CA OHV Commission Sends Letter to Congress on Clear Creek

As many of you know, the OHV commission held a hearing on April 5, 2011 in Hollister to discuss many issues - but the focus of the meeting was to daylight the new OHMVR Asbestos Study that was released on March 22, 2011.


BRC Letter to OHV Commission for April 5 Hearing
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/Hollister_CCMA_BRC_Comment_Letter_April.5.20110001.pdf

After a lot of public testimony, the OHV commission voted to send a letter to Congress expressing their views on Clear Creek.

HQ has obtained copies of a June 21, 2011 letter that was sent by the OHV Commission to the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

June 21, 2011 OHV Commission Letter to the House
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/Commission_CCMA_Letter_House_June_21.20110001.pdf

June 21, 2011 OHV Commission Letter to the Senate
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/Commission_CCMA_Letter_Senate_June_21.20110001.pdf

HQ agrees with the tone and direction of this OHV Commission letter where in its summary it states the continued and proposed permanent closure of CCMA does not appear to be supportable nor in the best interest of the public.

HQ believes this OHV commission letter only strengthens the points made during Amador’s testimony/exhibits about the HFO/EPA’s flawed decision-making process and how that process - based on junk science and personal agendas – was designed to create a defacto-Wilderness area at Clear Creek.

Amador will request this OHV commission letter be added to Exhibit C in his written testimony.
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Big Green Up in Smoke?

 

BIG GREEN UP IN SMOKE?

The Recreation HQ believes the election of 2010 delivered a gut-punch to the Big Green Agenda. Here at HQ, The General is still trying to understand exactly what the national electorate said. However, HQ will try and give you a short initial overview of how the election might impact OHV recreation and access to public lands.

The key Big Green or Big Pork or Big Global Warming incumbent losses include Tom Perriello, Richard Boucher, Ike Skelton, and Jim Oberstar. The Oberstar and Boucher losses generated both a political and real 9.0 earthquake that was felt here at the HQ.

A number of long-time incumbents and champions of Big Green proposals -- such as Wilderness designations, full-funding for LWCF for acquiring private lands for non-motorized uses, pork projects for non-motorized uses, billions more from new cap and tax programs for acquiring more private land for non-motorized uses, other tax schemes to acquire even more private land for non-motorized uses, new harsh regulations on vehicle emissions or vehicle access, and increased budgets to close forest roads and trails – were given the pink slip by the American People.

HQ believes that these aforementioned incumbent losses combined with the newly elected Tea Party-backed conservatives is a clear mandate to clean-up Washington, push the reset button on massive federal spending programs (including Big Green initiatives), and hold all federal agencies accountable including the EPA, FS, and BLM.

HQ believes it is safe to say that this new Congress will be inclined to support responsible access to public lands v. the old Congress where land closures, land acquisition for non-motorized use, and vehicle restrictions were the order of the day.

It will be interesting to see how this election changes the national land-use equation.


Thanks for your service!

Government Agencies and Shredding Documents - Corruption a Real Concern

THIS CLOSURE IS BASED ON AGENCY CORRUPTION

The Recreation HQ wants to assure riders and other readers of this blog that the issue of government agencies shredding documents to avoid their disclosure because of a FOIA, public record act request, or congressional inquiry/subpoena should be a real concern.

Article on Government Shredding of Documents
http://nation.foxnews.com/justice/2010/11/03/team-obama-better-not-shred-documents

Article on the Congress and its Agenda for Access and Public Land Management
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2010/11/republicans-house-natural-resources-committee-planning-big-changes-public-lands7178

The Recreation HQ has experienced real world agency corruption on many occasions when after filing a FOIA or PRA request with federal or state government agency, The General would often get calls from his friends who worked at the agency and here is how those calls went…”Hey Don, I just wanted to let you know that we have been running the shredders here at the BLANK office because the agency does not want to be embarrassed or worse.”

The most recent example of that corruption is with the EPA Region 9 Office where they denied a FOIA asking for correspondence between the EPA, BLM, and other interests. What the EPA did not count on is the BLM complying with the same FOIA request which showed collusion and dishonesty designed to support the closure of Clear Creek to ALL publics.

2009 Overview of Agency Corruption and EPA Case Study to Prop up Closure
http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2010/01/epa-violates-public-trust-at-clear.html

The Recreation HQ believes that Congress has a valid concern that agencies who have acted in a corrupt manner have already fired up their shredders or have hired shredding trucks to come and destroy thousands of documents that would show corruption, collusion with far-left wing environmental groups, or “science” that was ginned up to promote the closure agenda of the EPA or similar agencies.

