Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

recreational) of the desert. They were to r~commend a plan to provide maximum bene fi t from the resources exist ing to District and Are a managers, who have ultimate responsibility fo r lan d management. In 1968 "The California Desert" was published - a report on recreational uses of the desert. Th e repo rt is con ce rn ed with in creasin g the potential for re creational use of the d esert, rather than squelching it. Desert re creation is described as "bein g in its infant st age . " " Wro n g again ," you say ? The clubs who have been organizing dese rt races since Worl d War II, should sit d own and compile a list of dates and include the entry n umbers. The BLM doesn 't know unless we tell 'em , The task force went to work on t he m on u m en tal task of compiling an accurate inventory of 12 mill ion desert acre s. First came the Interim Critical Management Program, designed to prevent depletion of res our ces until classification was co m p le t ed and a comprehensive p lan co ul d be implemented. Then the group started co llec tin g information from every available source . It was an honest effort to collec t facts from anyone who knew anything about desert resources. One good so ur ce of data was the many small m useums in the desert. Owners were generally intim ately familiar with their local areas . Another majo r source was envi ronmen talist gro ups . Ecology had re p laced the Twist as the national rage. The Sierra Clu b , under its own name and under a number of aliases, submitted volumes of information. An arrowhead found ' three decades ago? The BLM received information explaining that the site was ' probabl y archeological site w hich needed protection. Pup fish on the endangered species list? En viro n men talists transplanted pup fish fro m their nat ural h abi t at to lo cat ion s heretofo re unkown to the pupfish, and reported th e new sit es as needing protection because o f th e endangered sp ecies to be found th ere. Reliance on this inform ation provided by th e public is great. Pfulb had an tici pat ed a staff o f 50 by this tim e , prim arily resource speci alists wh o would act ually work in the field collect ing th eir o wn information . Budget an d pers onnel requisit ion s have been slo w in co m ing, and his present sta ff is only a bou t half th at . Th e BLM has b ee n instruc ted by a Congress we elec te d t o do a jo b . They are going t o d o th e jo b , re gardless of how gre at p eople th ink it mi ght be to go back t o t he d ays o f no restrictions. Recreati on is a necessity. So is escape from th e ci ty fo r man y o f us. Th e BLM is aware o f t ha t , but we a re n ' t help in g them provide ade q uate sp ace. On June 7, Rive rsid e and Ba kersfield District will co- sp o n so r an " o pen house" co ncern in g the EI Paso Peaks and Red Moun tain pl anning ar eas. District and are a m an ager s will be collec tin g co m m en t s and De sert Plan Dire ctor Neil Pfulb will be th ere with his resource spec ialists to answe r quest ions. Be th ere! Saturday, June 7, La ke Sh ore Inn , Californ ia City, all day open house begins at nine a.m, See a closed ar ea o n the plan ? Ask why. BLM personnel will be glad to te ll you wh y. If yo u find out th e area is be in g restricted because of a re po rted pat ch of en dan gered plants and y o u happen to know o f 3 0 ra ces run through the are a ove r the past 20 years , write it down. Then send th e Desert Plan st aff a lette r, settin g down facts and figure s. Point out the survival of any " endangered species" throughout extensive use. Explain the past use in detail . Giv e th em c old hard facts. Th at 's what they need. Land use p lans are being formed right now, based o n th e facts c ollec te d by an understaffed ta sk for ce . Users have a lot o f information t o con t rib u te , . b u t for th e m o st par t we ju st are n ' t co n t rib u t ing. The preservationist s are . Go to California City on June 7. Compare their information with yo ur knowledge of th e ar ea, And then give them t he benefit o f y o ur o bs erv ations. Sinc ere apologies to BLM Riverside District, Bakersfield District and Desert Plan staff for an unpre cedented blooper-tw o errors in on e sentence. First , the June 7 meeting .is no t Han un veilin g o f a draft of th e final management pl an. " No su ch plan has be e n formul ate d , June 7 is an open ho use to in volve us ers b e fore the p lan is dr awn up, Second, the plannin g are as are El Paso Peaks and Red Mountain, not Red Ro ck Can yon as reported. My face bums hot en o ug h t o fry the egg on it ! Leslie Richards O RV use opportuniti es - San Bernardino N. F. A matrix of possible O RV rules all user groups could agree on. Give and take was the general rule, ex ce pt over trails under minimized use. Off -roaders (bikers) wou ldn't acce pt a to tal ban; posey-sniff ers wo uldn't settle for less. On a straw vote, we won . Use category / criteria M aximized M inimized Optim ized Road s- F.S. System All open Open unless restricte d Open unless restricted Roads-non· system All open unless designated closed Closed unless designated o pen Open unless designated closed Potent ial routes Controlled develo pment No new de velo pment Cont ro lled development Trails-F .S. System Open unless close d by law Disagreement : No vehicles versus closed unless designa ted open Open with restrictio ns. Separate users on some . Treits-cnon system Same as system Same as system Same as system Poten tial trails Co nt ro lled develo pment No new develo p mont Con t rolled development Fue lbreaks Controlled use subject to FS regulation Restricted Controlled use 640 acres FS option , to 640 acres Travelways Cross-country use areas Minimum size 1 acre The politico-legal meat grinder An underview through both ends of the telescope-at once It seems to happen In waves, the proliferating small crises instigated by those who hate us and kept rolling by a government infrastructure still abysmal ly ignorant o f motorcycles and m otorcycling. It is such a time again, another