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/126242
lifeline Badnews and /or the nearest to the major metropolitan areas. The Tonto National Forest has effectively closed some of Phoenix's favorite riding areas. Blue Wash . Sycamore Creek and the Rolls (see map) have been closed to cr osscountry travel , with only minimal roads and trails left open. Blue Wash , north and east of Pinnacle Peak/Reata Pass, is used by a large part of Phoenix's riders . The entire area is a mix of private, State, BLM and Forest lands. The wash itself, part of the southern powerline and the Verde River are on Forest land. The proposal will leave "designa ted roads" op en, but they 've designated onl y a small portion of th e roads, trails , and washes that are now traveled. The Blue Wash rac e-course is one notable closure. , Both sides of Sycamore Creek from above Sugar Loaf downstream to th e Indian Reservation, as well as east to the Beeline , are closed with little besid es the creekbed itself and th e graded roads in the area "designated " , The popular hillcliinbing area along the lower portion of th e creek is totally closed . The Rolls, th e area north of Sahuaro Lake, east of th e Beeline and south of the road to Four Peaks , is closed , with o nly th e ma in graded roads "design a ted". No ac cess routes to Sahuaro Lak e ha ve been "designa ted" . Not able closures in other ' areas of th e State are som e of th e cinder cones northeast of Flagstaff and a ll of th e Catalina Mountains. All tr ails in th e Mountains ar e closed to bik es; in fact . the' onl y thing "des ign a ted" other th an the m ain roads a re a few Jeep ro ad s in the Oracle a nd Redington Pass a rea s. Many of the riders that comm ented at the previously held open hou se noted that they would accept restricted areas where cross-cou nt ry travel was elim ina ted, and roads a nd trails remained open . In all of th e areas I've noted th e problem stems from d ifferences in wh at you consider a road and what the Forest has "design a ted" . The Tonto and Coronado Forests have been espec ially sever e in th is regard. A much better a rra ngement would be to accept th e tr avelways now in use and try to lim it further damage . This approach has been used on the Prescot t Forest and sm all area on th e Tonto, west of Bartlett Lake wher e cross-country travel is prohibited but all existing roads are open. One mo re thing. T hese restrictions hav e been brought a bou t by th e irresponsible amongst us. Rid ing anywh ere you damn well please in th e remaining areas will result in more closures. Count on it. • Editor's note: This article appears t oo lat e for rid ers to com me nt on th e in-itial plan; (ou r apologies to correspondent Ph il Briggs for th e delay in publicat ion); and appears now to let rid ers kn ow of th e closures. Is th ere tlnything we can do at th is point? Yes, th ere is a Forest Service appeals pro cedure. by which citizens ' groupscan abtseal th e decision of any Forest Serv/c~ ojji'cef, Th e p osey sniffe r news-sheets have already hinted that th eir closet lawyers will t ry to use th e proc edure against us; whil e th e Motorcycl e Industry Council (M I C) has alerted us that bikers can , in turn. use th e appeals pr ocess in th eir own behalf. We are now gathe ring details on the process, which we'll publish ASAP. M eantime, you m ight start sho pping for a bik er-sympath et ic lawye.rqr two , Rhodes: III'm going to do it niy way" By Lane Campbell SACRAMENTO . CA , DEC . 18, 1976 In a face-to-face meeting with OHV leadership people (attended by Cycle 'News publisher Sharon Clayton) , California State Parks & Recreation Di rector Herbert Rhodes gave his best impression of "Nixon at the breach, " during the first such public encounter since the state audit of his department's activities became known . In his opening remarks, Rhodes termed Cycle News' articles on the OHV Fund scandal "inaccu ra te"; and the Auditor General's report "not fair to the public." After a keynote address by Karl Schnetz - an aide to Assemblyman Eugene Chappie - Rhodes joined in a group discuss ion of backup material supporting th e audit's findings , and heard Russ Sanford ~f :'\1. .!L l:;. propose steps to resolve th e problems the audit had uncovered . Among thos e proposals: 1) Parks ' & Rec to request an appropriation of $1. 5 million in reverted Bond Act Funds to apply towards a Los Angeles area OHV Park; 2) reduce budget a nd staffing at ,Holl iste r Hills ; 3) establish a reviewing panel with representatives from the ORV -using public to appmve certain charges to the OHV Fund; 4) reorganize Parks & Rec , trading off responsibilities with the current Dept. of Navigation and Ocean Development (DNOD) to create, in effe ct , two new e n tities, o ne re sponsibl e to preservationists. the other to rec reationists. , , After listening to these and other proposals, Rhodes re -stated his determination to go it his own way . He said that ' he would commit to three new motor recreation parks - one each for North , Central and Southern California , adding that he was sure of having $4 million for a project in Southern California . He stood firmly against cu tt ing the Hollister budget or staff, claiming , that th e recentlyreduced fees would bring attendance up to budgeted levels . He did, however , end orse the op ening of the area to com petition events . On other points, he pledged to " be more responsive in these rna tt ers. " Apparentl y, th e Department's accounting procedures are also being tightened up, m ore out of fear of losing Federal matching funds than out of concern for ORV enthusiasts. In all , the meeting came off as just one preliminary bou t with a set of tough -minded, skilled bureaucrats. Los Angeles area bikers may get a chance to See Rhodes and/or his henchmen in action closer to home by attending the scheduled hearing January 14 (see the latest Poop for details). • ' ~ a / I , L..--... I~_--------.. 9