Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

II CORVA out of Rand Cleanup: Sierra Club in California O ff Ro a d Vehi cle ssoc ia t io n , follow ing u p a b itt e r de n u nc ia tio n of t h e Bu reau of La nd Managem ent ( BLM) has withdrawn official su p po rt fro m th e Ra nd Open Area clea n u p April 2·3 . (T he cleanup evo lved in to a n a n n u a l eve nt und er joint spo nso rs hi p of BLM , M.O. R. E. , and CORVA). Meanwh ile , the Sierra C lub printed a noti ce in th e Sou/h em Sie rran newspaper (p u b lis hed by the Angeles ~ha pter) asking fo r su p po rt of the cleanup' drive. BLM spo kesmen said th e Bureau ori gi na lly turned to 0 R V e nt h u sias t g r o u ps when environment ali st volunteer effo rts proved inadequ ate years ago. Sanford scores misuse of public money Russ Sanford , Presid ent a nd Legislat ive Advoca te of Motorcycle' Owners, Riders, Enthusiasts (M. O .R, E. ), on beha lf of the organi za tion's 25, 000 activists, ca lled upon both President J im my C a rt er a nd Ca lifornia Governor Brown to halt th e defamation of off-r e aders by peopl e on th e public pa yroll. Sa nford's rem arks , car rie d in a le tter t o Presid ent Carter. with a co py to Govern or Brown , ca me in the wake of a well -publicized co ndemna tio n of offroad veh icles wr itten by a grou p of California scie n tists . Sanford c ited pa rt icual arl y a n em p loyee of the U .S . Geologic a l Survey , H oward G . W ilsh ire : and Professo rs St ebbin s a nd C o hen of U n ive rsi t y of Californ ia as collaborators on the anti -O R V tra ct written on Universi ty of California letterhead and se nt to th e Presid ent , -nine govern ment agencies, a nd 27 othe r political lea d er s. Sanford co n t i n ued , " , . . th e members of th is assoc ia tion a re fed up wit h po uri ng o ut o ur tax d ollars for , purposes of pa yin g pub lic se rva n ts to non-constr uctive ly criticize a nd co nd emn t he fo rm of spo rt a nd recrea tion tha t we have chosen ." Seventy volunteer projects up for grabs Seq uoia Nati on al Forest has re leas ed a list of 70 Fisca l Yea r 1977 p roj ect proposals under the forest 's, o ngo ing Volunteer A ction Pla n . The pu rpose of the pl an , is to save taxpayer m oney whi le ge tting forest users actively invo lved in the ca re and m a intenance of their pu b lic land. Many of the proposed p rojects a re in designated " o pen to O R V" a re as with in th e fo res t. or on designated O R V tr ai ls, le nd ing themse lves id eally to participation b y ac tive m ot orcycle cl u bs , or even by fa mily tra ilrid in g g ro u ps . Som e project s m ay require heavy labor and/or eq uip ment . Examples a re Project 2·3, reha b ilitation of th e Hossack Cabin site , road a nd cu lvert o n a d esi g n at e d O RV tra il off . C alifo rn ia Hw y 190 near J o rd an Peak ; Project 2- 13 , fen ce remova l a t Trou t M eadow; and se ve r a l t rail ' m a in te na nce p rojects on th e Hot Springs Ranger Dist rict , req uiri ng brushing , buck ing , erosion co nt ro l damm ing a nd sig n m a inten a nce , O thers m ight be less dema nding . such as Project 6·2 , condi tion su rvey o n trails in th e Cannell Meadow D ist rict. T his wo uld require volu nteers to walk o r rid e about 500 m iles of tra il Carter to outlaw .o f f road vehicles President Jimmy Carter's environmental message to Congress will announce a ban by Executive Order of all off-road vehicle (O R V) use on all public lands administered by the Fed eral government , according to draft co pies of his speech curre ntly b eing circu lat ed t o g o ve r n me n t age ncies. Acc ording to In terna tio na l Snowmobile Indust ry Associatio n ( ISlA) Vic e President (and attorney at la w) William j obe . the Presid ent's Offi ce of Managem ent a nd Budget . I ' h d f (O M B) b egan circu a tl ng ,t e ra t bli f' L arc h II . P U Ie . a nnou ncement 0 M t he ban by th e President