This is what our friendly seirra clubbers are up to
Read on.......

Wayne


Off-Road Politics Affect Protection of California Parks;

Conservation Groups Warn State to Tread Lightly

SACRAMENTO— Several conservation organizations, increasingly dismayed by the growing influence of the small but wealthy and influential off-road lobby, have signed a letter to Ruth Coleman, Director of California Department of Parks and Recreation, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein demanding an end to interference by the department’s Off-Highway Vehicle Division in state parks resource decisions.

The letter cites emails obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility under a Public Records Act request, confirming intervention by Off-Highway Vehicle Division Director Daphne Greene, who blocked adoption of a long-overdue General Plan Amendment for Red Rock Canyon State Park because off-roaders didn’t like the plan. The letter also cites Greene’s objecting to road closures for resource protection requested by State Parks resources staff, which resulted in continuing damage to a valuable archaeological site.

Senator Feinstein’s Desert Protection Act transferred Red Rock Canyon’s Last Chance Addition from the Bureau of Land Management to the state parks department in 1994, primarily to ensure protection of its vast cultural resources from off-road vehicles. The state initiated a General Plan Amendment for management of the area, but a stakeholder plan, which was to go to the Parks and Recreation Commission in December 2005, was held up when off-roaders complained to Greene about road closures. The General Plan process was allowed to wither — and with it the management of Red Rock Canyon’s spectacular geologic formations, rare desert riparian areas, and rich cultural resources. The net result has been absence of a management plan 13 years after state park acquisition and the gradual transformation of this unique landscape into an off-road free-for-all.

Pressure from conservationists over the past two years resulted in a promise from the parks department for a new General Plan process. The groups do not want a repeat of the Off-Highway Division’s historic interference.

Karen Schambach, California director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, points out: “It is absolutely outrageous that the director would allow OHV interests to undermine the recommendations of department resource specialists. With three off-road open areas and over 800 miles of roads surrounding Red Rock Canyon State Park, the desires of one California recreation community should not take precedence over the needs and interests of all others. California State Parks should honor the Congressional vision that these lands should be managed “to provide maximum protection for the area’s scenic and scientific values.”

The Off-Highway Division has an annual budget of $55 million, primarily from transfers from the state’s fuel tax. That budget will increase dramatically if the legislature passes SB742 this session.

“Apparently money really does talk. In this instance it spoke more loudly than the agency's duty to protect important resources and public lands for the majority,” said Chris Kassar, a wildlife biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The previous effort to provide timely and essential protection for this special place was hijacked by wealthy off-road interests, and we are committed to ensuring this doesn't happen a second time.”

Desert Protective Council Conservation Coordinator Terry Weiner observed, “Surveys conducted by State Parks document that only 15 percent or so of California’s recreating public indicate that they indulge in ORV recreation as their favorite recreation and that 85 percent instead head to California state parks and other public lands to bird-watch, hike, camp, fish and hunt. They deserve to be able to visit Red Rock Canyon State Park and experience the unique desert formations and tranquility for which the park was established. We expect our State Park managers to protect the irreplaceable resources entrusted to their care.”

What gets me peed on this,,,,90% of red rock is already closed to OHV anyway..and
for the most part ..there is good compliance. We really do need to get
on the warpath with these folks if they keep it up:mad:

Wayne

Wayne_Nosala said:

You gotta be kidding me..... Small I get, but "influential" or "wealthy"????
Maybe we're succeeding. Maybe we've got them on the run. I doubt it though. More likely policial rhetoric. Maddening....

Wayne_Nosala said:

Bird watch??? I'll show you 1000 OHV enthusiasts for evey 1 birdwatcher in CA.

Bill_P said:

Not much fishing action either

Bill_P said:

In all the time I've spent riding in OHV parks, I've only seen two birdwatchers ever.

And the sheep from the big cities that subscribe to this bullshit believe it too:bonk:

Wayne_Nosala said:

LOL. Certainly not at Red Rock!

They fail to mention the fact that we pay green sticker fees.
And for what?

What surveys and at what state parks? Granted, you won't find much OHV activity at Muir Woods or any of the other state parks that aren't designated OHV Parks, duh!

These types of statements are believed by the majority too. Incredible!


Dave

desertyeticheyenne said:

Good point, Yes Red Rock is a state park. And State Parks has
allocated some of our green sticker funds to manage Red Rock. That
is why the artical brings up the money issue. I have read a lot
of Daphne Green bashing on other web sites. She has done a
lot for us on this issue...Unfortunetly,the pressure she is under
by both sides of access VS anti access...I would not like to be
in her shoes for any amount of $$$

Wayne

The funny thing is that of those 90% they claim to hunt, fish, hike, bird watch, etc...use some sort of wheeled vehicle to do that.

When I was young we went rock hunting. We didn't hike from the pavement. We drove our minivan down the washes to the great geological formations in the desert. Might not be a dirtbike or side x side, but we were off-road.

We (and some of those that believe the rhetoric) need to protect that access also.

Bill_P said:

yea no kidding.. seriously birdwatchers??

I have yet to see a birdwatcher in Red rock, heck they can come to my backyard and watch the $hit birds and ravens fly by all day long...

The sad but true thing is that people actually believe this crap...

socal_sierra said:

actually, there is one route in the park that has a seasonal closure for the
birds and the people who claim they watch them.

Wayne

Bill_P said:

Was a riding area up here. Mud pit dredge pond. Really!. Used to ride all the time in the cuts made by big equipment and excavators for years..bombed out wasteland. If you stopped you would see burrowing owls, osprey, avocets and all sorts of coolness, even saw a whale in a channel 40 feet away. So cool in fact they closed it for dredge slurry operations and made it a 6 square mile bird sanctuary. No vehicles, equipment use etc..ironic fact is now there are zero owls, zero avocets, no more ospreys picking steelhead out of the creeks only loads of people with binoculars walking about.

If you talk to any of the birders out there now they harshly say it was beautiful until the OHV and yahoos used to ride out there and it's going to take time to heal. They are in deep denial of the fact that hundreds of people walking around essentially stalking the wild life has spooked the animals out of the area far more effectively in 5 years than a large excavator, pump barges and OHV's over 20 years ever could.

Self sighted, self promoting, self righteousness is sad and scary.

I like how they accuse the wealthy OHV special interest groups of using deep-pocket tactics to influence policy. Funny, I thought that was their MO.

My father-in-law has been going up to Red Rock since he was a kid checking out the old mines & related ruins. He wouldn’t consider himself an OHVer, but uses a 4wd vehicle to access the sites just like his father before him. If they end up restricting access everyone loses. Even the fishermen (?)

I really like Red Rock. It’s a special place for at least 4 generations of my family – I’m with Wayne, it’s time to get out the tomahawks!

Wayne_Nosala said:

More than seasonal Wayne, even when you can ride Nightmare, its only open every other week to riding.

I didnt know I was so "wealthy."

>>The letter also cites Greene’s objecting to road closures for resource protection requested by State Parks resources staff, which resulted in continuing damage to a valuable archaeological site.<<

I wonder what the site is? Hopefully not something some that less than responsible OHV people have been screwing up.

There is a reason Death Valley got its name....anybody on foot goes there at risk to their life! Of all land environments, the desert is the most apropriate place for motorized travel! The notion that more than a scant handfull of individuals will ever be out hiking the desert, is absolutely absurd.

How many of you desert riders have ever seen a hiker anywhere???? If you are on foot, you are going to die out there!