Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

EBL M Wilderness: i Can we afford to say, 111've done enough?" t 00 t"-0') 1""""4 ~ Well , the eat's out of the bag! California motorcyclists have become painfully aware of the far reaching implications of the Bureau of Land , P d WOld R Management s ropose I erness eview 0 0 0 0 0 t"-- . Procedures. All too clearly, their ~ foc:u:' has been brough~ to bear. on ~ the Importance of this planning ~ effort to the future (or lack of 1""""4 f ) d uture . Ito comlpeuuve an recreauona motorcyc mg. At the first "Wilderness Information P .. h Id b h BLM ' rog~am , C I~f . y ; ~OO n so u t derd a I orfma , h R .peoPde ' atten e to con ront t e rversi e · · ff f h BLM . h he i D Istnct sta a t e wit . t elr · b ild h f ee IlOgS a out WI erness 10 t e ·£ . D A identifi bl C a 1I orma esert. mong I enn ra e . . d Interest groups In atten ance wer e . f h Iers, miners , kh oun d s roc . I d our-wee (. fai d ) pnva~e an owners, ~n. In ~~r~ess two . esert preservau~msts . . ~t q~est1o?, h owev~r, t e maJomy 0 f os e 10 d atten ance ~ere ang~r ' 'd u st;fi td b hm?tolrcbY~ ISketS .e a ~1 y r a e y t err c u Jac ts , Jersl~ , I enn re d T hi an -s rrts , It is on infrequent occasions that motorcycle organizations respond unanimously in reacti on to anything , much less attend a meeting and make a public expression of their feelings. However, at Anaheim High Schoo l auditorium on May 2 they were there and the message was clear, .. desert 't OU} motorcyclists don't like the BLM's proposed wilderness procedures . 20 fined :,"S and must meet a ll of th e followmg: " An a ccess rou te whi ch has been im proved and m aintained by using hand o r pow er m ach in ery or tool s to insure relati vely regular and con tin uo us use . A way maintained Land Management has pro posed the solely by th e passag e of vehicles Wilderness Policy and Review d oes not constitu te a road." Procedures which require BLM to : Wor~. and ~,hrase~ used in t he above I . Inventory all roadJess areas of pubdefiniti on of road ~ea.n: lic lands which m eet wilderness Im~roved and Mamlam~ - W.here criteria of the Wilderness Act of acuons have been and WIll co nn n ue 1964 to be d irect ed to physically keep th e S d' h dl £ d ffi 2 . .tu Ydea~ ro:," ess a ~ed or pos la Rroal ,?peln tRo tral lc . d Co . SI b le esigna u on as WI erness to e auve y egu ar an ntmuous determine th eir suitability or nonUse - use by vehicles hav ing four sui ta bility. or m ore wh eel s which has occ urred . . d '11 ' f 3. Report their find ings to Congress. an WI conunue to occu r or a pre- Just . det ermimed I d , or mten d e d . So first we see that the BLM IS ete rrn . p anne '. (A I Id b following orders from Congress; a purpose. n exa m p e wou e ac' . . Congress. wh . h we e Iecred. A I for eq u ipment to m amtam a ic so cess . ' k C I d Congress will have th e fina l sa yan stock water tan . asua or ran a m ' w har i gomg to b e WIild erness. G rven at IS use b y a ff -roa d ve hiICIes or recrea these facts motorcyclists will want to tionists d oes not qu alify.) think abo~t this wh en sele cting wh o A quick review of th ese cr it ical th ey will vot e for next fall . terms and th eir definition s makes no Virtually all of BLM 's 450 million sec re t of th e fact that a p plying them to acr es will be inventoried byJuly 1980 th e Cal ifornia Desert will drasti cally f h ' . 'I h I Th but because 0 t e specla c ange m otorcyc e usc . e manage · management status (C DCA) give n to m ent required for th e desert m akes it sou th ern California deserts , they will impossi ble for th ese terms to b e be first. Id entification and u tili zed ! . The C~l ifor? i a Dese~t Designation of Wild ern ess Study Areas Conse rvation A rc:a IS. umque. Th~ t s f or th e CDCA will have been made by wh y Congress se.t It a~lde to be ~t udl ed January 31, 1979 - eig h t m onths sepa ra tel y. It IS this very differen t from now ! nature of th ese 12 1-2 mill~ ~n acres t?a t This brings us to all th e. meetings preclude th~ ';Ise of defini tio ns applied and hub -bub that BLM is goi ng to the remamlng land manag ed by the through at this time. FLPMA also tells BLM . . the