In order to study the impacts of motorcycle traffic on desert soils, a controlled study was initiated in the Mojave Desert in April 1979. This photograph was taken before a motorcycle was ridden through the view. The plants in the foreground are Atriplex polycarpa (cattle spinach), and scattered Larrea tridentata (creosote bush) are in the middle distance, partially obscuring the parked truck. Livestock grazing was light at this site with no recent signs of animal use. (Robert H. Webb)