Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

w or don't ride later lar gel y bas ed o n hearsay an d antici pated sit ua ti o ns. 5 . Under th e guise of clarifica ti o n, the term "exis t ing r oads" in the Cali fornia Desert plan is being m od ified to m ean ro ads o ver eight feet wid e . This definition wffi de clare h undreds o f thousan d s of well-traveled ro ads no n -e x isten r, class ifying much of California 's 12 m illion ac res o f deser t "roadless ." T hi s clears the way fo r this .public lan d to be dubbed " wilde rness area, to neatl y clos in-g it to every one. Mo on str ongly urged the Adviso ry Bo ard to in tervene to fo rm an un bi ased co m m ittee to inves tigate the problems of lan d managem ent in Cali fornia with an ey e to conserving our n at ural resource s wh ile no t deprivin g the public o f th eir heritage , th e ope n spaces. Bo ard m embers were stu nned. Mr. Moon r ep o rt s t ha t immediat ely foll o wing his state m en t he " fel t li ke a leper," but as th e three-day m ee ting pr ogressed, he was able . to spea k' individually to di ff er en t m ember s a nd explain his frustration at the unfa ir and unwarranted re strict ions to publ ic us e of p ub lic lan ds. A n um be r o f members p romised to do what th e y co ul d to pr esen t a st ro ng recommendat ion to th e Depart m en t o f Int e r i or t hat s uc h a n 'unbiased comm ittee be es ta blished. • BLM seeks to upset road and trail definition By Dick Moon, Californ ia Off-road Vehicle Assoc iation Sout hern Regiona l Direct or Devastating , is abo ut th e best way to describ e th e effec t of what the Bureau of Land Managem ent is atte m p ting to do to o ff-ro ad vchicle recreation in the desert. Recen tlv the BUI stated t hat " acco rdingto co mments received, the definition of roads an d trails needs to be improved." On th e surface, this statement doesn't seem so threaten ing, for it m ight, not be a bad idea to ha ve a clearer definition of j ust what "existing roads and trails" arc . But let 's loo k a little deeper, and as k, " acco rd ing to what interests," and "who felt that the definition of roads and trails needed to be: improved?" Now, after asking this last question, you might start to generate a small amount of sus picion. O K, let's take a few mo re " get smart pills" and ' look a little far ther. lI er e is the proposed revision : "Existing mads and trails * are regular rou tes o f tra vel wh ich are : a. Clearl y d efined ** , no less than eight fee t wid e in the case of ro ad s an d tw o fee t wide fo r t rails. b. Essentially bar e of vegetation th rough rep eated p revious use. c. llabitua l ly used for veh icle purposes a nd a re reasonable courses to destinations . not erratic o r ra ndom courses such as individual hill climb areas. d. Reco gn ized as having existed on or hef ore November I, 19 73 . " * "Trai ls" as us e d h ere are limited to use by two-wheeled vehicles. ·* If weather obli te ra tes this evidence, that does no t ex clude vehicle use on th e affected po rt ion of the route. Aha. a re the pills starting to work ? If they aren't go ~ck and read the p ro p osed d e fin it io n change one more time. li as it reach ed out and grabbed yo u yet? S ure . th e entire p ropo sal is loaded wi th items th at will keep yo u o ff-reade rs o ut o f the desert ! It is very im portan t for yo u to kee p in mi nd that wh en any ro ad o r trail d oe s no t me et th e qualifi ca tio n of th is proposed definiti on, it can no lo nger be class ified as an " existing ro ad o r tr ail. " Firs t take a lo o k at the o pen ing sta te m ent, ab out "regular route s o f tr avel. " Ther e are litera lly tho usan ds o f roads an d t ra ils in o u r d eserts th at a re ol d favo rite roads , b u t are o nly used a fe w t imes a year. It is ce r ta in t hat a very high percentage o f these ro ads cou ld not q uali fy as being regular ro utes of tr avel . The next shocker is m ore ob vio us th an mos t of the others. What on ear th 'm a kes a t rack in the d esert t ha t is eight (8) feet w ide ? No t eve n a d iesel truck m a kes a t ra c k th at wide, while the avera ge fo ur-wheel drive or dune b uggy has a track width of only five a nd a half fee t. Sin ce the BLM definition sta tes th at " trails as used here, are limited to use b y tw o-wheeled vehicles, " I also wonder wha t kind of cycle p uts do wn a trac k tha t is t wo fee t wide. The p o in t h er e o f course, is tha t very few, if any, of the now existing ro ads o r trail s in our California d eserts can qual ify , by these definitio ns. Are you ready for this next one? How many of you have seen roads and trails. particu larly in the high deserts. that start sprouting small grass blade type foliage follo wing a rain? Sure. we've all seen it. Bu t. considering the definition that requires that all roads and trai ls be "essentially bare of vegetation through repeated previous use ," again. mos t of our favorite trails o r roads co uld not qualify. Sta tem ent C o f the p roposed d efin iti o n will just about put th e finis hi ng touches on th is grotesque pr op osal, when