Paige
Well-Known Member
<font color=yellow>The next DAC meeting will be in Ridgecrest on June 15th & 16th at the Kerr-McGee Center located at 100 West California Avenue. </font color=yellow>
Tim Salt, the Desert District Manager, has scheduled the meeting as far from the major off-road communities as possible. What a surprise!
The DAC members will be staying at the Best Western China Lake Inn located at 400 South China Lake Boulevard.
On Friday there will be a tour starting at 7:15 a.m. in the China Lake Inn parking lot. Members of the public are welcome. They will be touring the Rand Mountain and the Jawbone Canyon Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area.
The BLM is very <font color=yellow>proud</font color=yellow> of the way they have closed many miles of 4-wheel drive trails in that area. Anyone wishing to attend should call Doran Sanchez at (909) 697-5220 so he can coordinate the tour.
On Saturday the council will meet in formal session from <font color=yellow>8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Kerr-McGee Center.</font color=yellow> The meeting will include updates/briefings on BLM's off-highway vehicle program, OHV management related issues, the OHV Grant Program, and a discussion of the "Off-Road to Ruin" publication. It should be a very interesting session.
Mr. Salt has invited <font color=yellow>Paul Spitler, the Director of the California Wilderness Coalition - the organization that published "Off-Road to Ruin."</font color=yellow> Mr. Spitler will have an opportunity to defend that report - if he shows up. Roy Denner will have a report from a San Diego Environmental analysis company that is dissecting the studies referred to in that report. He is hoping to have a representative from the environmental company in attendance as well. No fireworks allowed!!
They will also be discussing the draft of the first Desert Area Management Plan - the "Northern & Eastern Colorado Desert Coordinated Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement" - also known as NECO. This is NOT a Management Plan - it is purely an EIS. (Environmental Impact Statemetn) It starts out by closing five OHV areas - some because they are over-used and some because they are under-utilized. It goes on to provide reasons and methods to close any area that might have an impact on sensitive or possibly sensitive species and/or their habitat. This so-called management plan is written in the shadow of the current law suits and attempts to satisfy the enviro-extremists to the point that they will never again have a reason to sue the BLM in the history
of the world. What a joke! If this plan is implemented the way it is drafted it will become the guideline document for BLM plans all over the country.
Roy should have, at that meeting, a report on the NECO plan that is being prepared by a top-notch environmental attorney from San Diego. He is reviewing NECO in detail and commenting on the poor science and anecdotal information used to draw far-reaching conclusions. We will not be caught short again like we were with the Glamis closures!
So - if you can make the next DAC meeting you might find it interesting.
Lets try to make sure we have a group there to listen and respresent racing and all aspects of OHV use. I am CERTAIN that ASA will be in attendance, however CORVA has two meetings scheduled that day so we need to pick up the slack and get some peeps in attendance. If you are available and can give up a saturday, please make a point to go.
Thanks!!
<font color=yellow>Paige<font color=yellow>
Tim Salt, the Desert District Manager, has scheduled the meeting as far from the major off-road communities as possible. What a surprise!
The DAC members will be staying at the Best Western China Lake Inn located at 400 South China Lake Boulevard.
On Friday there will be a tour starting at 7:15 a.m. in the China Lake Inn parking lot. Members of the public are welcome. They will be touring the Rand Mountain and the Jawbone Canyon Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area.
The BLM is very <font color=yellow>proud</font color=yellow> of the way they have closed many miles of 4-wheel drive trails in that area. Anyone wishing to attend should call Doran Sanchez at (909) 697-5220 so he can coordinate the tour.
On Saturday the council will meet in formal session from <font color=yellow>8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Kerr-McGee Center.</font color=yellow> The meeting will include updates/briefings on BLM's off-highway vehicle program, OHV management related issues, the OHV Grant Program, and a discussion of the "Off-Road to Ruin" publication. It should be a very interesting session.
Mr. Salt has invited <font color=yellow>Paul Spitler, the Director of the California Wilderness Coalition - the organization that published "Off-Road to Ruin."</font color=yellow> Mr. Spitler will have an opportunity to defend that report - if he shows up. Roy Denner will have a report from a San Diego Environmental analysis company that is dissecting the studies referred to in that report. He is hoping to have a representative from the environmental company in attendance as well. No fireworks allowed!!
They will also be discussing the draft of the first Desert Area Management Plan - the "Northern & Eastern Colorado Desert Coordinated Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement" - also known as NECO. This is NOT a Management Plan - it is purely an EIS. (Environmental Impact Statemetn) It starts out by closing five OHV areas - some because they are over-used and some because they are under-utilized. It goes on to provide reasons and methods to close any area that might have an impact on sensitive or possibly sensitive species and/or their habitat. This so-called management plan is written in the shadow of the current law suits and attempts to satisfy the enviro-extremists to the point that they will never again have a reason to sue the BLM in the history
of the world. What a joke! If this plan is implemented the way it is drafted it will become the guideline document for BLM plans all over the country.
Roy should have, at that meeting, a report on the NECO plan that is being prepared by a top-notch environmental attorney from San Diego. He is reviewing NECO in detail and commenting on the poor science and anecdotal information used to draw far-reaching conclusions. We will not be caught short again like we were with the Glamis closures!
So - if you can make the next DAC meeting you might find it interesting.
Lets try to make sure we have a group there to listen and respresent racing and all aspects of OHV use. I am CERTAIN that ASA will be in attendance, however CORVA has two meetings scheduled that day so we need to pick up the slack and get some peeps in attendance. If you are available and can give up a saturday, please make a point to go.
Thanks!!
<font color=yellow>Paige<font color=yellow>
