Mike McGarity, CORVA President
September 2026 - CORVA and EcoLogic Partners are working together to protect legal access to Historic Randsburg while the Bureau of Land Management completes the court-ordered West Mojave planning process.
For decades, the Western Mojave Desert has been one of California’s most important areas for off-highway vehicle recreation. Its extensive network of designated roads and trails connects riding areas, historic mining sites, camping destinations and desert communities such as Randsburg and Johannesburg. Today, a substantial portion of that designated motorized network is closed to OHV recreation as the result of a federal court order.
For CORVA, however, this issue cannot be understood simply by counting the number of miles that have been closed. Our immediate concern is connectivity, particularly the loss of practical, legal OHV ingress and egress between the surrounding desert route network and Historic Randsburg. A relatively short route can serve as an essential transportation artery, and when that connection is removed, the impact can extend far beyond the mileage of the route itself. That is why CORVA has joined forces with EcoLogic Partners—SEMA, ORBA, the American Sand Association (ASA) and AMA District 37—to work toward a solution for Randsburg.
It is important for CORVA members to understand exactly what we are—and are not—trying to accomplish. We are not attempting to circumvent the federal court order or simply reopen the approximately 2,200 miles of WEMO routes affected by it before BLM completes the work required by the court. Instead, while the larger WEMO process continues, CORVA and EcoLogic Partners are working to determine whether a lawful solution can preserve meaningful OHV ingress and egress to Historic Randsburg.
We are intentionally not publishing the specific legal and administrative strategies currently being evaluated. Those discussions need to remain among the participating organizations, legal counsel and affected businesses while the available options are developed.
“WEMO” refers to the West Mojave Plan and the subsequent route-network planning undertaken by the Bureau of Land Management across a vast portion of California's Western Mojave Desert. The dispute that produced today's closures did not begin in 2026. It is the result of decades of federal land-use planning, environmental review, route designation and litigation.
BLM is responsible for determining where motorized vehicles may travel on the public lands it administers. In the Western Mojave, that responsibility is particularly complicated because the agency must address public access and recreation alongside wildlife habitat, cultural resources, vegetation, soils, wilderness characteristics and other federal land-management obligations. The Western Mojave historically contained an enormous network of roads and trails. Recreation organizations involved in the WEMO dispute have described that historical footprint as approximately 16,000 miles. Through years of planning, BLM progressively reduced and formalized that system into a designated motorized route network.
In 2019, BLM issued its Record of Decision for the West Mojave Route Network Project, establishing approximately 6,247 miles of routes available for motorized use. The decision represented BLM's effort to create a designated transportation network while satisfying its environmental and land-management responsibilities. The 2019 decision did not end the controversy. Environmental organizations challenged BLM's route-network decision in federal court, arguing that the agency had not adequately complied with federal requirements governing motorized route designation and protection of sensitive resources. That litigation eventually produced the January 2026 order that dramatically changed motorized access throughout portions of the Western Mojave.
On January 23, 2026, Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order granting a partial vacatur of BLM's 2019 Record of Decision. Of particular importance to the OHV community, the court required BLM to close routes affected by the order where they intersect designated critical habitat for the desert tortoise and Lane Mountain milk-vetch.
The consequences were substantial. Approximately 2,200 miles of routes that had been available under the 2019 network were affected, according to figures published by motorized-recreation organizations following the litigation. The approximately 6,247-mile designated network was consequently reduced to roughly 4,047 miles available for OHV recreation. That represents an immediate reduction of approximately 37 percent of the motorized route network available under the 2019 decision. When compared with the approximately 16,000-mile historical route footprint cited by recreation advocates, the remaining network represents a cumulative reduction of roughly 73 percent.
Those numbers demonstrate the scale of the issue, but they do not necessarily demonstrate its full effect. A transportation network is about more than mileage. It is about connectivity. Imagine two large trail systems connected by a single five-mile route. Closing that five-mile connector may represent only a small percentage of the total mileage, yet it can effectively separate the two larger systems. That is precisely why CORVA believes the practical function of the routes surrounding Randsburg deserves careful attention.
The January court order did more than require route closures. The court remanded the matter to BLM and established a deadline of October 14, 2029, for the agency to complete its revised environmental analysis and issue a new route-network decision that complies with the court's requirements.
