Legislator Is Caught Marring Protected Land

A Republican assemblyman has been cited for taking a joy ride in his state-leased truck in a sensitive and protected area of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park that is closed to all vehicles.

Assemblyman Bill Morrow (R--Oceanside), whose district covers a large part of South County, was cited by a park ranger on Jan. 14 after “turning doughnuts” and performing other driving maneuvers that will leave scars for several years in the bed of Clark Dry Lake, said Homer Townsend, chief ranger for the 600,000-acre state park in eastern San Diego County.

“Desert scars don’t tend to heal easily,” Townsend said. “It may be 25 years before you fail to notice they were there.”

Morrow, 41, who is serving his second term in the Assembly, said he unwittingly drove on the lake terrain. He described himself as a desert lover and “desert rat” who grew up near the Salton Sea and has enjoyed driving off-road on dry lakes throughout Southern California.

“I guess I learned a lesson. If they don’t want people out there, they don’t want people out there,” Morrow said. He added that he pays for part of the lease on the truck so he can use it for his own recreation.

Morrow, whose district in Orange County stretches north to Laguna Hills and includes Dana Point, San Clemente and part of San Juan Capistrano, said he will pay the ticket, which will cost him $89.

Morrow noted that he and his entourage, which included a Sacramento lobbyist, Jim Lombardo, who specializes in off-road issues, had come to see the recently closed Coyote Canyon area of the park. He said he was considering whether to sponsor legislation to reopen that area, which is popular with off-road enthusiasts.

Morrow, who was heading a caravan of three other vehicles, was spotted behind the wheel of his 1994 four-wheel-drive truck with Assembly license plates by a ranger who noticed a cloud of dust in the two-mile-wide dry lake area, Townsend said. Because the other three vehicles were parked, no one else was cited, Townsend said.

Townsend said Morrow told the ranger he did not see the signs posted at the entrance to the dry lake bed that warn drivers to stay on designated dirt roads to protect the environment.

“The whole area of the dry lake is well-signed because it was a late acquisition to the park and we want people to know it is park property and not abandoned land,” Townsend said.