The General wishes the new Congress good luck in this noble effort to acquire the public record associated with so much of the anti-access and anti-business agenda of this administration.

Thanks for your service!

OHVers Attend Obama Outdoor Event in LA on July 8

The Recreation HQ wants to commend all the OHV clubs and members who took time away from their busy schedules to attend Obama’s Great Outdoors Presidential Initiative held on July 8 at Occidental College near Pasadena, California.

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PHOTO: Brochure Handed Out at Event

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The riders and public land access interests that attended the event include Cal4WD, AMA, AMA D 36/37, Dirt Diggers South, NOHVCC, ALAA, CORVA, ORBA, BRC, High Desert Multiple Use Coalition, and California Equestrian Trails Coalition. I apologize to any groups I missed but things were a bit hectic.

The event started off with the Mayor of LA trying to make some political hay to a largely sympathetic crowd. The General felt the jabs although expected were inappropriate and actually detracted from what should been bipartisan advocacy for the recreation and outdoor goals of the Initiative.

A number of speeches were given by cabinet level officials… some of which challenged the group to tell them what works and what doesn’t and if they should simple get out of the way. I wrote that challenge down to be brought up during the breakout sessions.

The following sub-panel was comprised of various interests that mostly supported conservation easements and more federal funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The token conservative on the panel was a spokesman for the California Cattlemen’s Association. He lauded conservation easements and the LWCF but saved his credibility in The General’s opinion when he stated his concerns about federal overregulation and land-use restrictions.

The last panelist to speak made an interesting comment about how CEQA was designed to stop projects. I couldn’t agree more!

After the sub-panel presentations, a short video was shown. Every outdoor recreation group was highlighted except OHV. The video showed mountain bikers in a number of slides along with hunters, hikers, water skiers, equestrians, snow skiers, etc.

Great Outdoors Video (sans OHV)
http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/Americas-Great-Outdoors-Video.cfm

Before the group was adjourned for the 1 hour breakout sessions, the microphone was passed around for about 30 minutes. Meg Grossglass from ORBA, spoke to the Obama administration officials and the over 750 people in attendance about how the OHV community had been wrongly left out of the video when, in fact, OHV recreationists are a major land use partner with the Forest Service and BLM via our state OHMVR grant program and our volunteer efforts. She got a good round of applause!

The rest of the folks that got to speak on the microphone were mostly there to praise the administration and ask for more federal funding for their favorite projects. The last speaker represented the recreational fishing community and said her folks sympathize with the OHV community as a “hated” user group since they too have seen fishing banned in many streams and rivers due to federal/state environmental rules and regulations.

See Blog on Proposed Ocean Wilderness Areas on N. Coast
http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2010/06/video-update-on-high-noon-rally-in.html

There were a number of breakout sessions and OHV was well represented in most, if not all of them. The General pointed out in his session that the feds should review model programs of federal/state/local/community collaboration such as exists on the Inyo NF. That Forest has worked hard to have a holistic program that -unlike the Obama plan to date - includes OHV/OSV as an important partner in the recreation matrix.

After HQ’s presentation to the EPA officials who were facilitating his breakout session, one EPA official asked, “What does OHV stand for?” I explained it is sometimes referred to as off-road recreation and then he cocked his head indicating that he might understand what that term means. His ignorance of a major recreation stakeholder was not very reassuring. Both EPA officials seemed stunned when a board member of the California Wilderness Coalition told the feds that BRC and other OHV groups often work with them on land-use legislation.

On the other hand, Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, knows OHV/OSV very well from his work with COHVCO in Colorado. The General and other OHV interests must continue to attend the “listening sessions” and insist that OHV being included in the Initiative and be formally recognized as a valued land-use partner. Secretary Salazar knows better..

Be sure and check out the Obama Outdoor Website for future meetings and make sure that your club or organization has representatives at those events.

Obama Outdoor Website
http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/

Thanks again to all those public land access interests who have attended these events. Your service is appreciated by the HQ and the OHV community at large.

Toxic Trails, CCMA, and You

The General has long stated to his riding buddies that he does not believe in federal government conspiracies. That long held axiom is based on the fact the he knows a lot of federal land managers at various levels and for the most part they don’t have the time or inclination to craft a conspiracy let alone carry it out.

However, the latest push by the Sierra Fund, a Nevada City-based eco-group chaired by Patty Brissenden (wife of former anti-OSV/OHV OHMVR commissioner John Brissenden) may cause The Recreation HQ to rethink that concept.

