March 2 - San Benito County To Help Keep CCMA Open?

The General has long believed that local users (i.e. voters) should try and get
their local County Board of Supervisors involved to help in the fight to keep public lands open for responsible recreation activities.

PHOTO: Sign of the CCMA Times

PHOTO CREDIT: Don Amador

EXAMPLE of how a county can take action regarding access
http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2009/06/good-news-combined-use-as-access-tool.html

No place is a county’s help more sorely needed then in the CCMA Battle. The Recreation HQ was pleased to hear that several members of the San Benito County Board of Supervisors attended BLM’s socioeconomic meeting regarding the future of CCMA.

Thanks to a posting by my good friends at SBR, The Recreation HQ has learned that San Benito BOS has placed the topic of CCMA on their March 2 agenda.

This is a golden opportunity for local OHVers to show up and testify on how important it is for the county to take action regarding supporting a request for a 90 day extension of the public comment period and to eventually submit comments on the DEIS in support of continued OHV recreation at CCMA.

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March 2 BOS Agenda
http://www.san-benito.ca.us/agendas/documents/10.03.02pdf.pdf

PLANNING DEPARTMENT – A. Henriques: 12) Review the staff report, powerpoint and draft comment letter to BLM at the Board meeting, and provide direction to staff.
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Getting your local county, state, and federal elected officials involved in protecting your access rights is critically important in any land-use fight. Having the county weigh in (and hopefully some federal legislators as well) could help tip the scales in our favor.

The General encourages all riders and business owners (local voters are most important) who care about CCMA to attend the March 2 BOS meeting and respectfully articulate your desire for the county to support continued OHV recreation at CCMA.

Thanks for your service!

CA OHV Commission Weighs Into Clear Creek Fight

In the early part of OHV Wars, the CA OHMVR Commission was taken over by leaders of the environmental movement. That body invented the now infamous 2002/2003 CA Route Inventory and Designation Process which defunded many FS/BLM trail projects and laid the foundation for various hybrids of the now equally infamous 2005 National Travel Management Rule.

An audit by the CA Bureau of State Audits found what The General and others already knew – The green OHV Commission was abusing their power to enact an anti-OHV political agenda.

See 2005 article on that BSA report with links to the audit
http://www.blueribbon.org/releases/?filter=media&story=464

The new OHV program (SB742) depoliticized the commission by stripping their grant authority and made grants more of an academic/bureaucratic exercise to be run by OHMVR staff. (side note- the grants program is now more streamlined and efficient then is has ever been with a majority of green sticker monies getting out on the ground for trail recreation projects)

Since SB742, some riders have asked what role the new OHMVR commission will have regarding OHV recreation since they don’t have grant authority. Up until the commission meeting that took place yesterday in San Jose, that question may have had some legitimacy.

Info on OHMVR Commission Meeting
http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21853

One of the hottest topics on the commission agenda yesterday was the ongoing battle to reopen Clear Creek for OHV recreation. Testimony was provided to the commission (which only has authority when convened) regarding the fact that CCMA is the largest destination OHV area in Central California and now that it is closed --- other riding areas ranging from Hollister Hills SVRA to Jawbone are being overcrowded by displaced OHVers. The commission also learned that the state OHV program has invested over $9 million dollars (over the last 30 years) at CCMA and has a vested interest as a land-use partner with BLM to see that good science is used before the final decision is made to close it OHV use.

After the presentation by BLM’s, Rick Cooper, and the aforementioned testimony was heard, the OHMVR commission voted to send a letter immediately to the BLM State Director asking him for a 90 day extension to the public comment period which ends March 5, 2010. The commission also directed the OHMVR Division to take the necessary steps to prepare comments on the CCMA DEIS.

The Recreation HQ believes this action by the OHMV Commission could play (when combined with the efforts from OHV groups, elected officials, and others) a pivotal role regarding both the request for a 90 day extension to the public comment period and what the BLM ultimately proposes in the FEIS/ROD.

The General thanks members of the TimeKeepers MC, SRMC, Friends of CCMA, SBR, and other riders who showed up to make a difference.

Thanks for your service!

OHV Wars and ESA Reform

The Carnegie SVRA legal battle has shown off-roaders in the SF Bay Area how the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws can be misused by anti-OHV groups in efforts to close public lands to motorized recreation.

Many land-use newbies are not aware of the long-standing fight by groups such as the BRC and reform-minded legislators to address the fatal flaws in the ESA.

2005 Article on ESA Reform Effort
http://www.sharetrails.org/releases/?story=438&filter=media

A recent article published by The General’s good friends at the California Farm Bureau Federation is a good read regarding the insights of a District Court judge.

Feb. 24 Insights of a Federal Judge on the need for ESA reform
http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1487&ck=6D3A1E06D6A06349436BC054313B648C

The General agrees with Judge Wanger that the best way to address court rulings on ESA cases is to have Congress deal with the issue. But as he points out – if Congress can’t decide when it is or is not in session…what hope to we have that it can address ESA reform?

Being an eternal optimist, The General believes that riders should have that in our collective bucket list of things to accomplish.

If you are not a member of BRC or at least some local or state OHV group, JOIN today and become part of the fight.

