Like They Had Any Control At Any Time

This is the most-absurd story ever about a federal agency 'taking responsibility'. The Bureau of Land Management is the most over-stretched agency imaginable, and they had no real control over any of this. The blame lies entirely with the event organizers. Blaming the BLM is like blaming Bosnia, or butterflies, or bunions. Off-roading is a terrible hobby - an utterly destructive activity - and should be banned:

The federal Bureau of Land Management failed to follow its own safety and regulatory procedures during an August off-road desert race in San Bernardino County in which eight spectators were killed after a racer crashed into a crowd, an internal agency report released Friday concluded.

...Eight spectators were killed and 10 seriously injured in the California 200 night race in the Lucerne Valley when driver Brett Sloppy of San Marcos lost control of his modified Ford Ranger pickup after going airborne on a hill known as the "rock pile," where hundreds of fans had gathered to watch the race. The truck rolled into the crowd, which had crept to within a few feet of the track, just minutes after the race began.

The report also noted that the sponsor of the race, Mojave Desert Racing of South El Monte, told the federal agency that an estimated 200 to 300 people would attend the race. In fact, up to 2,000 spectators turned out.

Witnesses and video of the race, one of more than 130 such events held annually on BLM-controlled land in the California desert, showed that Mojave Desert Racing failed to adhere to a requirement in its BLM permit to keep spectators 50 feet away from the racing vehicles.

California Highway Patrol investigators said the truck came to rest less than 10 feet from the racecourse. The driver will not face charges related to the crash because it occurred during a "sanctioned" sporting event permitted by the BLM and did not involve public roadways, CHP officials have said.

However, the CHP is continuing its investigation and could ultimately hand over the agency's finding to local prosecutors, the state attorney general's office or the U.S. attorney's office, said Officer Daniel Hesser, spokesman for the CHP's Inland division.
...Daniel Patterson with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an advocacy group of government workers that has clashed with off-roaders, said the BLM in its report essentially admitted that the agency "let's the off-roaders run things" and that oversight has been nonexistent.

"We can see that when eight people are killed," Patterson said. "If the federal government cannot control these events and protect the safety of spectators, and protect the land, then why is the government permitting these events?"

Patterson added that BLM rangers are being pulled away from patrolling other federal lands — as far away as Wyoming — to monitor the off-road races in California, in essence subsidizing for-profit race promoters.

...The rangers brought into California for special events typically are from "off-season" locations where there are few visitors, she said. The BLM's California Desert District, where most of the off-road racing occurs, currently has 38 rangers patrolling 11 million acres.