Table Of Content

BLM LIBRARY 8^708 Management |_^j,.g3y qi Lgpjj CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE WILDERNESS STUDY* REPORT Part 4 Volume 5 Contains WSA's: CDCA-222A through CDCA-272 Silurian Valley Cinder Cones South Bristol Mountains CDCA-222A CDCA-239 CDCA-258A North Mesquite Mountain Soda Mountains Marble Mountains CDCA-223 CDCA-242 CDCA-259 Mesquite Mountains Old Dad Mountain Clipper Mountains CDCA-225 CDCA-243 CDCA-260 Stateline Raintx)w Wells South Providence Mountains CDCA-225A CDCA-244 CDCA-262 Ciarl( Mountain Eight-MileTank Providence Mountains CDCA-227 CDCA-245 CDCA-263 Hollow Hills Kelso Mountains Mid Hills CDCA-228 CDCA-249 CDCA-264 ShadowValley Keiso Dunes New York Mountains CDCA-235A CDCA-250 CDCA-265 Magee/Atl(ins Cady Mountains Castle Peaks CDCA-237 CDCA-251 CDCA-266 Deer Spring Mesquite Spring Fort Piute CDCA-237A CDCA-251A CDCA-267 Valley View Sleeping Beauty Mountains Table Mountain CDCA-237B CDCA-252 CDCA-270 Teutonia Peak Bristol/Granite Mountains Woods Mountains CDCA-238A CDCA-256 CDCA-271 Cima Dome Lava Hills Signal Hill CDCA-238B CDCA-258 CDCA-272 BLM MISSION STATEMENT The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for the balanced management of Public Lands and resources and their various values so that theyare consideredin the combination ofuses thattakes Into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and nonrenewable resources. These resources includerecreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, fishandwildlife, wildernessandnatural, scenic, scientific and cultural values. ,<^ ^LM-CA-PT-90-006-8520 74 5 C55 1/.5 Supplemental Information to these reports Includes Environmental Documents, Mineral Survey Reports, and maps. To review these supplemental data, or to obtain additional information, please contact: Bureau of Land Management Branch of Wilderness Resources Room 3360 Main Interior Building 18th and C Streets Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 208-6064 or Bureau of Land Management Branch of Lands and Recreation Federal Building 2800 Cottage Way Sacramento, CA 95825 (916) 978-4730 Printed on Recycled Paper Silurian Valley CDCA 222A . snilREAN VATTrv wrrnRRMFyK groro AREA fWSA) (aXA-222A) 1. 1HE STUDY AREA 19,435 acres The Silurian Valley WSA is located in San Bernardino County within the north central portion of the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) The . community of Baker is 12 road miles to the south. The WSA includes 18,318 acres of public land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BIM) 632 acres owned by the State of California, and 485 acres of private , M^ land (see 1 and Table 1) This triangular-shaped WSA is bounded on the west by State Route 127. The north and northeastern boundaries are gravel roads used to access the patented Silver Lake Mine properties. The southeastern boundary consists of a gravel road used to access other patented mining prcperties. The southern boundary is located along an imaginary line 400 feet north of three high voltage power transmission lines vdiich were in place in 1979, except v*iere the service road extends beyond the 400 feet and then the boundary is the service road. These pcwer lines, and portions of the WSA, are located within a utility corridor designated in the CDCA Plan that is two miles in width. The VKA consists predominately of a creosote covered bajada that slc^jes west toward the Amargosa River drainage. The southeastern portion of the WSA contains rocky, rolling hills. The Riggs Wash drains throu(^ the northeast portion of the area. The WSA contains approximately 75% cLLluvial fans, 20% hills, and 5% pediments. The tcfpograptiy ranges from 700 to 2250 feet in elevation. The WSA was studied under Section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLFMA) Four alternatives were analyzed in the Draft . Environmental Iitpact Statement (EIS) for the CDCA Plan: protection, use, balanced and no action; a summary of the area's wilderness values was inclixied in ^pendix III of the Final EIS. 2. REOOMMENDATTOJ AND pattomatf: acres reccramended for wilderness 18,318 BIM acres reccattmended for nonwildemess No wilderness is the reconmendation for the Silurian Valley VISA. The entire acreage in this WSA is released for uses other than wilderness. Future activities in the area will be controlled by moderate intensity, multiple use management guidelines as prescribed in