cou ld co me as id M h 2" ea r Iy as F nay, h a rc 0, · h d f n c Iu d e d In t e sp eec r a t were I '1 0 f two Execu u. ve 0 r d ers. T h e d eta i S first will ban a ll O RV use on public land . Th e se c o n d wil es ta b lis h guid eli nes for review an d re -opening of specific a reas . Re-opening closed lan d s will requ ire a le n g t h y bureau crati c proced u re , in clud in g not ice in th e Fed er al Registe r a nd stu dies proving that re-o pe n ing will not a dversely a ffec t "environmental . socia l, or a rcheologica l character of the land. " Jobe had been able to verify the co ntent of th e draft wit h White H ouse staff m embers, bu t has been unable to obta in a copy of it. Unless public opinion can turn bac k the issua nce of these Executive O rd ers, desert racing as we know it will come to a n immediate halt. The onl y t hi ng d uri ng t he user -season , and rep ort on co nditions. Inter ested parties sho uld write J. Michael Morten sson , Seq u oia N . F.. 900 W . Gra n d Ave . . Po rt e rvill e , CA 93257 , ' asking for a p roject list. Ther e will be resp o nse form in the pa cka ge o n whi ch to m ake a bid fo r a . desired p roject. Afte r a ll resp onses are rev iewed on M a v I , a U n it Coord inator will co n ta ct yo ur grou p to begi n detail p la n ning of you r se lect ed project. Last year, the p rogram saved th e t a x p a ye rs $36 ,000 . T his ye a r , if trailrid ers and th eir orga nizations get be h ind th e progra m , t he figure co u ld do uble . Anti-ORV smear campaign at Potrero DESTRUCTION!. . .BADLANDS! screa med the headli nes of a half-page a d in the Rive rside Press Enterprise newspaper. A group calli ng itself " C itizens for Pro tecti ng the Pass" spo nso red th e ad Cal ifornia ca lling for oppos ition to Off H ighw a y Veh icl e re csit e a t Potrero . Busin esses whic h lent t heir premises to the circu la tio n of antiO RV pet iti ons were Starme r Lawn mowers of Ba nning, Don McGu ire Associ ates, I nc . of Banning, a nd Bea um o nt G ard e n C ent er , o f Beaumont. Duri ng th e wee ks pr eceeding th e Ca liforn ia R e c r e a t ion al' Tra ils Commi tt ee's site selectio n m eeting , Potre ro oppo nents m a naged to ge t n eg at ive r esol u t ion s p a ssed b y Ban ning and Beaumont civic grou ps a nd by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors . C a lifornia Assemb lym an J erry Lewis was a lso en liste d to aid in opposition to th e Potrero site. a off-roaders can do to sto p this OR V d oomsd ay from becoming a real ity is to write a nd tel egraph th e President , the Secret a ries of the in terior and A gr icul ature , a n d Sen at ors a nd Congressm en . A Ia n IsIey 0 f t h e , ot o r c yc Ie M . . Ind ustry . Cou n cil . c . u ti o ns a moto rc yclists to kee p In mind the . . Im p or t a nce 0 f ou r Im a g e as 'b l ' . did resp o nsl e citizens a n a n users. A busi . usrve an d no n-constructive Ietters . and tel egra ms Will o nl y hurt the cause. ~ . S en~ tele grams a nd le tt e rs immed iatel y to : The Honorable Jimmy Carter President of the United States The White House Wash ington. DC20500 Th e Ho nor a ble Cecil Andrus Sec retary. U.S. Dept. of the Interior Washington. DC20240 The Honorable Bob Bergl and Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Agricu lture Washingto n, DC 20250 Senator (Insert y o ur se nator s' name) U.S . Sena te Washington, DC 20515 Congressman Ii n sert yo ur Congressman's namel U .S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Sample message to President I ha ve lea rned that you p la n to ban off-roa d vehicle use o n pub lic la nds by Execu tive O rd er. As a co ncerned owner/ e nt h usia st , I ask that yo u reconsid er suc h d rast ic ac tion unt il you 've m et personally wit h O RV userrep resen ta ti ves . Sample message to Congressmen, others: I h ave lea rn ed th a t Pr esid ent Ca rt er plans to ba n off-road