A real threat to Johnson Valley...Please, Help us rally for Johnson Valley - March 12

[DustinWebster]

Mods, because this is from another site, I'll understand if you take it down, but really, it's a land use issue and I feel EVERYONE needs to help. This possible closure will hurt the off road recreation community in a big way. Heck, it would be good to creat Sticky's in the other forums pointing people to this thread...I know, that's asking a ton...but I ask because I believe this is important. Remember, King of the Hammers was run right through the land that is on the takeover list.


The short of it... there is a big closure on the horizon at Johnson Valley that has been posted in other threads all over the internet. Land used in the famous off road area is subject to closure due to a military expansion. Some people will try to say that it's not a big deal, the discussions on this have just begun and no real plans have been made...to that I'll remind you that the SAME thing happened in the Fort Irwin issue just recently and we lost thousands of acreas of prime off-road land in that debacle. We sat on our hands when some of the offroad land use people told us "don't worry, it's very early in the game," and before we knew it, the fences were up and they WILL NOT come down. NOT THIS TIME!

This issue is a MAJOR threat to the offroad community as the Marines are talking about taking over major sections of Johnson Valley. We're trying to get people to join us in an online rally to show that offroaders want to be sure that amazing area remains open to our use. Please, join us this coming Wednesday, March 13, and get as many people as possible to join in to show how many people are concerned.

Regards,
Dustin Webster
Red Bull RockCrawling Team

Here's the info:

Announcing the first ever, Pirate4x4.com: VIRTUAL RALLY FOR THE HAMMERS

Please read the following very carefully!

We need your help to pull this off and make it effective. Any and all input is greatly appreciated and will be carefully listened to.

First, let me be VERY clear. It does not look good for the Hammers.

John Stewart for Cal4Wheel is working extremely hard on this with several other people and organizations, but they cannot do it all alone. Like never before, the OHV community needs to develop a grass-roots effort to show that we have strength in numbers and that we care about our trails being taken away from us.

Here is the goal:

In a four hour time frame we want to pack the Pirate4x4.com Bulletin Board with a HUGE number of people. We will then have validated tracking of the amount of people checking in on this subject, turning this online effort into a true rally, without you needing to leave your home!

All politicians care about is numbers. If you have ever taken a poly-sci class you may remember hearing that 1 letter from a person is seen as roughly equaling 300 votes. The greatest number of users ever logged into Pirate was 3,305 on 2/11/2008. The goal is to CRUSH that number and have all of those people post up in the Rally thread what the Hammers mean to them and to the OHV community.

When the rally is over, we will lock the thread and create a follow-up press release to the powers that be, showing how many people attended this virtual rally, how many posts there were, and invite them to read the thread and our concerns if they did not attend.

Here is the Plan:

1. We will issue a press release this Friday to politicians, media outlets, companies etc. announcing a virtual rally on http://www.Pirate4x4.com/forum and invite them to sign in and see just how many people are concerned with this issue.

2. We are asking everyone to do a mass e-mail to ALL members of the offroad and RV community this Friday asking them to participate in the rally as well.

3. We will come up with “sample” posts to put in the thread to give people an idea of what we are hoping to see people writing during the rally. Even people that have NEVER been to the Hammers need to post their concerns. This is all about showing how many of us there are and that we have a VOICE as a community.

4. The Rally will be on WEDNESDAY MARCH 12th from 2 to 6 pm Pacific Standard time.

5. One of the Pirate4x4 forum members will start the “Rally” thread at 2pm that day. As of now, it will be in the "chit-chat" section of the bulletin board, but we may be able to have it in all forums at once.

6. In the thread we ask people to post their concerns about our trails being taken away, why the Hammers should remain open, pictures of them and their FAMILIES in the Hammers (appropriate ones!), etc. etc. People are encouraged to post multiple times.

ALL CHIT-CHAT B.S. AND INAPPRIOPRATE POSTS WILL BE DELETED! We plan on having important people read this thread. If we are not on our best behavior, the OHV community will look bad.

7. As stated above, after the rally another press-release will be issued showing the number of people attending the rally, the number of posts, data on how fast the thread grew etc… We will also invite those in power that did not attend to read the thread.

What I am asking from all of you:

1. PLEASE: Get the word out! E-mail everyone you know, put something about it in your sig-line, go to other boards and sites and announce the rally, send out bulletins on Myspace etc. etc.

2. Write sample “posts” for people to see and post them here. Hopefully, they can type something up over the weekend and just cut and paste it on the day of the Rally.

3. Actually take part in the rally. The web address again is http:www.pirate4x4.com/forum

Will this Rally save the Hammers? I do not know. But if it shows politicians and land-managers that we are a force to reckon with because of our numbers, it may make them think twice.

Why am I doing this if I have never been to the Hammers? During the ELDO fiasco last summer, I asked for help in chit-chat. People asked me, “Why should we help you guys? Where were YOU when OUR trails were being closed?” After I though about it, they were right. Where was I? It seems that we only fight for what is in our own backyards. Not anymore. I promised the PBB in that thread I would fight route closures EVERYWHERE. So I am.

It’s AWN like Donkey KONG! Sooooo, GET IT!

Kurt Schneider

The Friends of Eldorado National Forest.

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[Wayne_Nosala]

We need to gear up and fight these things folks.

