4x4Wire

***Sept 8 - CORRECTION - The BRC Sample Letter is citing data from the 2007 SPOA report (not 2009 as is in the sample letter)  The data is from the 2007 SPOA, Table 133, pages 162-163.  Sorry for any mixup.  *******************************

BRC September 6 - Carnegie/Tesla Alert and Overview

http://www.sharetrails.org/alerts/2012/09/06/extreme-environmental-groups-collaborate-with-east-bay-region-park-district-to-impose-closureagenda-on-propose

Be watching for a formal and detailed BRC comment letter. Also, the OHV Commission has placed this issue on their agenda for the Sept. 15 meeting in Placerville. HQ will be there.

http://www.sharetrails.org/news/2012/07/02/bay-area-land-agency-advocates-passive-use-adjacent-state-ohv-park

http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/East_Bay_RPD_2007_CEQA_Concerns0001.pdf

Not only was Celeste et al successful in getting the District Board to approve the 2007 General Plan Map which now includes Tesla, but has been successful in getting Assemblymember, Joan Buchanan, State Senator Mark DeSaulnier, and State Senator Loni Hancock to write a June 8, 2012 letter opposing OHV recreation on the Tesla Property.

June 8, 2012 Buchanan, DeSaulnier, and Hancock Letter

http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/Buchanan_Carnegie_6-8-12.pdf

Thankfully we have a very active OHV Commission and on July 16, 2012, OHV Commissioner, Diana Perez, countered the Buchanan letter with a well written response to Secretary Laird.

Championing responsible OHV recreation on public lands takes many forms. Often today, those venues are related to the administrative process or legal challenges.

For many years, some of you have listened to me talk about my axiom of land use and heard the now famous quote ... “All land-use planning decisions are political decisions.” That quote is not meant to discount the importance of local involvement, volunteer efforts, offering public comments, advocacy, etc. Rather it is offered as a potent dose of reality to new land use leaders who are trying to figure out the federal land management decision-making process. And, to present an explanation of how/why that final decision is made. The confusion for many OHVers is often it appears that science, historic use, or common sense had little to do with the decision.

One important, yet often overlooked, effective strategy for championing OHV recreation is proactive support for new OHV-related science projects that may help to provide specific answers/solutions to how OHV recreation is managed on public lands.

Read more of Science As a Tool in OHV Recreation on The General's BLOG.

Often you will hear The General remind riders to undertake the difficult task of searching for - and celebrating when found - good news in the midst of these gloomy economic and land-use times.

Just such good news exists in the form of the OHMVR Division releasing their Notice of Intent to Award various trail, restoration, law enforcement, and safety grants. As some of you know, the OHV commission had been taken over by an anti-access majority (circa 2000). That body then enacted their closure agenda by developing the early route designation process (circa 2002/2003) that not only birthed the National Travel Management Rule but defunded most OHV trail projects on FS and BLM lands for 7 years.

After a lot of work in 2007 by OHV leadership and the ecologically-balanced OHMVR Division with support from the Governor’s Office, a new OHV program was authorized in SB742. One part of the bill was development of a new grants program that had the majority of “Green Sticker” funds going to support trails and trail facilities.

Read more from th General at: Celebrate OHV Green Sticker Money Going for Trails