Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

M.O.R.E • f roDl the Capitol m :::;; ~ THIS LAND IS YOUR LA D, THIS LAND IS MY LAND. BUT IF WE WANT T()KEEP IT, WE' ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DO SOMETHING by Russ Sanford MORE On The Presidential Proclamation Last year, on February 8 th , Pre siden t Nixon issu ed Execu t ive Order 11644 wh ich proclaimed that all federal land-use agencies w ould establish rules an d regulation s governing th e use and operation of all o ff-road vehicle s on public lands und er th eir administrative jurisdiction . Las t we ek th e Department of Interi or issu ed its proposed draft of the ORV regulations for p ublic lands under its jurisdi c tion . T h ey provide that the National Park Service, th e Bureau of Re clama ti on, and the Bureau o f Sport Fisheries and Wildlife would, as in th e past, cons ider all lands closed t o off- road vehicles unless sp ecifically open ed to them, With respec t to Bureau o f Land Management lands, all areas which are presently op en to ORV use would con tin ue t o be open subject to reclassification as 'Glosed" o r 'Restricted" , Closed areas are those where ORV use would be detrimental to the land, suc h as an archeological sit e , a wet meadow, an hi storical site , a ceme tary, or fr agile so il condition. These areas will be 'iden tified by the BLM and will be signed as permanently or temporarily closed to off-road vehicle use . Restricted a reas are those where the use o f ORV s is subje ct to restrictions which may limit the numbers or types of vehicles allowed, times of use, and similar conditions. Restricted areas or trails may be designated for special or intensive use, including, but not limited to, organized events. The prescribed definition of an "Off Road Vehicle" means any veh icle designed for, or capable of, travel on or immediately over land, water, sno w , sand , ice, marsh , swampland, or other natural terrain , in cluding, but not limited to au to m ob iles, trucks, four-wheel-drive or low-pressuretive vehicles, motorcycles and related two-wheel vehicles, snowmobiles, amphibious machines, ground-effect or air-c ush io n vehicles, recreation c am pe rs, and any other means of transportation deriving motive power from an y source other than mu scl e. The foregoing definition of an off-road vehicle is interesting be cause it includes the family sedan, p ick-up, station wagon , etc.. . The BLM's proposed regulation st ates that the provisions of the regulation do not apply to State, County, or municip al highways and roads. Therefore, the provisions of the BLM regulations do appl y to th e family sed an , pi ck-ups, station wagon , et c. , when upo,! BLM lands o the r th an State, County, or municipal highways and ro ads. Keep this in mind as you read so me of the following provisions of the BLM's proposed regulation : UNo person or association of pe rsons may conduc t any race, rally . meet, contest. or other type of event involving the use o f O ff-R o ad-Vehicles, on public lands without first obtaining a permit .. COMMENT: Literally interpreted, th is would mean tha t yo u co uld n ot me et yo ur buddy at some pre-designated location to go trail -ridin g wi th out p ermission from th e BLM. Likewise , no " person or associa tion o f persons" cou ld park their automobiles off from an established roadway and take a na ture h ik e with out fi rst obtaining permission from th e BLM . The 'posey-sni ffers' are going to love this! " All Off-Road Vehicles shall be equipped with... mufflers and spark arres to rs." COMMENT: Literally interpret ed, this would mean th at rio-one co uld p ull off t he highway to change a flat tire on the famil y sed an unless it w as-equipped with a spark arrestor. The Highway Patrol is goin g t o love this ! As you can see , the new BLM regulation s for ORVs will presen t many problem s for both ORV en th usias ts and for the gen era l publ ic. We hav e an opportuni ty t o register our written com me n ts regarding th e proposed regulation until March 16th . I suggest that you read these regulations and then w rite a letter exp ress ing yo ur feelings to: State Director, Bureau of Land Management, 28 0 0 C ottage W ay, R o om E-2841, Sacramento, CA 95825. . These are th e significant excerp ts fro m th e BLM's proposed regulations: CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS AME NDMENTS 6290.0- 1 Purp ose. The purpose of the regulations in thi s Part is to implem ent 'E xecu tive Orde r No. 11644, of FebruaryS, 1972 (37 Fed. R eg. 28 77 ). 6290.0 -3 Authority. . The provisions of th is Part are issued under 43 U.S.C. 1201; th e Nation al Environmental Policy A ct o f 1969, 42 U.S .C . 4 321; and Execu ti ve Order 11644 (37 Fed. R eg. 2877). Subpart 6 291 - Use of Off-Road V eh icles 6291.1 Use of Off-R oad Vehicles. (a) Off-Road Vehicles operated on the public lands must conform to th e vehicle standards set forth in Subpart 6295 of this Ch apter . . . (b) Any person who operates an O ff-R oad Veh icl e on public lands must co m p ly with the operating regulations set forth in Subpart 6 29 5 of th is Chapter at all times _ while operating su ch vehicle on public lands. (c) Ex cept as provided in the following sentence. hereof, the operation of Off-R oad Vehicles is prohibited on those areas and trails designated as closed . to Off-R oad Vehicle use. This prohibition does not apply to an y vehicle while being used: ( 1) to explore or develop public lands for minerals pursuant to the United States mining laws; or (2) to conduct oil and gas geophysical exploration operations on the public lands. . Subpart 6292 - Designation of Pub lic Lands 6292.1 