is $5-10 billion dollars a year in California.
- More than 40% of the money spent on OHVs is for vehicles and almost 10% is for fuel.

## Flawed accounting

- Existing economic analyses neglect environmental affects and uncompensated costs to taxpayers
- This provides a picture of OHV economics that is so misleading it would make Enron's accountants blush.

- $econ activity minus damage $eco = less than zero

- Mojave

- Japan

- Detroit

- $$$$$

- $$$$$

## Autistic accounting

- Neoclassical economics says value is determined by sales price or use value, perhaps $500 to $700 per hectare
- Ecological economics says a better way to judge value is replacement cost, perhaps $50,000 per hectare
- Knowing this we can say that a full size 4x4 can do $40,000 dollars of damage in a day of ripping across the virgin desert

## Restoration experience has illustrated the high repair costs

- Tall pots for
- revegetation
- At the Ant Hill
- Anza Borrego

## Dove Springs

- 	_**Damage and repair assessment**__** **_
- 	_Condition__	__	__Area/length__	__Cost/unit__	__Total_	ha denuded
-      or dense tracks		194	50,000		9700000with OHV impact		740	20,000	          14800000km route			576	12,000		6912000km wash routes		77	25,000		1925000					             Net    33337000				*Damage assessment from Matchett et al., 2004. Repair estimates from experience.*

## Other uncompensated costs

- Some could be determined, but haven't been well studied; while others are quite challenging to cost
- Medical treatment, perhaps $20-30 million a year
- Enforcement
- Cleanup and repair of facilities and fixing vandalism
- The economic cost of Global Change
- The economic cost of weed control
- The economic cost of increased fire risk

## Cost related to Natural Capital and Nature's Services

- What is the value of biodiversity? Of beauty?
- Of endangered species? Of natural hydrologic function? What is the ecological cost of exotic species invasion?
- What is the ecological cost of increased fire?
- The ecological cost of nitrogen deposition?
- What is the ecological cost of global warming?
- Almost certainly these are in the billions...

## Subsidies

- Subsidies - you gotta love ‘em!
- Analysis of automobile operation in the U.S. suggests we all get about a 90% subsidy
- OHV operators are currently getting a subsidy closer to 99%, but  users complain heavily about existing fees
- An OHV  green sticker costs only $12.50 a year, just $50 a year for an OHV park pass, or $90 a year for an Imperial Dunes pass
- In contrast $120 a year for a state park pass!

## OHV industry profits, taxpayers pay

- The OHV industry is mining the value of the desert at the expense of the desert owners (the American public) and future generations
- The value of the desert's scenic beauty, ”Natural Capital", and ”Nature's Services" is being exported to Japan and Detroit
- While the beneficiaries pay lip service to "tread lightly", advertising almost always shows the "tread heavily" mode

## The future	

- Desert destruction and restoration is not primarily a technical problem
- The root cause of desert destruction is ultimately poor accounting
- It will be difficult to do anything about the enormous problem of desert deterioration  until we address these “drivers”
- Until we do, we are as the Dutch say, "mopping up the floor without turning off the water”

## The education problem

**Users need to be aware of costs, impacts, and responsibility**
**Control of the outlaws is most important, responsible off-highway recreation is less of a problem**
**I like OHV activity but don’t ramble off route, just as I would like to shoot skeet in the Crystal Palace but don’t**

## Just because it’s fun, doesn’t mean it’s right

- Skeet shooting in the Crystal Palace would be fun!

## Manufacturers should play a bigger role in “tread lightly”

- A special sales tax on OHVs (5- 10%) might be desirable
- OHV manufacturers should be charged $50-100,000 for each advertisement exhibiting "tread heavily" behavior
- If a park pass costs $120 a year, then an OHV pass should probably cost $1,000 a year
-  If a ski pass costs $36 a day, then an OHV pass should be probably cost $100 a day
- Implementing this level of fee would be politically unfeasible, but perhaps $250 a year would be plausible

## Taxes and fees would help pay uncompensated costs 	

**Medical system costs**
**Better management, enforcement**
** ****Critically needed funding for research (Recovery and Vulnerability $50 million year)**
**Active restoration program ($50 million year)**
**Money to develop new, high quality OHV play areas on lands removed from agriculture due to water transfers**
**Funding for new OHV play areas closer to urban areas**