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/631326
IN THE WIND P22 HOUSE HOLDS HEARING ON OHV BILLS: MEASURES AFFECT NUMEROUS CALIFORNIA RIDING AREAS T he U.S. House Subcommittee on Federal Lands conducted a hearing in December on the Clear Creek National Recreation Area and Conservation Act (H.R. 1838) and the California Minerals, Off-Road Recreation, and Conserva- tion Act (H.R. 3668), both of which are of great significance to off-road enthusiasts from California and nearby states. H.R. 1838, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) would allow off-road vehicles to return to the 75,000-acre Clear Creek Management Area southeast of Hollister, Calif., and establish the 21,000-acre Joaquin Rocks Wilderness area, a compromise proposal that has bipartisan support among California's congressional delegation. Clear Creek, which offers about 240 miles of trails, was closed to motorized vehicles by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in 2008 after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency raised concerns about naturally occurring asbestos. Asbestos is a known carcinogen. The EPA claims that the dust kicked up by dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles presents a health hazard for riders and others. But subsequent studies by the International En- vironmental Research Foundation found that the lifetime risk from asbestos for those riding at Clear Creek five days a year was about the same as for someone who smokes less than one cigarette a day for that same year. Under the Resource Management Plan adopted by the BLM in 2014, the Serpentine Area of Criti- cal Environmental Concern was opened to some motorized traffic on a very limited basis. H.R. 3668 would designate 965,000 acres of the Mojave Trails area in the Mojave Desert as a special management area that would be closed to renewable energy development. The bill also would designate 1200 miles of roads and trails for OHV use and include a "no net loss" provisions for trails and roads to prevent closures. The bill also would designate six National Off- Highway-Vehicle Recreation Areas at Spangler Hills, El Mirage, Stoddard Valley, Rasor, Dumont Dunes and Johnson Valley. El Mirage, Spangler Hills and Johnson Valley would be expanded. H.R. 3668 also would transfer 4600 acres to the city of Apple Valley for creation of an OHV park. The bill would prohibit the president from desig- nating any national monuments on land that is part of an OHV area or special management area. H.R. 3668, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Paul Cook (R-Calif.) is similar to the California Desert Conser- vation and Recreation Act (S.B. 434) sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Feinstein has been battling unsuccessfully since 2009 to get Congress to pass her bill, and in late 2015 asked President Obama to sidestep Congress to designate the Mojave Trails National Monument, the Sand to Snow National Monument and the Castle Mountains National Monument through the Antiquities Act of 1906. Cook's bill would designate the Sand to Snow National Monument, but not the others. CN Off-road riding could return to Clear Creek.