Pentagon plan pits Marines against off-roaders and pilots

CRITICS say airspace limits threaten the King of the Hammers off-road race.

- BY ALEX WIGGLESWORTH

CRITICS say airspace limits threaten the King of the Hammers off-road race.

LUCERNE VALLEY, Calif. — The U.S. Marine Corps tried once to occupy this remote stretch of California desert beloved by off-roaders - but officials managed eventually to broker a deal that allowed both leathernecks and dirt riders to share the same rocky canyons and wrinkled mountains of Johnson Valley.

Now, more than a decade later, the Marines are back — and this time, they want the skies.

The Pentagon has proposed restricting civilian air traffic above much of the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area to expand and support training exercises.

But those who frequent the area just west of the Twenty-nine Palms Marine base say the proposal would severely limit recreational access and reduce safety.

They say the airspace restrictions could prevent rescue helicopters from evacuating injured motorists, and threaten the famed King of the Hammers off-road race that's held there each year.

And perhaps most crucially, they fear the proposal - which must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration — is just the first step toward the Marines ending public access to an area that was set aside by Congress for public use.

“It feels like it’s literally just another way for them to take the land, but from above,” said Shannon Welch, vice president of the off-road group Blue Ribbon Coalition.

The proposal has also drawn criticism from aviation officials, who say the restrictions could affect the operations of small local airports and add time and cost to commercial flights.

The military says such fears are overblown.