2025-01-13, 02:58 PM
https://www.kolotv.com/2025/01/13/nps-se...th-valley/
DEATH VALLEY, California (KOLO) - The National Park Service is seeking to identify those responsible for damaging the Eureka Dunes Plants in Death Valley.
DEATH VALLEY, California (KOLO) - The National Park Service is seeking to identify those responsible for damaging the Eureka Dunes Plants in Death Valley.
They say those responsible illegally drove on Eureka Dunes in late December or early January, causing significant damage to rare plants that are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
“I urge the public to come forward with any information that could help identify those responsible for driving on Eureka Dunes,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. “I’m saddened that someone would disregard the survival of a rare species for a few minutes of joyriding. There are multiple areas on BLM land nearby, such as Dumont Dunes, which are set aside for this type of recreation but the sensitive dune systems in the National Park are set aside to be protected.”
The plant species grows only on the sand dunes in the Eureka Valley and is classified as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Death Valley Park officials say one Eureka dunegrass plant was directly damaged by vehicle tracks, while eight additional plants were likely affected by root damage due to their proximity to the tracks.
More than two miles of vehicle tracks were left on the dunes, which officials suggest could be evidence of further damage to seeds and other rare plants, such as:
- Eureka Dunes evening-primrose (Oenothera californica ssp. eurekensis)
- Shining milk vetch (Astragalus lentiginosus var. micans)
- Gravel milk vetch (Astragalus sabulonum)
- Hillman’s silverscale (Atriplex argentea var. hillmanii)
- Wheeler’s chaetadelpha (Chaetadelpha wheeleri)