Some of you have seen the recent article about “Toxic Trails” in the Sierra.

SF Chronicle Article on Toxic Trails
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-06-23/news/21921340_1_mine-waste-rand-mining-district-arsenic

It is no coincidence that the closure of Clear Creek to OHV and other uses is cited as the model of how an agency should close lands to the public when a “dangerous” chemical or compound is discovered. The Sierra Fund cites its support and partnership with various like-minded green groups, foundations, and Cal/EPA Note also that other popular OHV areas at Foresthill and Downieville are cited in the article as potential closure targets.

Sierra Fund Support List for Toxic Trails Report
http://www.sierrafund.org/campaigns/mining

Cal/EPA Eco Justice Working Group
http://www.calepa.ca.gov/EnvJustice/IWG/Default.htm

After reading about who belongs to the working group, it should come as no surprise that in the BRC FOIA documents the BLM at CCMA cites Cal EPA/DTSC’s demand that CCMA be closed to OHV as the onus for the current closure.

See Blog on EPA Corruption at CCMA with link to FOIA documents
http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2010/01/epa-violates-public-trust-at-clear.html

What trail enthusiasts (motorized and non-motorized) should be concerned about is that there IS a well thought out strategic effort by the green/governmental complex (EPA, Cal EPA, DTSC, CBD, TWS, etc.) to close OHV trails on FS and BLM lands due to undocumented “health risks” to the public.

Has this closure effort reached the level where the HQ can claim there is a conspiracy to close OHV off public lands? That time may come very soon, but in the meantime The General believes there is a well coordinated effort by greens group and their supporters (or hostages) in the federal government to restrict or ban historic OHV and other uses on public lands.

Now is not the time to give up but redouble our efforts to fight back. Thanks in advance for your support and commitment.

Book Review - Climategate - A 21st Century Eco Update

As The General prepares to write a book review of Brian Sussman’s must read book Climategate, he is reminded of the 1993 treatise of the environmental movement called
Trashing the Economy.

On page 3 of that book, the Institute for Policy Innovation wrote, “The rapid growth of government regulations may very well be the single most important obstacle to U.S competitiveness here and abroad.”

In light of government programs like the Travel Management Rule and landscape level closures such as the BLM’s interim “no-human use” prescription for the Clear Creek Management Area, the Recreation HQ would like to rephrase the aforementioned quote to state, “The rapid growth of unchecked government regulations may very well be the single most important obstacle to our personal freedoms both at home and with regards to public land access.”

I believe Climategate gives the reader a 21st century update on just how 1960-1980s era radical environmentalists and their supporters in Congress, the media, and the administration – as so aptly described in Trashing the Economy – are enacting their nightmarish eco-agenda that has very little if anything to do with “protecting the environment.”

Sussman does an excellent job of connecting the dots that exist between eco-icons and/or their schemes/concepts such as Gaylord Nelson, Fred Singer, Carl Pope, Carol Browner, Richard Nixon, Paul Ehrlich, Al Gore, Rachael Carson, Earth Day, EPA, Agenda 21, United Nations, Cap and Tax, An Inconvenient Truth, Global Warming, and the Clean Air Act.

As freedom loving Americans and riders, I would urge you to get Sussman’s book so you have a better understanding of what we are up against. It is no joke. The greens are serious about banning OHV use on public lands. You may say how do you know? My response is because that is what they have told me in person and I believe them. You should too!

For those of you who want a more comprehensive historical overview of the environmental movement, I would also suggest that you buy Trashing the Economy and read it before Climategate. After reading both books, you will better understand our opposition.

To order Climategate go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Climategate-Meteorologist-Exposes-Global-Warming/dp/1935071831

To order Trashing the Economy go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Trashing-Economy-Runaway-Environmentalism-Wrecking/dp/093957117X

Thanks for your service!

EPA - Violates Public Trust at Clear Creek

I know a lot of riders are still trying to figure out just what the heck is going on behind the scenes regarding the BLM’s closure of CCMA. The General continues to believe the closure is politically motivated and is where the agency used flawed science and a non-artful public flim-flam to effect their desired outcome.

PHOTO: BRC's Don Amador (left) and SRMC's Ed Tobin riding trails at CCMA when it was open.

As some of you already know, BRC and other public interest groups occasionally file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on federal agencies to obtain documents not otherwise available for public scrutiny. This information is then used to help BRC and its members and other stakeholders understand how federal agencies make decisions.

