Off-road drivers get OK to race through Basin and Range National Monument in Nevada

More than 300 off-road racers have won permission to drive across Nevada’s newest national monument next week, but they won’t be allowed to race or go off-road.

On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management issued a special recreation permit for the Best in the Desert “Vegas to Reno” off-road race, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 19 near the Lincoln County town of Alamo and end Aug. 20 in Dayton, just east of Carson City.

As a condition of the permit, race participants have been cleared to cross the newly designated Basin and Range National Monument, but they won’t be allowed to drive faster than 35 mph or pass other vehicles.

In effect, the 37-mile stretch through the monument will serve as a pause in the 634-mile race. Drivers can step on the gas again as soon as they leave the 704,000-acre monument about 120 miles north of Las Vegas.

Race organizers suggested the conditions as a compromise after conservationists raised concerns about possible damage to the BLM-managed monument designated by President Barack Obama last year.

Much of the criticism came from the Washington, D.C.-based Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which accused the BLM of rubber-stamping the race before a management plan and other guiding documents could be drawn up for the monument.

But bureau officials defended their review of the event.

“We have done a careful evaluation of the race and built in specific mitigation measures to minimize potential impacts,” said BLM Nevada State Director John Ruhs in a written statement announcing Friday’s decision. “I’m pleased that the race will move forward.”

This will mark the 20th year for the off-road race across Nevada, which is one of the longest events of its kind in the U.S.

The route for this year’s race was last used in 2006, when there was no Basin and Range National Monument.

The 643-mile course, all of it on existing dirt roads, mostly crosses BLM land, but it does include some private property and portions of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in central Nevada.

Race organizers expect about 330 all-terrain vehicles to take part, including trucks, cars, buggies and motorcycles. The event could draw as many as 5,000 spectators.

Under its federal permit, Best in the Desert will be required to provide for safety and resource protection, sanitation, post-race cleanup and rehabilitation along the route.

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.