One of the toughest things about covering the rezoning of the Oregon Dunes, also known as the FEIS, is the fact that information has not been readily available. Instead, it’s slowly leaked out, from different sources, at different times. I have been scrambling to try to piece things together to provide the most accurate information. On top of everything, the original article was spreading like wildfire, and actually received so much traffic Pit Traffic actually went down for about a day. The ride has been crazier than a bad case of swap in the whoops, but things are under control. It’s time to get back at it, there’s a lot of catching up to do.
Since the previous article was posted, we’ve learned a bit more about the reasoning behind the rezoning. According to Save the Riders Dunes, an organization dedicated to keeping the dunes open, the proposed changes are intended to fix the issues created by the 1994 plan. Many are unaware that a rezoning took place in 1994, because it never actually went through. Due to several factors, such as funding, the 1994 plan went through, but was never enforced. This explains why Banshee Hill is considered opened in the new plan. It was never supposed to be open, but it was never closed either. This is the case for many of the areas that they are proposing to close. The new plan was made to try to keep people happy while closing land that they wanted closed 20 years ago. However, it does not change the fact that the land has been open to public use for more than two decades, and there are still concerns with closing the land.
Austin Rohr
Austin Rohr is a twenty two year-old graduate from the University of Washington Tacoma with a bachelor's degree in communications. He writes for Pit Traffic, and has raced on and off since 2015.
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