To JOIN or Donate to BRC go to:
https://www.sharetrails.org/secure/join_or_contribute/

Thanks for your service!

US Chamber of Commerce Joins Monument Battle

The Recreation HQ has received scores of PMs from riders who remain in a state of shock regarding the recently day-lighted secret effort by the Obama administration to draft a plan to designate a series of National Monuments throughout the West.

As The General pointed out, some of these proposals are popular OHV recreation sites including the Stonyford OHV Area on the Mendocino National Forest.

It is encouraging to see bipartisan support in Utah to defeat theses ad hoc designations without Congressional approval and public input.

See SLT Article on Utah Effort
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14450119

The Recreation HQ is also pleased to see the US Chamber of Commerce echoing BRC’s call for legislation to address our concerns.

See Feb. 22 US Chamber of Commerce Letter to Obama Administration
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/National_Monuments_US_Chamber_of_Comm.pdf

Just as The General protested the CA Route Inventory and Designation process because it was crafted behind closed doors without a formal public process, The Recreation HQ believes it is important for riders to stand up and voice their strong opposition to any attempt by the administration to misuse the Antiquities Act to give political favors to anti-OHV groups.

Thanks for your service!

Obama Administration Launches New Version of Clinton's War on the West?

As the Recreation HQ continues to review the breaking news on the Obama administration’s apparent effort to covertly plan for a massive land grab of historic proportions, The General believes this could signal a new and potentially more devastating version of Clinton’s War on the West.
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Photo: BRC's Don Amador (The General) on Trail 4 in the Stonyford OHV Area. This designated trail is in the pathway of a proposed national monument.

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See June 25, 1994 Article on Clinton’s War on the West
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19940625&id=zgkkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uuwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6437,4772418

As a soldier in that battle, The General remembers how Clinton’s agency leaders, including Mike Dombeck and Bruce Babbitt, proposed massive land closures or attacks on private property rights. Some of those onerous plans included Dombeck’s unholy triad (the Roadless Rule, The Transportation Rule, and The Planning Rule) and Babbitt’s infamous “National Biological Survey” where his office sought to empower an army of agency biologists to roam free over private property looking for endangered species.

Now it looks like Obama is planning to launch his version of the War on the West. However, unlike Clinton who attacked OHVers, loggers, miners, and ranchers in the open with Dombeck and Babbitt, Obama appears to be planning a sneak attack.

Just as Clinton’s War on the West was met with a loud and effective outcry from public land interests, The General believes that access advocates are in a better position politically to oppose Obama’s ill-advised monument plans

See Today’s BRC News Release including BRC letter to Congress on this issue
http://www.sharetrails.org/releases/?story=685&filter=media

2010 will sure be busy on the access front.

Obama Administration to Attack OHV Areas?

I know many of you are already tired of the “good news” related to being an OHVer. Our SVRA’s are under attack. Our federal riding areas are being sued by anti-OHV groups asking for dirt-bikes and other motorized forms of recreation to be banned or severely restricted. The Forest Service is proposing to close almost 100% of all single-track and ATV trails on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Other Forests are closing thousands of miles of forest roads to green-sticker vehicles.

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Photo: See the description of the "Berryessa Snow Mountains" National Monument in the internal document below
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Just when you think you have seen it all. This alert comes. Thanks to some pro-access legislators, The Recreation HQ has learned that the Obama administration is planning to use the Antiquities Act to bypass Congress and designate millions of acres as “National Monuments.” The General remembers all too well what the Clinton/Gore team did a decade ago when they designated a number of national monuments including the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

See WND Story about that fight in 2000
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=18055

See internal DOI document day-lighted to the public by Congressmen Doc Hastings and Rob Bishop (see page one for ref. to Stonyford OHV Area)
http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/UploadedFiles/AntiquitiesDocument.pdf

See Congressional letter objecting to misuse of the Antiquities Act to lock up public lands and to acquire more private property
http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Ltr_to_Obama_Re_AntiquitiesAct_021810.pdf

Per chance any of you discount the potential impact to OHV in Northern California, look on page one of the internal document. You will see that a majority of the Stonyford OHV area would be designated as a national monument… effectively closing the area to historic OHV use. Other riding areas would be impacted as well.

I know the AMA and BRC are working on this. Just as in the Cinton/Gore fight, The General will be engaged in this battle as well.

If you have not joined BRC please do so NOW! Send this blog to your riding buddies.

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OHV Wars Continue at Coastal SVRA

As Carnegie fans wait for both the legal and administrative battle to play itself out, The General wants you who are new to the OHV Wars arena to be aware that anti-OHV groups continue their assault on the SVRA system.

One ongoing battle is down at Oceano Dunes. For many years, OHVers and OHMVR have been fighting to preserve motorized recreation at that popular facility. Just as with Carnegie, you have a 3rd party eco-group at Oceano Dunes trying to interject itself into the inter-governmental decision-making process.

Recent Article on Oceano Dunes Fight
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/dunes/story/1031310.html

The main point of today’s blog is to remind land-use newbies that OHV recreation continues to face some rough times in 2010 and beyond. The Recreation HQ wants to make sure that riders continue to brace for the fight, stand strong, and never give up.

Thanks for your service!

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