Deserts are damaged by many users. Understanding their behavior is important in developing restoration plans and projects. You need to know the anatomy, physiology, psychology and economics for long term success.

1. The Anatomy, Physiology,
Psychology and Economics of
Desert Destruction and Restoration
David A. Bainbridge
Restoration Ecologist

2. Play time!

3. 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

4. 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

5. Hill climb damage

6. Physiology
• Plant communities are disrupted by direct impacts,
crushing, and damage to roots
• Weed invasions make desert ecosystems much more
vulnerable to wildfire leading to loss of key species
• 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

7. Change in water flow

8. 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
• Root damage and destruction of soil communities can be
largely invisible but critical
• Extensive use of desert washes for OHVs has been a
disaster for wash ecosystems

9. Dove Springs
Fence line

10. Psychology
• Understanding the allure of OHV operation is not difficult
“its fun”
• Sadly, too often fun involves damaging
the desert plants and ecosystems
• OHV exploration on roads (the more sedate part of the
OHV community) enables families to discover new areas
and enjoy the beauty of the desert
• It makes it easy to reach remote areas for camping

11. OHV play areas
• OHV play is noisy, involves speed and
power, danger, and requires intense
concentration “That’s fun!!”
• A small percentage of the OHV
population needs the added “kick” of
outlaw behavior
• Flouting route restrictions, damaging
undisturbed areas, vandalizing fences and
gates, signs, and displays, smashing plants

12. Hill climbs
This is a legal play area. Repairs are difficult and costly

13. 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" or any concern for
plants, animals, birds and ecosystems

14. 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 may be $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

15. 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
$$$$$ $$$$$

16. Autistic accounting
• Neoclassical economics says value is determined by
sales price or use value, perhaps $500 to $700 per
hectare for desert lands and ecosystems
• Ecological economics says a better way to judge
value is replacement cost for the ecosystem structure
and function, 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

17. Restoration experience has illustrated
the high repair costs
Tall pots for
revegetation
at the Ant Hill
Anza Borrego

18. Dove Springs, California
Damage and repair assessment
Condition Area/length Cost/unit Total ha
denuded
or dense tracks 194 50,000 9700000
with OHV impact 740 20,000 14800000
km route 576 12,000 6912000
km wash routes 77 25,000 1925000
Net $3,333,7000
Damage assessment from Matchett et al., 2004. Repair
estimates from experience.

19. 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 for
uninsured treatment in hospitals and ambulance services
• 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

20. 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...

21. Subsidies
• Subsidies - you gotta love ‘em!
• Some studies 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!

22. 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

23. The future
• Desert restoration is not a technical problem
• Desert destruction is the result of poor
accounting
• It will be difficult to do anything about the
enormous problem of desert deterioration
until we address this “driver”
• Unless we do, we are as the Dutch say,
“mopping up the floor without turning off the
water”

24. The education problem
• Users need to be aware of costs, impacts, and responsibility
• Control of the worst outlaws is most important and most
difficult, they do the most damage
• Responsible off-highway recreation does relatively little
damage and users support cleanup and repair work
• I like OHV activity but don’t ramble off route (just as I
might like to shoot skeet in the Crystal Palace but don’t)
• Managers need to better understand and factor in cost issues
- Joshua Tree has had good luck in court recovering
restoration costs for illegal activity

25. Just because it’s fun,
doesn’t mean it’s right
Skeet shooting in the Crystal Palace would be fun!

26. Manufacturers must play a bigger role in
“tread lightly”
• A special sales tax on OHVs (5- 10%) might be advisable
• 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 or at least $500
• 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

27. 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

28. Resources
• Desert Manager’s
Group
• A Guide for Desert and
Dryland Restoration.
Island Press. 2007

29. More information
• Introductory bulletins at http://works.bepress.com/
david_a_bainbridge/
• Technical papers and reports http://alliant.academia.edu/DavidBainbridge
• Images and reprints: Special collections UC Davis Library
• Books:
• 2015. Gardening with Less Water. Storey (Award winner!)
• 2012. Restoration of arid and semi-arid lands. Chapter 10 In J. van Andel
and J. Aronson, Restoration Ecology: The New Frontier. Blackwell.
• 2007. A Guide for Desert and Dryland Restoration: New Hope for
Arid Lands. Island Press.