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/126076
; IIa .. ; Opdnion t o c<"'l ... Il.) ,.Q E Il.) ;> o Z ,. Bad year for a desert club San Gabriel Valley M otorcycle Club speaks up Wa nt to know what's up with Ba rstow to Vegas and such? Please read" t he following list of events. 1 I \" ! I I I I I. I I i i I• I .... January. 1976: We applied for a permit for B to V. February. 1976: Perm it denied: reason: The course we chose was not acceptable, as we did a few modifications to the 74 course. March. 1976: " We re -applied for our B to V permit using the 74 course without any changes. April May June No response from BL M. Late June: We were contacted by District 37 Legal Defense Task Force and were asked to suspend any further ac tion on Barstow to Vegas for the following reason. D-37 and BL M are working on a rotation p lan for future desert racing which would expand the riding areas and give the desert racers more and better riding areas in the future . If we press for B to V 60% of the BL M funds available for desert use would be used on an Environmenta l Impact Study, th us retarding the rotationa l p lan . • Having the interest of D-37 desert racers in mind we decided to suspend further action on B-to- V for '76 and see what happens . Let it be known that we spent quite a lot of time and effort during these months on B to V. August 9: We applied for a race permit for a ha re & hound on Thanksgiving weekend in memory of Bvto-V. Wanting to make this more than an ordinary weekend race we decided to go to the 29 Palms area and put on a I 10 mile race of variety and fun, in a virtually virgin area , that is marked on the BLM maps as open for competition use. BLM said that it wou ld take two and one half months to do an Environmental Analysis Report (EAR) as this area hadn't been used for competition use since these ru les were in affect. October. 1976: We were contacted by the BLM and asked if. we could meet a ranger at the race site that weekend so he could sco ut the course with use. We complied . October 20: We were contacted again by the BLM and asked to go to t he race location again on the wee kend of the 23rd and 24th to ribbon the complete course (1 10 miles) so they could go down during the following week and spend two or three days there looking things over. We complied, getting home about 2 a .rn, on Monday morning . Early November. 1976: BLM asks us to meet with them at their office in Riverside on Friday November 5 re: ou r race. Thinking it was to pick up our race permit we were off to meet them and ready to go for it. Guess what? Permit denied: R EASO N : It was brought to their attention (The BLM's) that the EA R tha t they spent 2~ months on wasn 't the right one. and that it didn't comply with the "Endangered Species Act." was done at the wrong time of the year and etc., etc., etc. In other words we were led down the path of des pair. We a ll know who brought these facts to the BL M's attention, but it su re shows us our government in action . November 8.1976: We have applied for another permit for a 110 mile H &H in Lucerne Valley (the on ly area open on that weekend). We will sincerely try to see that t his race comes off and make it as much fun as we can with what's available . We would like to urge all D-37 riders and any others to patronize our race as the '76 B-to-V Memorial a nd help us band toget her for a fun four -day weekend together in the desert. This is still a D·37 point run . 9:00 a.m. start. See Ca lendar Section for further info or call 2 I 3-964·8929 . We've spent to ns of money and time on a race and wou ld great ly appreciate your support. SAN GABRIEL VALLEY M/C POINT "Corsa P act ca" pro & con , · ifi r Coastal Commission exec says:· It's a natural area to be protected I have received your letter concerning t he possible estab lishment of a close road circui t in the dunes a rea of Los Angeles airport. As you know , the new Coastal Zone line includes this area and according to my information , was so placed as to protect this natural dune area habitat from any further encroachment. Although you sta te all activities wou ld be conducted on .pavement. I ca n Forsee that the dunes wou ld be susceptible to cycles running on them as well as considerable foot traffic if races, erc., are conducted . Until such time as the new Coastal Commission is ac tivated a nd sets forth its guidelines a nd policies for this area, I regret to inform you that I see no way I can discuss the matter. I will be gla d to set u p a meeting with State staff to discuss yo ur proposal after the foregoing has been acomplished. M. J. CA RPENTER Exec u tive Director South Coast Regiona l Com m ission CN Editor says: Wh o's he trying to kid? I couldn't tell if Mr. Me l Carpenter was bei ng naive , de liberately deceptive, or j ust obfuscating in th e absence of a po licy from u psta irs. As one who is charged wit h implementing Coasta l Commiss ion po licy in this SoCa l region, he sho uld become a little mor e fam ilia r with on-road motorcycles and road racing before m akin g his own value judgements. If he kn ew a nything a t all, he 'd realize there'd be no motorcycles in the soft sa nd off th e pavement unless a bunch of them misse d the first turn! Then, too - I m ust have too good a me'mory to be snowed by preservationist jargon . It a pparent ly has become fashionab le at the Coastal Commission to refer to that defunct housing development as the "dunes area." How come I sti ll remem ber it as a pos h coastal ho using a rea? Fifteen years ago when I was a kid with a ratty Austin Healejs I used to cruise the boulevard down there , digging the manicured lawns, the pastel bric -abrae, the flowered walls and planters: and most of all , the hordes of suntanned chicks crossing to the beach . Ah , those were the days . . . Natural area, huh? Shows what you can accomplish with a little political power and a lot of brass. J ust convince everybody to forget the years of litigat ion over airport noise : and the fina l. u ltim ate solution of uprooting the offending neighborhood lock, stock and patio. Urban renewal with a vengeance ; cause for once it didn't happen to the b lac k and poor. Remember? So now it 's a natural area , hu h? I maybe am prejudiced, for to me it st ill looks a lot more like a tight , demanding closed road circu it than either a natural area or a golf course. Carpenter says he's waiti ng for a new State Coasta l Com m issi on to be a ppointed in Ja nuary before they ca n even bo ther to talk to us. J ust for the record , two members of the Sta te. Commission are appointed by the Governor, two by the Speaker of the Assem bly, and two by the Cha irm a n of the Senate Rules Committee. One member is elected by each of the Regional Commissions. It is my fervent hope that a few of So Cal's road racers - and a few road racers' fathers - can use t he time between now and then to lean on t heir connections to our elected representatives. Ot herwise, the Sierra Club mental ity will ta ke th is u n iqu e , never -to-be-d up lica ted opportunity of a road ci rcuit in an urban area where noise is no constraint, a nd plow ii und er the sand. Lane Campbell