BLM that they must seek " pu blic There IS g~neral agr~ement that ~he involvem en t ." key to c?anglng the wl!d erness rev~ew Public involvement to bureaucrats process m the CDCA IS by changing invariably means ~ublic meetings , this last definition - the definition of workshops , and written comments. a road . . . , However, when it comes down to it At the Ana.helm ":,eetlng, B~~ s the only th ing that really counts. are Kemp"Con~, s~ld that If the definition spe cific wr itten recommendations of a road IS. cha nged . ( Re~em be r submitted to the BLM asking for that the BLM IS proceeding with the changes and justifi cation for th ese CDAC " d f " inventory using the unfinalzed f h W 'ld R' changes. ra t 0) ~ e h ~~~nes~lI h eV lew Let's take a look at some of th e Procedure t en t e . WI ave to terms and definitions involved in this go bachk and dre-fido, ~he ITn~entory to process: m eet .t e . neMw e on. e presehnt Wilderness - the only definition deadline IS ay I 7'"fltl comment on.t e or that counts is the one used in the draft of the procedures ; the finalized version comes out in J u ly. W 'ld e~ess A ct?f 1964 ' C on.g;ess was I . . . pretty I.,bera! with the defimtl~n and H owever , as ba.d :,"s th e d e~nltlon IS; BLM IS bemg even more liberal. we ca n' t change It If we don t play by Wilderness " is recognized as an area th eir rules. Here's what we have to d ol where th e ea rt h and its com m u ni ty I. Send form al writt en (hand wri tt en of life are ~ntra,:";neled by m an ," will do) com ments to the Direc tor wher~ man IS ~ _VIS1l0r but d oes not of the ·B.ureau of ~a nd Manage remain. In addItIon , . .. an ar:a .of u.n . m ent . HIS address IS: de~eloped fed eral land re ~alnmg lIS Directo r (3 70) pr~m eval c h a~ac ter and Influen ce . Bureau of Land Manag eT?ent WIlderness WIll be protected an~ U .S . !J e par ~ m ~nt of Int erIo r T?anage~ to preserv e natural cond" Int eno r BUlldmg tlons whIch : . . 18th ~ n d C Street , N . W . I. affect~ p,:manly b~ forces of na · W ashln.gt o n , D.C . 2.0240 , ture; Imp;lnt of m ans work shou ld 2 . A,s d lscussed . ea ~h er , we ve go~ to be u~notlceabl e .. .. gIVe them a Justifia ble a lternative. 2. contall~ outstandmg. op~rt u nllles for soli tud e and .pnmlll ve o r un · a . T he net work of u nmai nt ai ne d confi,:,ed recreation . ro ads , trail s, an d ro utes of 3. con ta Ins at least 5,000 acres . tr avel are t he tr aditi on al pub 4. ma y cont ai n ec~logi~a l , geo logi.cal, lic vehiele ways of th e California or features of SCIentific, educauon desert and ar e necessary to ga in aI , scenic , or historical value . any access to vast resources, Roadless Area - that area bounded sce nic a ttractions, a nd priva te by a road using th e edge of th e ph ysilands. ca l change that cre a tes the road or b . T he m ethod of co nstr uct io n, inside edge of the right -of-wa y as a cond ition of the road . and type boundary. of vehi cle whi ch is a b le to Wilderness Study Area - a roadless traver se the roa d sho u ld not be area found to hav e wild erness cha r · th e sign ifica n t fact or in d et eract eristics which will be su bjecte d to mining how th e road is defined. a na lysis and public review to de te r· c . The vas t o pt'n ness of th e Cal imine wild erness su ita bi lity . fornia desert m ak es th e a p pli- . And last bu t not least: cation of the suggested defi ni Road: - for the pu rpose of th e BLM tion of " road" both im prac tica l wilderness in ven tory , a road is de · a nd ina p pro p riate givt'n tr ad i- Specifically, they don't like the definition of a " roa d" now being considered to identify roadless areas which could become wilderness . The attendance of so many motorcyclists at such a meeting is a sign of the increasing awareness and participation is the great thing . ecnve I0 bbymg necessary to b e an e ffecti group . Yet the question remains . . . is it enough to attend such a meeting, raise hell, then go home? The answer is unequivocally No! Along with th e unity of spirit demonstrated by motorcyclists at th e An aheim meeting, something else was also visible. Frustration! Those attending the meeting obviously recognized th e sig ni