Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125717
m~o~r~e~from thea.litol By Russ Sanford It is obvious from the letters that I've been receiving since the recent 'land closures', that many of us have forgotten our basic lessons in Civics. Consequently, many of your letters and complaints are going to the wrong people. If you will bear with me, I will attempt to set your straight. MANY PUBLIC LANDS The State of California consists of private land and public land. Private land is that which is owned by an individual or groups of individuals (homeowners, ranchers, partnership, or . corporation). The balance of the land is public land, owned by the public, and administered for the public by an agency. Some of the agencies are federal (National Parks, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc.), while others are state (Dept. of Parks & Recreation, Dept. of Fish and Game, Division of Highways, etc.) and yet others at county, district, and city level. Because federally-administered public lands can be situated within the boundaries of any state, the federal government has proclaimed that generally the laws of each state will pertain to the federal lands within the state's boundaries. There are some exceptions. For example, you must wear a helmet and operate with your headlight and taillight on when riding a motorcycle on a military installation, even though California state law has no such requirement. However, the federal law will never be less stringent than the state law. The State Legislature enacts laws pertaining to regulation and control of state-administered public lands. For example: there is a state law which recognizes off-road vehicles as a legitimate form of recreation and entitled to use of state-administered public lands in areas designated for such use. Counties also administer public lands which belong to the residents of the county. A county may pass an ordinance which is more restrictive or prohibitive than the state law on the same subject. A county cannot, however, pass ordinances which are less restrictive or demanding than the state law. For example: a county can prohibit the riding of a motorcycle on county-administered or district-administered lands within the county. Cities also administer public lands and again these can be either more or less restrictive than the county ordinance but cannot be less demanding than the state law. UNDERSTA.ND THE SETUP This may see very complicated but you must understand this structure if you want to stay out of trouble. It is a waste of time to write to your congressman in Washington or your State senator to compalin about a county of city ordinance. You must contact the persons have jurisdiction over the area in question. RULE OF THUMB If you are experienceing ~ problem, determine the source of the problem. Is it federal? State? County? Or City? It it is Federal, contact your Representatives or Senators in Washington, D.C. If it is State, contact your Assemblymen or Senators in the state Capitol. If it is County, contact your Board of Supervisors. If it is City, contact your City Council. COUNTY ORDINANCES EXPLAINED I have just completed a several-day trip to southern California and this is the summary of the information which I obtained; The Bureau of Land Management administers public land in both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The BLM lands are subject to State law and not to the county ordinances. This means that you can ride on B LM-administered public lands in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Be careful, though! Remember that these lands are in terspersed wi th privately owned lands and if you are on "~d 01:.1 r 'I :OU' lc , I' ~JJC':J )(1'..:IJ~q·Ut..;:J private land you must have written permission. ,The BLM is developing detailed topographic maps showing areas in which you can ride. These maps will be available about March for $1.00 each. This column will announce the details as soon as the maps are ready. The Riverside County ordinance (N o. 529) and the San Bernardino County ordinance (No. 1590) have one thing in common: they both require written permission of the landowner to ride on private land. The San Bernardino County ordinance is interpreted and enforced to pertain to county-administered public lands and district-administered public lands within the county. While it does not apply to city-administered public lands, some cities, such as Victorville, have enacted similar ordinances. The Riverside County ordinance, according to the County Council is interpreted to pertain to county-administered and district-administered public lands within the county. However, the Sheriff's Dept. is enforcing the wirtten permission clause only on privately-owned lands. To add to this confusion, the City 0 f Riverside has enacted an even more restrictive ordinance which proclaims that even though you have written permission to ride on privately-owned lands, you must also have a permit from the Oity Police Dept. To sum up the situation in both counties: 1. You can ride on privately-owned property with written permission of the landowner, his agent, or the tenant. If the private land is within the City of Riverside (possibly others) you must also obtain a permit from the Riverside City Police Dept. 2. You can ride on BLM·administered public lands without obtaining permission. 3. You can ride on county- and district-administered public lands with written permission of the administering agency. Both counties are experiencing difficulty in enforcing the ordinances. Rumor has it that San Bernardino County is considering a less-stringent and more workable ordiance. San Bernardino County has not yet issued a citation. On the other hand, Riverside County is credited with at least ten citations and there is no evidence of possible relaxation. Botb counties are aware of our needs and are studying developing motorcycle parks on County lands which will be available on a use-fee basis. Neither county wished to enact such ordinances. They were forced on them by complaints of noise ~nd acts of vandalism in and around residential ~ areas. They recotnigize that the majority of desert riders both no one, ! ~~:q~~~ekin.1fo~:mea~tili:~st~Op :::;1: :; who are causing trouble, they felt that (lj there was no alternative but to - stop ~ e,eryone. ~ It is a pitiful shame that the 'good :::;: guys' must pay for the mistakes of a few! Our only hope is that we can 'clean ~ Ollr own house' before these same ~ individuals also get us thrown off the w BLM lands. d >Please address comments or inquiries u to M.O.R.E., P.O. Sacramento, CaL 95826. Box 26062, INDUSTRY TAKES HOLD Cont'd looms as the biggest single holdout, for dealers in that state are notoriously disorganized. Heininger has broken the problem state into five areas which the task force will tackle one by one. Pray for their success. Outgoing membership chairman Chuck Swanson of Pabatco reported that 52 leading companies have joined M.LC. a$ full-fledged, dues paying members, but noted that several multi-million dollar distributing firms were still holding back. Treasurer John Harley noted that the MIC budget had jumped from $135,000 last year to $250,000 for 1971. The Council now has a net worth of $ 192,000 on theeventof its first venture into deficit spending. We are pleased to announce the opening of our new western warehouse located in Santa Ana. With the opening of this new facility, Penton West, Inc., an uP9rading of the organization has now taken place. The new western headquarters under the direction of Ted Penton can now better serve all our western dealers. Large supplies of new machines, parts and other related services are now in stock. We invite our dealers to stop by our new offices. New Western Headquarters ~ Penton West, Inc. :I: ~ 2150 So. Santa Fe St. Santa Ana, Calif. < a:: (714) 546-5602 ~ w ~ Z W ...J l- -;-- U ---'u >-