That deadline is significant because it means the current restrictions could affect recreation and neighboring communities for years while BLM completes the required process. CORVA recognizes that BLM must perform the work required by the court. Our Save Randsburg effort is therefore not based upon pretending that the court order does not exist or asking BLM simply to disregard it. Instead, we are asking a more focused question:
While BLM completes the court-ordered WEMO process, can a lawful solution be found that maintains meaningful OHV ingress and egress to Historic Randsburg?
That is where our current effort is concentrated.
The terminology BLM uses to implement the court order is important. According to BLM's WEMO information, the agency implemented its compliance measures effective March 24, 2026, describing affected routes as “Closed to OHV Recreation.” BLM also specifically explains that OHV recreation includes street-legal vehicles used for recreation. That means a license plate on a Jeep, Bronco, pickup or other four-wheel-drive vehicle does not by itself allow recreational use of a route that is closed to OHV recreation.
At the same time, BLM recognizes that some routes may continue to serve purposes other than recreational OHV travel. Its published information identifies designated county roads and highways and routes needed to provide access for established easements, administrative access, emergency access and other permitted uses as remaining available as applicable, even though those routes are not open to general public OHV recreational use.
That distinction between recreational closure and other authorized access is one of the reasons understanding the transportation network around Randsburg is so important.
The WEMO closure map illustrates the relationship between Randsburg, Johannesburg and the surrounding route network. This map is provided for informational purposes and should not be relied upon as the sole source for navigation. Current BLM maps, closure notices and on-the-ground signage control.
When the WEMO closure area is viewed on a map, the Randsburg problem becomes much easier to understand. The question is not simply how many trails remain open. The more meaningful question is where those remaining routes go and whether they still connect recreationists with the destinations they historically accessed.
Randsburg is particularly important because it is not simply another recreational destination on a BLM map. It is a living historic community whose modern economy is closely connected to desert recreation and tourism.
Randsburg has survived in the California desert for more than 130 years. Its mining history helped create the community, but recreation and tourism have become important parts of its modern economy. For generations, dirt-bike riders, dual-sport motorcyclists, ATV and UTV users, four-wheel-drive enthusiasts and other desert visitors have traveled through the surrounding public lands and made Randsburg part of their trip. Those visitors eat at local restaurants, purchase food and drinks, visit the General Store, shop at other businesses, attend events and experience the town's mining history. That means the designated route network surrounding Randsburg is more than recreational infrastructure. It is also economic infrastructure.
When an important connecting route is removed from a transportation network, the consequences can extend beyond the boundary of federal land. Fewer visitors reaching town can mean fewer customers, reduced revenue and increased pressure on businesses operating in an already small desert economy. This is why CORVA believes the economic consequences to Randsburg deserve serious consideration while the broader WEMO process continues.
The Rand Mountains Management Area map shows Randsburg, Johannesburg and the surrounding transportation network. Route status can change. Always consult current BLM information before traveling.
The relationship becomes particularly clear when looking at the Rand Mountains Management Area. Randsburg and Johannesburg sit alongside an interconnected system of desert routes. Historically, recreationists could use portions of that system while incorporating Randsburg into a day of desert recreation. When important connecting routes are removed, portions of the remaining network may still technically be open while becoming much less useful as a transportation system.
That distinction is central to CORVA's position. We are not looking only at how many miles BLM says remain open. We are looking at whether the remaining system actually functions as a connected network and whether recreationists can legally reach communities such as Randsburg. A route can be a recreational trail, a transportation connection, access to a historic destination and an economic connection to a neighboring community all at the same time.
The January district-court order did not end the WEMO litigation. In April 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice subsequently filed a Notice of Appeal on behalf of BLM and the federal defendants, moving the dispute into the appellate process before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
CORVA continues to monitor the appellate proceedings. However, the federal government's appeal and the larger WEMO litigation do not answer the immediate question facing Randsburg: What happens to this community while the litigation and BLM's planning process continue? That concern is driving the work now underway.
CORVA is working alongside EcoLogic Partners, bringing together organizations with significant experience in recreation, land use, the automotive and powersports industries and public-land advocacy.
The organizations working together on the Save Randsburg effort include CORVA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), the Off-Road Business Association (ORBA), the American Sand Association (ASA) and AMA District 37.
Attorney David Hubbard of Gatzke Dillon & Ballance LLP is working with the coalition as the organizations examine the legal and procedural issues surrounding WEMO, the Rand Mountains and access to Randsburg. Just as importantly, we are working with the people who experience the consequences firsthand—the Randsburg business community. Their experiences help demonstrate what happens when changes to a federal transportation network affect the recreation traffic upon which a small desert community depends.
