Robert Webb matched the Bureau of Land Management photographs in January 1976 (not shown) and twice in 1978. In 1976, drought was prevalent, and the bottomlands and hillslopes appear desolate and barren. In this view in early March 1978, annual plants lend the impression of a higher vegetation biomass in the bottomlands. Three young motorcyclists in the foreground are watching a four-wheel-drive vehicle trying to ascend the hillslope. Studies indicated that soil compaction on hillslopes was high, infiltration rates were low, and sediment production as higher than nearby undisturbed soil. As a result, 2-m deep gullies cut the slopes. Record rainfall fell in the western Mojave Desert in the winter and spring of 1978. The wet, granitic soil is highly vulnerable to compaction, and deep ruts from recent vehicle traffic appear on the hillslopes and bottomlands in this view. (Robert H. Webb)