As The General gets ready to attend the BLM CCMA DEIS public meeting in Santa Clara on Wednesday (having already attended the Harris Ranch meeting), he asks the question, “How can the public have any confidence in this public process when the EPA denies a FOIA request – when in fact there has been correspondence between EPA and other parties for a number of years?”

EPA FOIA Case Study Regarding CCMA. – Sent to both EPA/Wash and EPA Region 9
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/FOIA_EPA_CCMA_Case_Study_20100001.pdf

Full archive of BRC BLM/CCMA FOIA documents
http://www.foccma.org/foia/index.php

General EPA FOIA Information
http://www.epa.gov/foia/

Fortunately in this case, the BLM fulfilled their legal requirement to daylight information via a similar FOIA request and BRC obtained some EPA related documents. The same cannot be said about the EPA which - in The General’s opinion - violated the public trust.

The EPA’s refusal to share information with the public regarding their decision-making process at CCMA does not reflect kindly on the agency. It also undermines their credibility as the primary science-arm of the federal government.

Jan 14 Clear Creek Meeting - BLM (and EPA) Should Be Ashamed

As more OHVers become interested in the fight to keep public lands open for motorized recreation, I wanted to share a rather ugly side of the battle to reopen the Clear Creek Management Area (CCMA).

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Photo: New 1.7 million dollar BLM decontamination center being constructed while area

is closed and could remain closed - people are asking, "What the hell is going on?

Tobin's blog on multi-million dollar structure:

http://salinasramblersmc.org/tobin/blog/thomas_meagher.htm

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Last night, over 300 members of the recreation community attended a public meeting for CCMA’s DEIS to voice their anger at the closure.

Ed Tobin, spokesman for the Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Club said it best in the TV clip below – “The BLM (and EPA) should be ashamed of themselves.”

News Story and TV Clip from Hollister Meeting
http://www.kionrightnow.com/global/story.asp?s=11827197

Both The General and Tobin believe the closure is politically motivated and based on threats by anti-OHV interests to file lawsuits if the BLM does not close the area to OHVs. The following correspondence between EPA’s Jere Johnson (she is quoted in above article and is on TV clip) regarding the uncertainty of their study and the BLM basically asking them to remove a section from the draft EPA report substantiates our concerns.
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BLM/EPA correspondence from BRC FOIARick Cooper/CASO/CAIBLM/DOl

To Arnold Den/R9/USEPAJUS@EPA, Jere Johnson
cc Karl Ford/NOC/BLM/DOl@BLM
04/11/2008 01:42 PM
bcc Janet BedrosianfCASO/CNBLM/DOl

Subject Uncertainty in model

Jere and Arnold,

Just reading through the executive summary. The last paragraph places some doubt as to the adequacy of the model used. The risks could be lower or 0. I am aware that EPA has been consistent in mentioning this and it was in the previous draft.

Uncertainty related to the toxicity parameters of the risk assessment includes the application of the IRIS and OEHHA asbestos toxicity models, which were developed from epidemiological studies of occupational exposures, to infrequent and episodic recreational exposures. This uncertainty could mean that the actual risks could be much lower than those estimated in the CCMA assessment and perhaps zero. Another uncertainty, adjustments for early-lifetime childhood exposures, could mean that the actual risks are higher than those estimated in the report.

I am sure BLM will be asked “why make an emergency decision on a model that may not accurately portray the risks to the public?” The basis for the decision is the model’s depiction that most of the activities exceed the acceptable risk range of 1 in 10,000.

Any thoughts on a response

Rick Cooper
Field Manager
Hollister Field Office
20 Hamilton Court
Hollister, CA 95023
phone: (831) 630-5010
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The Recreation HQ thanks everybody for holding their nose while attending these public meetings – the odor of foul play is really more than some of us can stand. I know a lot of these BLM employees and I am sure that many of them are not proud of their agency either. Let’s work to see CCMA reopened and hopefully our good relationship that once existed between users and the agency is restored.

CCMA Update - Harris Ranch Meeting - Join Our Quest to Reopen CCMA

Photo to left: Crowd at Harris
Ranch CCMA DEIS Meeting

Photo to right: The General giving
thumbs-down to closure

The General attended the BLM’s CCMA public meeting last night that was held at Harris Ranch near Coalinga. The ballroom was near packed to capacity with over 200 people in attendance. About ½ of the folks were OHVers and the other ½ were private property owners, gem collectors, small businesses, and ranchers. All spoke in favor of reopening CCMA to ALL users.

