Crowds of more than 30,000 expected at Little Sahara alone

Easter weekend has become the traditional kick off for the off-roading season -- a three-day extravaganza for ATVers and other all-terrain aficionados. But with growing crowds in the desert have also come growing problems from accidents to public drunkenness to firearms violations.

This year, patrols to handle the massive crowds are being readied at two recreation areas popular with Tooele County residents.

Teresa Rigby, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, said she is expecting between 500 and 800 visitors this weekend at the 36,000-acre Knolls Special Recreation Management Area.

But, she added, based on annual visitor numbers from 2006 to 2007 -- which jumped from 10,000 in '06 to 20,000 in '07 -- the number expected could go up dramatically.

Erin Darboven, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake Field Office of the BLM, said the road leading to Knolls has been upgraded another mile in preparation for the weekend. She said they are encouraging people to not only be safe while driving their off-highway vehicles, but also as they are driving their cars into the area.

The BLM has bumped up its patrol at Knolls and anticipates having people from other BLM offices, not just from law enforcement and recreation, to help out.

"It's difficult to say what we might experience this weekend, but hopefully people will be responsible and safe," she said, reminding all riders to wear protective helmets.

Lisa Reid, public affairs specialist for the BLM Fillmore Field Office, said she expects at least 30,000 people this weekend at the Little Sahara Recreation Area, although they are prepared to handle 40,000. Last year an estimated 32,000 people visited the dunes, which are located 38 miles from Delta in Juab County, over Easter weekend.

In the last five years, the numbers of vehicles -- not necessarily people -- counted at Little Sahara have averaged between 28,000 and 32,000.

Although Reid said she's not exactly sure how many officers will be on hand this weekend from agencies the BLM partners with -- Utah County, Juab County, Utah Highway Patrol, Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Natural Resources -- she expects about 65 uniformed officers to help with patrol.

"We feel that we've got plenty of law enforcement support to more than handle any problems that may occur," she said.

Those problems can range from lack of OHV registration -- which this year will result in the impoundment of the OHV -- to unruly behavior and injuries.

"When you have a whole community within Little Sahara coming together for three days, there's going to be the problem of public drunkenness and uncivil behavior," she said. "That's why we increase our law enforcement officers."

Reid said injuries usually sustained at the dunes range from minor things like busted lips or teeth, to more serious ones involving head and back injuries. Last Easter weekend, there were approximately 12 ambulance runs reported, 45 injuries where the injured took themselves to get medical attention, and three air med lifts.

"From looking at these numbers, they are extremely low given the number that recreate," she said.

Reid added the number of injuries goes up as the number of people at Little Sahara increases.

"Sometimes it's just silly things," she said. "People overestimate their abilities and do things they're not actually used to like going up Sand Mountain or over the dune, and they end up tipping over."

The most serious injuries at Little Sahara mostly occur on the backside of Sand Mountain, where there are rocks, she added.

All state OHV rules and regulations will be enforced at Little Sahara, including the safety flag rules, which requires each OHV -- including ATVs, trucks, jeeps, and dune buggys -- to have a safety flag.

"That is a definite requirement," Reid said, "because when they're out there recreating and someone comes over and may land on you, when you have a flag that certainly decreases those chances."

She said while it's the BLM's priority to ensure that people who come and recreate at Little Sahara will feel safe, it is the responsibility of the visitors to behave properly.

"That's a big thing to us, and for that reason we coordinate to make sure we have enough law enforcement officers so people can be confident and know safety is our priority," she said. "However, it is everyone's responsibility to make sure they act in a civil manner."

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com