fica nce an d potential impacts of th e BLM wilderness program , yet did not see m to know how to im pact th e process. This " need to kn ow," combined with a need for lots of in p ut to th e BLM is th e essencl' of t he probl em now faci ng desert m o torcycl ists. Now let 's take a sho t at understand · ing what is goi ng on an d wh a t riders can a nd must d o a bo u t it. In 1976 , Congress (as in " U .S.") passed somethi ng called The Federal Land Poli cy and Managem ent Act of 1976 (FLPMA ), also referred to as " Flipm a" and "The Organic Act ," which requires the preparation of a long range plan for the " m anagement , use , development , a nd protection of the public lands ." Public lands spe cifica lly mean the 450 million acres managed by th e BLM and ident ifies th e area of th e southern California desert as a speci a l management ar ea ca lled th e "Ca lifo rnia Desert Conservation Area" Among th e multitude of things FLPMA is responsible for is incl udi ng J BLM lands for co nside ra tio n as possibl e wilderness 10 be included in t he National Wilderness Preserv ation System . In response , th e Bureau of tional . use patter~s and transportatio na l needs m the desert . d . T he definr ion ofa road or ro ute of travel estab lishe d in 1974 by the BLM evolved afte r a great deal of " practica l a pplica tion." th ou ght a nd assessment of m an agem ent ca pabi lities. It is sug · ges red th at the foll owing defini tion be su bsti~uted . fo r the · p~rp?sc: of defim~g w.llderness ~ tena m th e Ca lifornia d~rt . Roads a re th ose esta blished before November I. 1973, which " fi rf id f SI~l1 Icanh~ slu ac e e VI ence ,? pnor ve IC e trave l o r pu bl IC wa ys habitually traveled by vehi cles, It may or m a y not be . . maintained by the government . and must have evidence of pre, . , VlOUS use. Widening or extend. . ibi mg 0 f t hesc routes IS pro I11 Ited . . . . If nature elimin ates pornons , . dnot exc u eve hiICe use. " Id I It Des 3 T o sa ve wri ting two letter s send . a ca r bon copy or X erox c~py to yo ur Senato rs and Congressmen in Wash ing ton W rite in red ink ac ross th e copy: tell them you ex. ' . ' . pect th eir help on this. 4 . In ad d ition to th e m eet ing in Anaheim , several other meet ings are being held this month. A list of ti mes a nd p laces is a tt ac hed. You can be assured th at th ose who want to close th e desert to you will be the re. Plan to attend as many as yo u ca n to m ak e positive in put, to change the definition of "road ." You can 't be content with just having gon e to one meeting. Desert bikers must be present at all of them . 5. The American Motorcyclist Associa tion has formally written to BLM Director Frank Gregg re o quest ing an exten sion of time for. co m men ts. W e ca n' t count on th e M 17 d dli bei t d d ay . me you must eda 11 now l 109 ex en e : 0 ~ 6. BLM 's wild erness process affects 450 million ac re s in II states in . eluding Alaska. The great impact on off-road motorcyclist s will be in California . The work must be d h I one ere . The Government Rel ations Depart. ment of the American Mot orcyclisl Association a nd AMA 's District 37 organization have worked hard to try a nd inform d esert ri ders wh a t must be done . W ith th e co m m u nicati on aid of Cycle News West, m ore bikers have been co nt racted tha n eve r before to solve a problem critical to th e fut u re of m ot orcycle use in th e Cali fornia desert. Now it 's up to a ll of us to pitch in, write com ments that say th e sa me thi ng, a nd ge t t he job done . If you have quest ions or wa nt additiona l suggestions on wha t you or you r o rga niza tion ca n d o , co ntact: J im W ell s, Cha irm an District 37 Legal Defense Task Forc e 10238 Chaney Avenue Downey Cal ifornia 213 /861.364 2 or Rob Ra sor Associ at e Director I Government Rel a tions Dep artment Am eri can Motorcyclist Associ at ion 2 P.O . Box 141 W est erville , Oh io 43 08 1 614 / 891 -24 25 . W ilderness Rev ie w tim e t abl e California Desert Conservation Area May2-31 ,1978 Public informa tion sessions a nd publ ic worksh o ps o n wilderness p rocedures. See listi ng!

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