SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Sand dunes near El Centro will be open to off-road vehicles under a new plan announced by the Bureau of Land Management.
Nearly 180,000 acres of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area would be available to ATV's, dune buggies and other off-road vehicles.
Almost 12,000 acres would be off-limits to protect a threatened plant - that's just a quarter of what used to be preserved.
Environmentalists are worried about habitat loss in the area under the new plan.