Classes 0 f Designations. Publ ic lan ds will be designated as follows wi th re gard to O ff-R oad Vehicle use : (a ) Op e.. Use A reas and Trails. T hese are areas and trails where O ff-R oad Ve hicles may b e operated without restri c tio ns, but subject to the operating regulati on s and vehi cle standard s se t fo rth a t Su b part 62 95 of thi s Chapter. (b) .R estricted A reas and Trails. T hese ar e areas an d trails whe re th e use of Off-Road Veh icles are su bject to restric tions deem ed ap p ropriate by the Authorized O ffi cer. Rest riction s may lim it th e n umbers o r ty pes of veh icles allo we d , ti mes of use , and sim ila r matters. R es tri c ted areas o r trails may be designa ted fo r spe cial or in ten sive use, incl uding, but n o t lim it ed to, o rganized events. (c) Closed A reas and Trails. T h ese are areas and trails wh er e the use of O ff-R oad Vehicles is p ermanently or temporarily p ro hibited. 6292.2 Designations. (a) T he Authorized O ff icer may d esign a te an y publi c lands as res tric te d o r closed to O ff-R oad V ehicle use . Public lands not so designated sh all re m ain op en t o Off-Road Ve hicle use and are hereby designated as open use ar eas and trail s. _ (b) The Auth orized Officer may redesignate an y public lands, incl udi ng th ose . designat ed as o pen to Off-Road Vehicle use , at any time her ea ft er if h e de termines that redesign ati on is app ropriate. 6292 .3 Designation Crit eria. Designations of res tri cted and closed ar eas and trails will he based on th e foll owing: (I) The abili ty of the land and it s resource sito withstand and sustain Off-Road Vehicle use impacts . (2 ) Consideration o f th e sce n ic qualities o f the !an d, and its cul tural, ecol o gical, and enviro nme ntal values. (3 l The need for public use ar eas for intensive recreation vehicle use. (4 Consid eration of the im p ac t on oth er lands, use , and re source s. (5 ) The p oten ti al hazards t o public he alth and saf ety , o th er than th e norm al risks inv olved in Off-Road Veh icle use. 6 29 2.4 Procedures fo r Designation. . (a) Public Participatio n. The Au th orized O ffi cer sh all d esignate and redesigna te areas an d trails in conformance with th e Bureau of Land Managemen t p lanning system. In mak in g de sign at ions, he will co ns ult with interested user groups, Fed er al, St at e, co unty and lo cal age ncies, lo cal land owners, and other p arties as he deem s ap propria te. . (b) Id entif ication of Designa ted Areas and Trails. The Authorized O ffi cer shall take ap propria te measures to id entify areas and tr ails designated as restrict ed o r closed so th at t he public will b e awa re of their locations an d res tri ctions ap p licable th ere t o. Pu blic notic e o f suc h design ations sh all be given through publication in local new sp ap er s, an d co pi es of suc h n o t ices shall be avai lab le to the public in local Bureau offices. A reas and trails so design at ed shall be pos ted ap prop ria te ly . The A uthorized Officer will m ake available to th e public su c h o th er in fo rmatio nal ma terial as may be ap propriate , Su bpart 6 29 3 - Organiz ed Off-Road Vehicle Events. No person o r association o f person s may c on duc t an y race , rally , me e t. con tes t. or othe r type of o rganized event in vol vin g th e use of Off-R oad Vehi cles, on public lan ds withou t firs t ob tai n ing a pe rmi t t o d o so from th e A u tho rize d O fficer p urs uant t o . Sub part 2924 o f this Ch ap ter. S ubpart 62 94 - Man agem ent of Off-Road Vehicle Use 6294. 1 Effects of Use ; Chang es in Designations or R estrictions. Th e A u thorized Officer sh all monit or effects of the us e of Off. R oad Vehicles. O n th e b asis of info rmatio n so ob tained, and whenever he de em s it necessary to carry . o u t th e obje ctives of this Part, h e ma y am end, revise, or revoke any design a tions o r restriction s mad e pursuant to the: regulati ons in this Part. 6295 . 1 Operati ng regulat io ns. . No pers on may ope ra te an O ff- Road Veh icle on public lan d s wi th out a valid motor vehicle operator' s licen se or learner ' s permit. Person s under licensing or permitting age m ust be accompanied and su pe rvised by a person 2 1 years of age or olde r wh o h as a valid opera to r 's license. No p erson shall o pe rat e an Off-R oad Vehicle o n publ ic lands: In a rec kles s, careless, o r ne gli gen t manner ; . (2 In excess o f estab lishe d speed lim it s; (3 Whil e under th e influen ce of alcohol o r d rugs; (4) In a manner likely to ca use excessive dam age t o or di sturb an ce of th e lan d, wildlife o r vegetative re sour c es ; or . (5 ) During d arkness with out lighted headli gh ts an d tai lligh ts. 6295.2 Vehicle standards. No O ff-R oad V ehicle may be o pera te d on public lan ds unless it co nforms t o applicabl e S tate laws and regul ation s rel atin g to registrati on, op erati on, and in sp ection. All Off-R oad Vehicles shall be eq ui p pe d with ade q ua te and operating b rakes, mufflers and spark: arrest o rs. N o Off· R oad Vehicle equipped w ith a mu ffl er cutou t, b yp ass o r si milar device, or produc tin g excessive n oise , ma y be ope rate d on public Ian lis. Se cretary o f th e In terior (I! When reading these regulations we were p.articularly struck by two sect ions . First, Section 6292.2 gives the "Bureau" officer the power to change designations any time he deem s appropriate. And seco nd, all the licensing and vehicle require ments , speed limits, etc . Everyone should read Section 6295.1 very carefully .•. Ed . w Z W ...J C,) >C,)

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