vehicle use o n p u blic la nd s by Executive Order. As a concerned owne r /ent husiast , I feel t hat suc h dra st ic ac tio n IS unnecessari ly seve re , arbi trary and ca p ricio us. Please co nvey m y feelings to the Pr esid ent and other responsibl e officia ls. California starts action on Hungry Valley OHV park SAC R AMENT O , CA , MAR. 17 California ' Sta te Department of Parks and Recreation Director H erbert Rhodes has directed his staff to begin work on detail plans and funding for a "Green Stickie" park at Hun- . g ry Va lley, nea r Gorman , fo llowi ng th e unan im ou s recomm en d a ti on of th e C a li fo rnia Recr ea tio na l Tra ils Com m ittee. T he Committ e e re comme nd a tion a nd Rh od e's action ca rne after co risidera uon of t h rr« possibl e sites for a Sou t hern California Off H ig hway Vehicle (OIlV ) park . A c co rding to Rh o d es . m an y proh lems sti ll must be- overcorne before So uthern Ca lifo rni a's firs t O IIV area esta blished wit h Green St ickie m oney be comes a rea lity ; The re remains the sta ff work of determin ing ex a ct ho undaries of t he ro ug h ly 19 ,000 -a ("re sit e , fa ciliti es to be provided on site. willingness of Cu rr ent propl'ft y o wne rs to se ll, estab lishment of reasonable appraised land va lues, and final approval b y bo th the Ca lifornia Stall' Legislat ure a nd the Cal iforni a Public Wo rks Board . A public m eeting (dat e to be announced ) will be held near th e site itsel f to rr-view de tai ls. Th e Tra ils Com rn irree rece ived 3820 indiv idua l lett ers co ncern ing th e t hr ee pr oposed recsit es, a lo ng wit h severa l peti tions a nd resoluti o ns from loca l govvrnmcnr agenc ies. Hu ngry Va lley ha d 935 ler n -rs in fa vor , o n ly two o p pose d . Pot rero received 343 lett ers "p ro, " 1437 " co n" p lus a n o p pos it ion p et iti on w it h 13 6 6 sig na t u res. (A p ropon l'nt o f t he Potrero site , Kerry Ken ned y. had 600 sig nat ures o n a n " in favor " pei ti on , but ha d gott en starte d 100 la te 10 present it to the com m ittee before the Ma rch 10 close of co rnmen rs.) Rittcr Ra nch , the_ o ther pr oposed site , had 161 I"llers "in su p port , 942 opposed, a nd a n opposi tion pe ti tion wit h 552 sig na tu res. In its for m al reso luti o n o n t he subject . th e co rnmittrr n -comme-nd cd that in addi tion to th e deve lopment of II llOgry Va lley. someth ing shou ld be done to ser ve t lu- needs or o ff-roaders in Riversid e a nd San Berna rdino Co u n t ies . R ic h a r d B ro w n . t h e m ot orcvclist m ember of t he Tra ils Commi'l1e, '. was especia lly sea rch ing in hi s ques tionin g of Pot rer o o p po nen ts o n this ac co un t. Wh en so me cia irru -d t h a t the Potrero Sill' now co nt ribu ted $40 ,000 to the local ta x rolls . th en asked th at it be made a State Park to keep vehicles out . Brown noted th at if keep ing it o n the ta x roll s was th eir de sire, it shou ld be ncirher park nor O R V a rea . Bro wn a lso put Assembl yrnan Jerry Lewis (whose district in cludes Po trero) on the spot when Lewis expressed concern for the 1"I~i timall' needs of off-roaders io his area, Bro wn told Lewis t hat rh« assern b lvma n was in a n excellent posit io n' to bri ng o ff-r e ade rs and Pot re ro opponents together to work o u t a n a ltern at e site loca t io n - " If not Po t rero , when '?" T houg h the choice is now m ade , it m a y be at least two yea rs before Hung ry Vall e y ca n be fo r m a lly opene d : since the proj.,r t must run the gt' n t le t of fu n d i ng . pl annin g , en viro nment a l im p a ct n 'po ft s, a n d a pprova l by th e po we rful Parks an d Recrea t io n Com m ission . Bikers a re current ly a b le to rid e porti ons of the silt, in u ncoruesr r-d t resp ass, a nd use it as a s ta~in~ are a for access to tra ils o n t he nearby Los Pad res Na t ional Forest. • 5

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