Friends of CCMA has an overview of the meeting and agenda
http://www.foccma.org/html/home/LatestNews.php

The next two meetings are as follows:

Jan. 14 – Veterans Memorial Hall, 649 San Benito St. – Hollister
Jan. 20 – Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara

For those of you attending, I believe you should come prepared at 5:30 to each of the next two meeting with specific questions regarding your concerns on issues such as the validity of the EPA study, other scientific questions, flaws in agency analysis, or why the agency ignored much if not most of the science that was submitted during the scoping period, etc. Be sure and record the BLM and EPA’s answers to your questions.

Be sure and read BRC’s FOIA information that points out how there were even concerns by BLM staff regarding the science used in the EPA survey or how the draft report was massaged. Link below has BRC attorney letter with FOIA materials.
http://www.sharetrails.org/releases/?filter=media&story=652

Later on in the program, be prepared to articulate (3 minute speeches) your position on how this closure has and will impact your family, your business, and why you think the agency has made a mistake. Also, be prepared to offer a management solution like one person did at Harris Ranch.

One speaker pointed out that one of BLM’s sister agencies – the National Wildlife Refuge – uses signs (rather than a ban) warning fishermen about the danger of eating too much fish that may be contaminated with mercury and other toxins.

Survey on Signs and Fishermen
http://www.oehha.ca.gov/fish/pdf/anglrpt.pdf

Several other speakers also noted that other warning signs regarding health risks posed to pregnant women, elderly, etc. by using items such as cigarettes, alcohol, etc. are government approved ways to communicate health concerns to the public v. an outright ban.

The General agrees with the one or two speakers that stated to the group that at the end of the day, the CCMA is a political issue. On that note, I appreciated the fact that Senator Dianne Feinstein had a staffer there taking notes on this all too important issue. The Senator was helpful in protecting existing OHV routes in the 2006 North Coast Wilderness Bill and is also working to protect OHV recreation in the Johnson Valley area. Having your congressional representatives involved in the CCMA is very important.

As the FOCCMA website stated, BRC’s Don Amador spoke about how AMA, D36, TMC, CORVA, CAL4WD, BRC, FOCCMA, and SRMC are working in a cooperative manner to reopen the area to historic OHV uses. Amador also extended the hand of partnership to the gem collectors and ranchers to join our quest to reopen CCMA.

Stay tuned for updates. The General plans to be at the Jan. 20 CCMA meeting in Santa Clara and looks forward to visiting with you there.

Also, JOIN BRC and other groups to help us fight this closure
Join at:
https://www.sharetrails.org/secure/join_or_contribute/

The General’s Contact Info:
Don Amador
Recreation HQ
555 Honey Lane
Oakley, CA 94561
Email: damador@cwo.com

Forward this blog and info to your friends.

Thanks for your service and for attending these meetings.

EARTH DAY ALERT - EPA Starts Public Comment Period on CO2

Since this is Earth Day, The General has decided to share his views on this subject.

As some of you know, The General as been watching the debate on “Global Warming” for some time now. He is also old enough to remember the “Ice Age is Coming” craze in the late 1960s/70s.

What has been confusing to The General is that carbon dioxide (humans breathe in oxygen and exhale CO2 as part of our living process and plants absorb CO2 and produce oxygen as part of their life process) has been more or less named as a “pollutant” by our government with a claimed considerable adverse effect on the climate.

On April 17, the EPA ruled that certain Greenhouse gases (specifically CO2) endanger public health. The agency started a 60 day public comment period for people (including OHVers) to give opinions on the subject and how said ruling could or will impact their families.

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Noted scientist, Roy Spencer, has written lot about the subject and his views can be
seen at: http://www.drroyspencer.com/
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US Chamber of Commerce Letter on Subject
http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2009/april/090417_epa.htm
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For a link to submit comments to the EPA go to:
http://epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment/downloads/Instructions-comments.pdf
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The General believes in good stewardship of our natural resources and of our family budgets as well. What concerns him is that it appears we have our public land and environmental policies being driven by folks with a political agenda grounded more
in myth than in science and common sense…. the impacts of which are not good for the environment, recreational access, or our economy.

Several years ago, noted author and eco-critic, Michael Crichton, wrote a book exposing many green-myths including Global Warming. Even if you don’t agree with that premise, I would encourage you to read his book. Heck, I read Al Gore’s book – Earth in the Balance… so what is good for the goosed is good for the gander.

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Book Review of State of Fear
http://www.sharetrails.org/releases/media/?story=374

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The General will be submitting comments and hopes you will as well.