The State - News from Oct. 27, 1987

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has levied an $1,800 damage assessment against the American Motorcycle Assn. for grading a five-mile track across the desert in the East Mojave Desert scenic area, near Barstow, without permission. BLM officials ruled that District 37 of the motorcycle group, sponsors of the 170-mile Barstow to Las Vegas off-road motorcycle race, trespassed on public lands when it ran a road grader over part of the race course to smooth out some of the bumps. In addition to the damage assessment, BLM District Director Gerald Hillier said the association was told this will be the last year that the 1,200 motorcycles competing in the Thanksgiving weekend race will be allowed to travel through the scenic area, which has been proposed for a national park.