A few months ago, the museum was contacted by the Bureau of Land Management to do some photography for a National Public Lands Day event. Normally, NPLD is a day for people to give back to the lands they have been using by doing some clean-up or restoration project, but this year BLM decided to shake things up, and do an educational/interpretive event, to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. Partnering with the California State Parks and Recreation, the BLM hosted veterans and active military members on a 4x4 ride and hike through Devil's Canyon, which is otherwise of limits without special permits.
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| Eric taking on a very large boulder. |
To help support BLM in the this task, they contacted 2 4x4 groups out of San Diego, San Diego 4 Wheelers and Tierra Del Soul 4x4. They also invited Jacumba Hikers to come and join the hiking portion of the trip. To handle the photography of both groups, I stuck with the 4x4s, and had a friend of mine, Jacob Parker, take the hike.
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| Jody prepping to go down a waterfall. |
The experience with the 4x4ers was amazing. I had 3 drivers that day, in 3 different vehicles. I first rode with Kevin, who drove a beautiful green Jeep. As we rode together, he taught me the basic ideas of rock crawling, how to prevent getting stuck, and (most importantly) how to buckle my self with their fancy safety gear. Next I rode with Eric, who spent a lot of time in Ocotillo as a kid. His grandfather lived (and died) out here in the desert, so we reminiscence about his childhood out here. Jody, a national championship rock crawler, discussed very openly with me the idea of conservation versus land use. He said to me, "We happy to not going into land that needs to be conserved. We want to protect what needs to be protected. We just don't want the whole desert taken away from us. There is enough for everyone to share."
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| Kevin and his Jeep. |
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| Jacob, here to help with photos! |
This was an incredible trip for me. As a historian, it was interesting to be taken out of my comfort zone, and expected to do the job of a professional photographer, and then to excelled at it. While my photographs aren't perfect, I was still extremely successful in my goal. It was also amazing to see the other side of the desert use argument. I haven't spent a lot of time with conservationists, hikers, and scientists, but not as much with off roaders. This gives me a depth of understanding to our community that I did not have before.