it says that the road and trails m us t be " ha bitually used. " and "are reasonable courses to destinations. not er ratic or rando m courses such as individual hi ll cl imb areas." Isn ' t tha t enoug h t o gag ya, whe n yo u stop a nd th in k tha t mos t deser t r oads and t rails are very ra n dom. b eca use they were create d fo r fu n , not to go straigh t to so me destination? They freq uen tly -are there to gain access to m ining a reas , gem sites where rockhounds sea rch for mineral treas ures, trave l through areas that offer a c hallenge to dune buggies, four-w heel drive vehicles and cycles. Ho w vu n fair to c o n sider that because those road and trails are not reasonable co u rses to destinations. they cannot qualify under the new proposed rules. I think you m ust have the idea by now o f how to t-a1ly unacceptable the BL:>I proposed revision is to the off-road co mmunity. There are two points left to be considered. First. try and pict ur e how they are going to come u p wi th any kind of width measuremen t for the thousands and thousands of road and trails in our dese rt. \l'e all know tha t th is task would b e impossible, so t he o b vious alternative wo uld be to use aerial ph o tographs. a nd th en do a lot of gu essing. The point here is that agai n it will be left up to t he usu al BL\I gu esswo rk ty p e research. T h e s ec ond co ns id era t io n, and indeed th e most serious . is the p ossible en d result th at would be brought abo u t if the propose d revised de finition is put in to effect . It sho uld be o b vio us that most of o ur now existing ro ads an d trails co uld not me et th ese clever qualificatio ns. So ov ernigh t. as if so meo ne w ere to sn ap th eir fingers , all th ese roads an d trails would beco m e o ff-lim its b ecau se they co ul d no t clas sify as "exist ing road s and trails." As soon as th is occurs . area after area, mile after mi le, wo u1d then be clas si fied as roadless, and co ul d th en be placed in to "Prirni tive " o r "Wildern ess" cla ssifi ca tio n , an d we all kno w what th at me an s: Keep o u t. This is h ist orically wi th o ut a do ubt the, m ost unj ust attem p t yet to " stick i~ in the public's ear ." We mu st d o everythi ng p ossi ble to sto p this full scalerip-off. T he BL:VI has given the p ubli c un t il October first to sen d in written commen ts on th eir p roposal, whic h as us ual, hardly gives anyone enoug h time. Even if that date has passed as you are reading this article, do not hesitate to write anyway, because there is always the chance th a t if we "kick up enough fuss," t hey might have to honor your comments even if they are late. If this article has reached you before October first, then there is nothing marc to say than, write . write. write. Tell your friends, your neighbors, and anyone that is interested. to write. If you write, you might include t hat you feel the o riginal definition is sufficient and does not need cha ng ing. It woul d be desirable if yo u wer e to include a suggested d efini t io n, ins tead of the one proposed by th e BL\I, and it could incl ude: Existing roads and trails are no th ing mo re tha n access ways. which do not · necessarily ha ve to be regular ro u te s of travel. A route may o nly show gen eral evidenc e of pre vio u s use, a nd i t is no t necessary that th ese access ways be maint ai ned . It is no t necessary that th ese roads a nd trail s be ba re of vege tatio n, and do no t ha ve to be habi tually used. and do not have to be reasonable courses to des ti nations. Good trails c an be random o r erratic in nature. The important thing is not what yo u write. but that you write. Remember that a simple telegra m ca n be very effective, if time does not permit you to write . I can't emphasize how important this issue is. or how devasta ti ng it will be if the proposed defini tio n is put into effect by the BL\1. Write now and strongly rej ect this devious proposal . Please se nd your comments t o : ~ 1r . J .R. Penny, State Director, Bu reau of Land :> Ianagement. 2800 Cottage Way -Room E 2841, Sacramento. CA . 95825. • RolfTIbblin writes about body bui ding, bike preparation, riding technique, desert rac- g & nutrition ... ~ ...0 o -o u you can read about for two dollars. Send $ 2 .00 for Rolf's guide , deca ls and co mpl et e i nf o rma ti on on the trai n ing tel.H~;~~arna International Training Center 933 South Santa Fe =2. ViSTa CalilCJ(nla 92083 phone 714 724-8091 .------------.. •• I: ••••1Ml•••••••••••••••••••••; -. ~ :1 ~. ~ 1-1- .- ~.~ IL -- - ~· - I: -., 11 ' :1 :1 11~~ I: 1 1 :1 I: I: : I. I: I: I: I: : I. I: I: I: I: I~ I: Iftt "'r. , os. I: tp' I~THE ' ~- :I :I :I :I :I :I :I :I :I :I :1 :1 ~I . . :I :1 ~I PRODUCT~I E I; SPEAKS. · 1 1 1...•••.....•••...•..••.•••••••••.... .:. 1 FOR ITSELF 11 .: ~----------- ... 250~400 MOTO-X MACHINES SALES-SERVICE-PARTS Bertus Jawa-CZ 1340 Hacienda Blvd. La Puente, CA 9 1744 213-330-61 71 r.'i ~ ~ Sweet Duck Suzuki Desert and MX Specia lists 10 /0 E. Arrow Hw y . Cov ina, Ca. (213) 966·8541 Suzuki & Maic o Mai! Order Specialists Go in deeper, fal l down harder. 15

• Cover