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LAS CRUCES - Off-road vehicle aficionados are gearing up for an annual rock crawl event that will take place this week on public lands near Las Cruces.
Drivers from several states - along with their vehicles, usually heavily modified to navigate rough terrain - will show up to the 21st Annual Chile Challenge. Most of the trails are in the Robledo Mountains, northwest of Las Cruces.
But one of the main attractions of past years has again been eliminated on its most popular day, in an attempt to curtail the number of spectators. As was the case last year, the agency has disallowed use of vehicle trails in Branson Canyon, but only on Saturday, said U.S. Bureau of Land Management official Tom Phillips.
One of the most rugged Chile Challenge routes runs through that canyon. And it once attracted hundreds of people on the event's last day, because it was relatively easy to access and people were off work for the weekend.
At risk, Phillips said, was public safety, the reason the agency decided to keep the restriction in place when setting the terms of this year's event.
Drivers "will be on other trails in other places and some are in the mountains, but not as easily accessible to the public," he said. "And for the most part, it's not as challenging to watch."
The move cut down sharply on the number of visitors last year,
About 180 vehicles had been pre-registered by last week to participate in the Chile Challenge, said Jack Porter, vice president of the Southwest Four Wheel Drive Association. Porter, who said he started off-roading in about 1962 with his dad, noted that he and his son are expecting to take two of their three vehicles this year to the Chile Challenge.
"I get a big kick out of people that run the trails," said Porter, a trail leader. "People run different trails every year; you get a different group every time."
Porter, 55, of Alamogordo, said attendance has declined from a few years ago because of the economy. But the event still attracts people from out of state because "it's the nicest, warmest place to four-wheel this time of year," he said.
Phillips said the event is permitted to Chile Challenge hosts, the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club, and isn't intended for the outside public.
"It's not designed to be a spectator sport, so much as a tour they're providing to the participants that show up at the fairgrounds and sign up," he said.
Phillips acknowledged the agency can't stop people from visiting the site. But he said the elimination of the Saturday run cuts down on the interest.
The canyon is located off Rocky Acres Trail on Shalem Colony Trail, near a closed-down rock quarry. Phillips said BLM staff will monitor the Chile Challenge over the four days.
"Mostly, our goal is to ensure the event runs safely," he said.
The permit requires the four-wheel club to pay $5 per vehicle or 3 percent of its gross receipts for the event, whichever is greater, according to Phillips. The club also has to buy event insurance.
Many of the event's trails are located in an area that was designated by Congress in 2009 as the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. Legislation allowed for the continued use of off-road vehicles, if it didn't damage 280 million-year-old, fossilized footprints, petrified wood and other natural resources known in the area.
Phillips said no new Chile Challenge trails were opened this year, and previously closed trails have remained closed.
Porter lamented the loss of three trails that were once open for the event. They were closed "about seven to 10 years ago" because of "environmentalists," he said.
"Our trails allow people to get close to these trackways to see them," he said. "Four-wheel drives allow people that don't want to hike or can't hike 10 miles to get to these things."
The BLM is in the process of creating a management plan for the monument, a document that will spell out how frequently and in what areas vehicles can be used, as well as other guidelines for the park.
Proponents of the monument's creation, called the Paleozoic Trackways Foundation, argued it was needed to permanently protect the area's unique natural resources for science and education.
"Any other activity out there that BLM allows or coordinates is always going to have to have those priorities understood and respected," said Las Crucen Greg Smith, past-president of the group. "Certainly, since the Chile Challenge was mentioned in the legislation that passed in Congress, that is something that has to be respected, as well."
Smith said both off-road enthusiasts and members of the trackways group picked up trash together during a recent cleanup.
Phillips said the agency is evaluating the possible impacts of its proposals and hopes to have a draft plan done sometime this year.
"If we can get that this year, it's probably next year before we get to a final decision," he said.
Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443.
2011 Chile Challenge schedule
Tuesday
1 to 9 p.m. - registration at Do-a Ana County Fairgrounds
Wednesday
7 to 9 a.m. - registration at fairgrounds
8 a.m. - trail runs start at various locations
5 to 9 p.m. - registration and vendor displays at fairgrounds
Thursday
7 to 9 a.m. - registration at fairgrounds
8 a.m. - trail runs start at various locations
5 to 9 p.m. - registration and vendor displays at fairgrounds
Friday
7 to 9 a.m. - registration at fairgrounds
8 a.m. - trail runs start at various locations
5 to 9 p.m. - registration and vendor displays at fairgrounds
Saturday
7 a.m. - Southwest Four Wheel Drive Association meeting
7 to 9 a.m. - registration at fairgrounds
8 a.m. - trail runs start at various locations
6 to 9 p.m. - event dinner at fairgrounds
Source: www.chilechallenge.org