the CDCA Plan. This reccramendation will be iirplemented in a manner v^iich will use all practical means to avoid or minimize environmentcil iitpacts. The BcLLanoed Alternative is the environmentally preferable alternative as outlined in the CDCA Plan and further explained in the California Wilderness Stuc^ Overview. Ihe genercil lack of quality wilderness values was the primary reason for the nonsuitable recxOTmendaticai. If designated, this area would ocame ncMhere close to meeting the cciliber of other wilderness areas already within the National Wilderness Preservaticxi System. Existing and potential raotorized recreaticMi use and the need to ke^ the land available for ejq>ansion of a designated utility corridor also influenced the nonsuitable reccanmendation. Designaticai of the area as wilderness would not contribute any additioncLL unique or distinct features to the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) Other WSAs in the California Desert that arie reccramended suitable . offer a much more extensive and diverse r^resentation of desert wilderness values. The scenic values of the area are uipretentious. Ihe area is lacking in variety of landform, color, and vegetation and has no unique features. An abandoned railroad grade divides the area into two distinct units. Opportunities for solitude and primitive and unconfined types of recreation are available, but primarily in the small hilly region in the southern portiCTi of the area. Ihere are approximately eight miles of routes of travel including primitive ways, washes and other unmaintained routes of access v*iich will remain available for vehicular use. Ihe wildlife and vegetative resources within the area are typical of the surrounding desert. Ihe vegetative ccarposition includes the typiccil creosote bush scrub assentolage that may be interrupted by saltbush at the Icwer elevations. Ihe area contains no unusual plants or State or Federally listed threatened or endangered plant or animal species. Ihere are no significant cultural resource values or Native American concerns. Ihe California Off-Hi^way Vehicle (OiN) Draft Statewide Motorized Trails System Plan indicates that a portion of the bajada within the WSA could be included in a statewide trails system. Current recreational use in the WSA consists of motorized vehicle travel adjacent to an abandoned railroad grade. Ihe WSA itself is not a destination point, but rather contains portions of a north-south link for CtN travel. Althou^ current use levels are considered low, the potentials for increase are high. Wilderness designation would prchibit full develcpnent of the energy and transmission corridor identified in the 1980 CDCA Plan and EIS. Ihis two- mile wide corridor overlaps the southern boundary of the WSA for approximately one mile and the southeastern boundary to a lesser degree. Ihis corridor, along with others in the CDCA, were designated to acccxtmodate the long-term energy and ccamraunication needs of the southwestern IMited States. D^)ending i:^x3n the juxtaposition of the WSAs ultimately designated wilderness within the CDCA, there may or may not be constraints to full development of such corridors. The minercil potential of the WSA is largely unknown due to lack of field data. However, the area's boundaries are directly adjacent to known minercilized locations and past producing mines. In additicxi, 2,660 acres of the WSA are currently encumbered with 67 mining claims. The WSA would be best managed and maintained under nonwildemess and moderate intensity management guidelines cis prescribed in the CDCA Plan. Mining and motorized recreational pursuits would be allcwed to continue without sacrifice of desert resource values. Future scenarios regarding develcpment of energy and communication corridor in this area would not be constrained. TABLE 1 - Land Status and Acreage Summary of the Stucfy Area Within Wilderness Studv Area Acres BLM (surface and subsurface) 18,318 Split Estate (BIM surface only) Iriholdings State 632 Private 485 Total 19,435 Within the Recommended Wilderness Boundary Acres BIM (within WSA) BIM (outside WSA) Split Estate (within WSA) Split Estate (outside WSA) Total BIM Land Peccmmended for Wilderness Inholdings State Private Within the Area Not Recommended for Wilderness Acres BIM (surface and subsurface) 18,318 Split Estate (BIM surface only) Total BIM Land Not Reccramended for Wilderness 18,318