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/126832
Voices (Con ti n ued from page 19) covery of a mineral , to locate a nd purchase. But, th e " kno wledgea ble" sho u ld have rea d o n in th e mining law of 1872, co nta ine d in 30 USC 22, and found out that th e rights granted by th e minin g la ws sha ll be " u nder regu lat ions prescribed by la w," a n d that those regulations sha ll be issued by the Secretary (43 USC 1201). The body of federa l mining laws begins with th e ac t of 1872. Severa l laws have been passed si nce th en th at refine th e princip les of th e ac t. Of particu la r note to th e issue of off road riding is the Federal Land Po licy and Management Act o f 1976. which stat es, "In managing the public lands the Secretary shall , by regulation or otherwise, tak e any ac tio n necessary to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of th e lan ds." Regu la tions have been published that provide for th ese purposes. Th ey are 43 CFR Subpart 3802 - Exploration and Mining , Wildern ess Review Pro gra m, and 43 CFR Su bpart 3809 - Surface Managem en t. The 3802 regulations pe rtain to lands under wilderness study. T hese regu lations require a BLM ap p ro ved pl an of operation for a ny ope ra tio ns using motorized vehi cles over ot her th an "open use ar eas and trai ls." T he 3809 regulations pertain to lands not under wilderness study. In those regula tio ns, "casual use" may occ u r without filing a no tice or plan o f operations wi th the BLM. However , " cas ual use " does not include the use of motorized vehicles o ff ex isting ways or trails. The minimum tha t must be done on most public lands is th e proper filing of a notice prior to a ny o pera tion o f motorized vehicles off existing ways, tra il s or ro u tes. Su ch n otices shall contai n th e name o f th e operator , a description of th e p ro posed ac tivi ty, locat ion in su fficie nt detail to loca te the activi ty on the ground, a nd gi ving the app ro xi ma te date wh en suc h opera tio ns will start. Notices mu st be filed a t least 15 ca lendar days before commencing a ny operations. H owever, in th e Californ ia Desert Co nservation Area, a ny such operation of motorized vehicles off exis ting ro u tes or o n ro u tes desig nated as "cl osed " to mo tori zed vehicles req ui res a BLM-appro ved pl an of opera tion. BLM has 30 da ys to review a pla n before a pproval or notifica tion that changes are necessary before operations ca n begi n. We hope that this informa tion will clarify th e issue of how th e m ini ng la ws rela te to off-road rid in g. We h ope th at off-road users will u nders ta nd th a t carryi ng a " pic k a nd shovel" does not exempt th em from mot orized veh icle restrictions. We ask that a ll mot o rized veh icle users, both "kn owled geable" and o therwise, cooperate with and resp ect mo torize d vehicle reg u latio ns on th e publ ic la nd s. GE RA LD E. HI LLI ER District Manager Bur eau o f La nd Management Riverside, CA Published letters do no t necessarily reflect t he position of Cycle News. Inc . Letters for pub lication must be typed and double-spaced; short. concise letters stand a better chance of being published; due to the volume of mail no letters can be returned or acknowledged . Send letters to Vo ices. P.O. Box 498. Lo ng Beach. CA 90801 . MOTORCYCLE WORLD is racing across California via satellite this Sunda y night's special guest is: the Bonneville World Mo tor cycle Speed Re cor d H older ** Don Vesco ** It comes to y o u live, every S un day night from 10 t o 11 p .m, Topi cs range from street bikes to dir t bikes t o supercross, motocross a nd drag racin g. World-wide race results wit h War ren Reid and Dr. Ca rver's Sp or ts Medicine feature. Call in a n d tal k with all t he top perso nalities , a nd be a part of mot orcycle world. 1-(8 00) 228-5249 or (714) 66 1-1962 S ponsored by : 21