They have already started the proccess in Lucurne, Stoddard is next
Wayne

-------------------------------------------------------
Bases aim to expand
More High Desert land eyed for training troops
Lauren McSherry, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/08/2008 10:02:33 PM PST


Two military bases in the High Desert are undertaking expansion plans that will widen the territory used for war games crucial to training soldiers and Marines being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms has announced its intention to extend its boundaries. The process could take years.
Gunnery Sgt. Chris Cox, a public affairs officer, estimated that 50 percent of the combat center - which encompasses 932 square miles, an area about half the size of Rhode Island - is unusable.
This is because tracts of land are too mountainous, provide habitat for endangered species or are too close to civilian areas, which would be disturbed by the noise and tremors that accompany explosions.
"That's the conundrum: Where do we go? What do we do?" Cox said. "That's why it's going to take such a long time to figure out a course of action."
The extent and timeline for the expansion remains unclear.
Cox would not disclose what areas are under consideration - or even what geographical direction the expansion might take.
The problem is the base needs more space to execute training exercises, and military leaders are anticipating a future increase in Marines undergoing battlefield exercises, Cox said.
All Marines that go to Iraq are sent to the base for the monthlong "Mojave Viper" training. The training prepares Marines for the hardships of living in the
desert, for vehicle checkpoint procedures and for combat operations.
Up to 450 Marines can participate in the training at one time, but the goal is to be able to train an entire battalion, up to 1,000 Marines, at once, Cox said.
The planning process is being led by the Defense Department and the Navy, he said.
Notices were sent to residents in July about the expansion plans, Cox said.
The expansion is necessary because it will enable training that is crucial to limiting Marine casualties in war zones, he said.
"The Marine Corps in the High Desert realizes we are part of the community," he said. "We're not in the business of keeping secrets or doing things that aren't good for our neighbors.
"At the same time, we are in the business of saving lives."
The Bureau of Land Management confirmed Friday that the combat center had not submitted an application to change its boundaries, which typically involves a review of environmental impacts.
Meanwhile, Fort Irwin is moving ahead with its expansion, which was divided into three phases.
The first phase, extending the eastern boundary to include 45,000 acres, was completed last summer, said Col. Chris Philbrick, garrison commander at Fort Irwin.
The second phase, moving the southern boundary to encompass 22,000 acres, is still undergoing environmental impact assessment, but could be complete by this fall, he said.
The third and largest phase, absorbing 65,000 acres to the west, is not expected to be complete until next year, Philbrick said.
Service members from all branches of the military are sent to the base.
Because of its size, Fort Irwin is a key training location for soldiers and Marines going to Iraq and Afghanistan, Philbrick said.
The training grounds prepare troops for communicating, planning logistics and executing combat operations over the vast geographic areas they will encounter overseas, he said.
"There's a difference between going a mile and practicing and going 100 miles," Philbrick said. "We like to use the old football analogy - you wouldn't go from the team that's at summer camp to the Super Bowl. You've got to have some training in there."
But by pushing its borders westward and southward, Fort Irwin has encountered a couple of stumbling blocks.
The military base is encroaching on areas occupied by the desert tortoise, which is federally listed as a threatened species.
The base is developing a plan to mitigate the impact on the desert tortoise.
The area is also home to the Lane Mountain milkvetch, an endangered plant species only found in the expansion area, said Ileene Anderson, a wildlife biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Fort Irwin's plans have raised concerns about the future of the two species, she said. "We don't see how running tanks are going to be compatible with species conservation," she said.

[Ol' Curmudgeon]

This presents a conundrum to me, Wayne, are we better off losing the land to the military, or to CBD claims? It would seem the former is preferable among those two options, since we have seen military lands released but no wilderness or ACEC's returned to use by the people.

[HUBBARD]

How much land do they need. Most of Mojave is closed already do to the military. Must be gold in the area. Seems they always close land or make it a park when golds in the area.

[ZJARCHER]

UP! C'mon guys, lets save JV!

[dustyrhodes]

This kinda bums me out. I spent pretty much all of 07 doing maintenance on heavy equipment out at Mojave Viper, and i got to see a lot of the base when I was out there. I was always thinking that the base was huge and they could give some of the land back. Theres all sorts of areas on base that they cant even use because of those tortoises and plants. And to think that they want more land, the land you all use to play in too. I think they should rethink that idea, but thats just my opinion. Theyre just turtles.......sorry if thats offensive to you

[Bulldozer]

I didn't see this until now and now I feel bad for not posting in the Rally thread.

I'd hate to see any more of the Mojave desert closed!

[ZJARCHER]

I didn't see this until now and now I feel bad for not posting in the Rally thread.

I'd hate to see any more of the Mojave desert closed!

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=666219

Here you go... if anyone missed posting in the original thread for ANY reason, please go here and get involved!

Thanks guys!
Brandon

[mobil1syn]

I didn't see this until now and now I feel bad for not posting in the Rally thread.

I'd hate to see any more of the Mojave desert closed!

take some time to show up in person ... http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41197

[Bulldozer]

take some time to show up in person ... http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41197

I'd love to but unfortunately I lack transportation to El Cajon (suspended license...) But if anyone from the Yucaipa or Riverside area is going and wants to let me tag along I'd appreciate it.