Stakeholder Groups Support Post Rim Fire Salvage Timber Program

L to R - Chuck James, FS OHV Program Manager, Mike Damaso, Merced Dirt Riders,

Don Amador, BRC/QWR/HQ, Dave Pickett, AMAD36

The Recreation HQ wants to commend the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions working group, a coalition of environmental groups, timber interests, federal tribes, and off-roaders, for sending a recent joint letter of support to the FS for a salvage timber sale related to the 2013 Rim Fire.

Modesto Bee Article on YSS Letter

http://www.modbee.com/2014/04/22/3304927/rim-fire-salvage-logging-wins.html

HQ believes that collaborative stakeholder groups have an important role to play by bringing diverse interests together in an effort to find some middle ground in the land use debate.

HQ recently toured some of the Rim Fire impacts to OHV trails on the Stanislaus National Forest with agency staff and motorized stakeholders including AMA36 and the Merced Dirt Riders.  The Merced Dirt Riders should be proud of their efforts in the local collaborative.

Pre and post-fire forest health projects are an important element in the land manger’s tool box and finding ways to generate community support for those efforts will benefit our natural resources.

*Side note: HQ believes the agency should review its current mandatory post-fire “1 year closed to all user groups” directives.  Historically, the public has been allowed to use the forest once the fire has been extinguished.

Recent OR Court Decision Good for Both Winter and Summer Motorized Recreation

The Recreation HQ wants to congratulate the Oregon State Snowmobile Association and partners regarding a recent legal victory where a federal court issued a decision  that rejects the “user conflict” and “minimization” arguments filed by anti-access groups.  The case was regarding the Kapka Butte Sno-Park project on the Deschutes National Forest.

OSSA Legal Victory including link to Court Decision

http://www.oregonsnow.org/page4731122758.aspx

HQ believes there is a growing body of legal cases that are building support for the concept the FS and other federal land agencies can designate roads, trails, and areas for both summer and winter motorized recreation.

HQ Overview of the Minimization Issue

http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2013/01/stanislaus-court-decision-and.html

Anti-OHV groups in OR were also rebuked by the court in 2010 when a federal judge rejected their petition to block construction/designation of a short OHV connector trail from Riley Ranch (a county OHV park) to the OR Dunes National Recreation Area.

Riley Ranch Decision

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/no-riley-ranch-appeal-planned/article_186e3d32-3fc2-5c61-a633-5ce75d192c5b.html

“Minimization” is a ploy anti-access groups have been trying use as a legal tool to force the agency to restrict or even ban OHV/OSV use during travel planning efforts.

OHV users in Idaho won a 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision which also nuked the concept of minimizing OHV/OSV out of existence on public lands.

9^th Circuit Court Decision in Idaho

http://www.sharetrails.org/news/2014/01/08/recreation-groups-cheer-circuit-court-victory

There also was another case in the 9^th Circuit regarding an AZ BLM travel planning process.

9^th Circuit Court Decision in AZ

http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2013/06/ohv-gavel-of-justice-new-9th-circuit.html

There are two other recent cases in NV and CO where the court ruled against the concept that minimization means closure. 

NV and CO legal cases

http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2013/03/legal-update-minimization-does-not-mean.html

These and other legal cases should help bolster the spirits of users and those agency planners who want to treat all recreation groups in a fair manner.  Minimization and user conflicts are important concepts to remember and address in planning efforts but there are ways to mitigate those concerns other than closure.

Editorial Response - No Room for Trail Bigots in the 21st Century

Failed Sediment Basin in Non-Motorized Recreation Area

Trail bigotry is ugly and counterproductive to ongoing collaborative efforts between OHV, conservation groups, local government, and land agencies to manage motorized recreational opportunities in a sustainable manner.

I was prompted to write this response after reading Jan Ziman’s Editorial: “We're being taken for a costly ride” in the Wyoming Trib.Com.

Link to Ziman’s Editorial

http://trib.com/opinion/letters/ziman-we-re-being-taken-for-a-costly-ride/article_be5e0120-13f2-521d-ae91-785801e498f3.html

Cherry-picking anecdotal stories about trail impacts to the resource, user conflicts, and planning challenges is an old literary trick that is outdated and ineffective.

I could cite a recent incidence in the San Gabriel Mountains where an equestrian jumped off his mule and sliced the rear tire on a kid’s bike when the small group of mountain bikers pulled off the trail to let him pass.

Or, I could include a picture (which I am going to do at the top of this story) of a failed soil catchment basin along a “Hiking only” trail in a large non-motorized recreation area in East Contra Costa County, California.

As I work with various land agencies and user groups of all persuasions in California and elsewhere, I have found such illustrations – when used to try and impugn other user groups – to be nothing more than a cheap shot that makes the presenter look small and mean-spirited.

Merriam-Webster defines a bigot as a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group.  In my view, there is not a lot of room left in the land use debate for trail bigots who seem stuck in a 1960s-era mindset.

Public Comments for CA OHV Grants Ends on April 7, 2014 - Send in a Comment Now

The Recreation HQ wants to send out a simple reminder about the public comment period for the CA OHV Preliminary Applications for the 2013/14 Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program that ends on April 7, 2014.

This is your chance to submit a comment letter. HQ believes it is important for local users to review the preliminary grant applications and offer your views.   It is a great time for your club to weigh in with a support letter for those land agencies that are trying to offer the OHV community some high quality managed motorized use on roads, trails, and areas.

Please go to the CA OHV Grant website below and follow the directions.  You will see that many units have not yet received a single comment letter.

CA OHV Grant Website

http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/

You don’t have to comment on every single grant, but please try and comment on the riding areas that you like to frequent.  Agency recreation staff and leadership read each one of these letters and I believe it is important for us to let them know that we appreciate their effort.

Thanks for your review of this request.

Travel Management for MTB and Equestrians at CA State Parks

The Recreation HQ has long supported the concept of land agencies designating roads, trails, and areas for OHV use.   Although we disagreed with a number of tenets in the 2005 FS Travel Management Rule, TMR is here to stay.  HQ believes public involvement, a genuine collaborative process, sound management tools, and line-officers that are committed to have a quality trail program are key elements to sustainable OHV recreation for years to come.

TMR also includes wet-weather or seasonal closures to help prevent trail damage during wet conditions and that is why it looks like the CA State Park proposal to designate routes and times of use to better manage MTB and other trail users is appropriate and needed.

CA State Park Rule Proposals (Comments due April 4)

http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/795/files/ccr_amended_draft_regulations.pdf

Some units of the Forest Service open and close designated routes and areas to OHV, MTB, and equestrians to avoid severe impacts to the trail system during wet conditions and HQ believes those Best Management Practices should be used at state parks (SVRAs already use wet weather closures and trail designations to manage OHV) to manage MTB and equestrian use.

OHV, MTB, and Equestrian Trails Opened or Closed Due to Wet Weather

I don’t think the MTB community does itself any favor when they oppose the use of modern trail management tools at regular state parks.