This is not simply an argument over lines on a map. It involves businesses, employees, customers, tourism and the future viability of a historic California community.
There has been understandable confusion within the recreation community about what can realistically be accomplished while the WEMO litigation continues. CORVA and EcoLogic Partners are not simply trying to reopen all approximately 2,200 miles affected by the January court order. BLM has been ordered to perform additional environmental analysis and issue a new legally compliant route-network decision, with the court establishing an October 14, 2029 deadline.
Our immediate objective is much more focused: Find a lawful solution that preserves meaningful OHV ingress and egress to Historic Randsburg while the larger WEMO process continues.
We believe it is appropriate to examine whether sensitive resources can be protected, the federal court's requirements respected, BLM's planning work completed and a historic desert community still remain meaningfully connected to the recreation network that supports it. Those objectives should not automatically be treated as mutually exclusive.
CORVA members should also understand why we are not providing every detail of what is happening behind the scenes.
CORVA, EcoLogic Partners, legal counsel and affected businesses are evaluating multiple legal, administrative and land-management issues. We are intentionally not publishing the specific strategies under consideration. That is not because nothing is happening. It is because effective advocacy sometimes requires organizations to conduct legal research, communicate with agencies, evaluate alternatives and negotiate potential solutions before publicly discussing the details.
Work is actively underway. Information is being gathered. Maps and individual routes are being examined. The economic effects on Randsburg are being documented. Legal questions are being evaluated. Discussions are taking place among the organizations and people involved.
When developments reach a point where they can responsibly be made public without compromising those efforts, CORVA will communicate them directly to our members.
One of the most important lessons from WEMO is that public-land transportation decisions cannot always be measured simply by miles. A line on a BLM map can represent a recreational trail. It can also represent access to a historic destination, a connection between two recreation areas, a route to private property or the path that brings customers into a small desert town.
That is why CORVA believes connectivity must remain part of the WEMO discussion.
It is not enough to say that a certain percentage of the route system remains open. We must also ask where those routes lead, what they connect and whether recreationists can still legally reach the destinations that historically made the network useful. For us, one of those questions is especially important:
Can OHV recreationists legally reach Historic Randsburg from the surrounding designated recreation network?
We believe that question deserves an answer—and a workable solution.
One of the most effective things CORVA members can do right now is support Randsburg itself. Visit the community using currently lawful access. Eat at its restaurants. Shop at its stores. Attend its events. Bring friends and family. Help demonstrate that Randsburg remains an important destination for California's recreation community. Members can also help by sharing CORVA's official Save Randsburg updates. Social media gives us an enormous ability to tell this story beyond the people who already understand WEMO. When CORVA publishes an announcement, share it with your club, riding group, four-wheel-drive organization, business contacts and fellow recreationists.
Personal stories matter as well. If your family has been visiting Randsburg for years, explain why. If you remember riding into town for lunch, buying supplies or making Randsburg part of a weekend in the desert, tell that story. Those experiences help demonstrate that these routes connect public lands to real communities and real people. At the same time, we ask everyone to respect the current closures. Do not assume that a route appearing on a recreational mapping application is legally open. Do not assume that having a street-legal vehicle makes recreational travel on a closed WEMO route permissible. Consult current BLM information, maps, closure notices and posted signs. Responsible recreation strengthens our credibility when we ask agencies and courts to take the OHV community's concerns seriously.
WEMO is the product of decades of land-use planning, environmental review and litigation. There is no credible one-sentence solution to the larger dispute, and CORVA will not pretend otherwise. But Randsburg should not disappear inside that complexity.
The community is real. The businesses are real. The economic consequences are real. And the need for meaningful transportation connectivity deserves serious consideration. CORVA, EcoLogic Partners—SEMA, ORBA, ASA and AMA District 37—legal counsel and members of the Randsburg business community are working together to find a lawful path forward.
We are not going to disclose our legal or negotiating strategies prematurely. We are not going to promise an outcome that nobody can guarantee. And we are not going to encourage anyone to violate a federal closure. But we are not going to stop looking for a solution.
Historic Randsburg has survived for more than a century. CORVA believes responsible motorized recreation, protection of desert resources and the survival of historic gateway communities can all have a place in the future of the Western Mojave.
To be continued…. More updates soon.
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