ninth ninth wave compounded of dan ger and opportunity. ' It 's a meatgrinder, this p rocess by wh ich government works its will on individuals (and o ccasionally vice-vers a). Looking a t it from the bike r' s standpoint, it is something o f a multi- th eatre war of at t ri biti on , Just wher e you're winnin g o n one front, ano t he r open s up. Heres a bri ef rundown of t he p as t few months in South ern Cal ifornia : The Carpenter Bill Whe n Assemhlyman Pau l Carpenter i n t ro d uce d hi s m and at or y helmet/lights-on /protective cl othing bill early this year, every bo d y bu ckled d o wn to an o the r ro un d .o f the sam e d ism al battle. The plot too k a surprise twist when Carp enter turned o u t to be an h onest , concern ed individual ca p able o f listenin g, learning, an d m o difyin g hi s opin ion s to fit fac t s. After m eeting with Ru ss San ford in Sacramento an d with militant bikers in Lo s An geles, he agreed to withdraw his original bill and substitute a m easure cal ling fo r rider ed ucati on , auto driver awareness, and more rel evan t testing for both Class Three and Class Four driver 's licenses. Instead of an ogre, we 'd found a man willing to listen, ask questions, pick our brains even, then try to t ranslate our kn o wle d ge into workable law. Russ went to wor k at hi s en d , an d in L.A. abo u t a do zen o f us fo rmed an ad ho c co m m ittee to draw up re commended measures. Our work was done in abo ut three m on th s, an d wh at we turned o ve r to him was a combina tion o f our personal exp erience /o p in io n p lu s se veral pamp hlets fro m the Motorcycle Sa fe ty Fo un d a tio n d et ailing their excelle nt spadework in m oto rcycle ri der educa tio n. Th ere's seld om been a time whe n bikers have ha d a m ore gold en o ppo rtun ity to write their o wn tic ke t. Un fo rt u na tely, his n ew bill, AB 180 9 , is apparen tl y ca ugh t up in political mane uvering t hat ma y ha ve nothing to do with its m erit. That, as yet, is an unfinished story. . The Sacramento fr ont Elsewhere in the California legisl atu re. it 's win some , lose some . AB 123 6 (Chapple] is an instant winner, in th at it sp e ci f ically in cludes " off-highway vehicle use" to co m p atible recreational uses permitted on agri cultural-zoned open space lands. It is tremendously important. as it removes the m ajo r roadblock to several m otorc ycle parks througho ut the state , among other things, On No- Fault, we ap pear to be in co ntrol, wh at wit h motorcycle exemptions written into the existing bill. On emissions, AB 3 00 which se t s drastically tougher st andards after January I, 1977 is not as had as it could be , In al l, Russ Sanford reports, "It appears that our lette r-wr it in g efforts are paying off, as many bills are working to our advantage These efforts are su cceedin g, but only be cause people care enough to write a few notes or letters, o r take the time to call the district offices of their elected representatives and express their views." If it see m s t hat democracy is working on the legislative front, where the politicos can be made to listen to the people who elected t he m , be proud. It 's taken a lo t o f peoples' unsung effort to get this far. However, there 's t he other front, w here we're dealing with non-elected civil servants and are more likely to m ee t our e nem ies fa ce -to-face, Th e Nati onal Forests up and down th e West Co as t, the U.S . Fo rest Service is re-wri tin g its land use plans, each management unit worki ng individually on t he lands unde r its jurisdiction. Each u nit is , by law, required to in vol ve t he p u blic at the grassroots level , in the immediate area su rr o un di n g the forest unit. How they involve the public, how they a nn o un ce the meetings, who gets to sp ea k for user groups, all th ese polici es differ fro m unit to uni t. acco rding to the rules set h y ea ch unit's management. Can personalities and prejudice s get in volved? You b et, t h o ug h b y and large , th e U. S. Forestry Service, with its lo n g tr aditions o f p u blic service, t ends to hire a hi gher calib re o f civil servan t than man y ne wer, less inhibited agencies . Locall y, we 've fo und t he forester s wh o deal wit h O RV pl ann ing to be can di d, o pen -mi n ded, an d ofte n sy m pathe tic to th e o ff- roaders needs. What th ey d o n 't know, th ey 're will in g to learn , if so meo ne will take ti me to teach. Th ey in tum can teach us so mething abo ut lo vin g th e lan d, even whi le yo u 're usin g it. Unlike t he Sie rra Clu bbers, th ei r ide a of con se rva t io n is th at th e lan d sho ul d be used to th e full est , bu t used su ch that it's still th er e fo r th e nex t gene ratio n . 111e y also abho r unnecessary flap . As in dica te d ea rlie r, th e p u blicity on public me e tings ca n be spotty. The best way to ge t involved as a member of the public is t o call o r drop b y your d ist ric t ran ger's office (it's in th e phone book, un d er " U. S. Gov ernment, Dept. of Agr iculture " listin gs). On ce yo u have atte nde d a public meetin g and signed the register, yo u should be on their mailing list for future meetin gs. Bu t you still have to take th e first step, they 're n ot going to be kn o ckin g on yo u r door heggin g for y o ur at te n da nce, On ce th ere , you mayor m ay n o t be al lowed to sp eak fo r mo torcyclists as a gr oup in your area. Depends on t he po licies set by th e fo reste rs, and on wh o's go tten there befor e you. If there is al ready a motorcycl e spokesman , he /she will still need yo ur help. Most likel y, you 'll be asked to be p art of an ORV w ork group, to gat he r facts (not just o p in ion s) abo ut ORVs in general, and a bo u t usabl e trail s in ' the forest unit, and funnel this info rma tion, through the sp okesman , to th e foresters . Plus , when you r gu y is takin g flak from a ha lf-dozen di ffe ren t kinds of ceo-frea k, your prese nce is mu ch -needed m oral su pp ort. Yes, a p ublic m eeting that in vo lves • 31

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