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Not your usual enviros: citizens gather outside the San Bernardino County building to support the county’s OHV ordinance. Photo by Sherry Hall |
In a victory for Community ORV Watch, the Alliance for Responsible Recreation, and the Desert Protective Council, San Bernardino County’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on August 21st to uphold the county’s OHV ordinance, which protects both private property owners
and public lands from reckless (and wreckful) OHV abuse. The citizens of Wonder Valley and other high desert communities can feel secure that what was once a scourge on their peaceful way of life is coming under control. However, the Supes did agree to study further the question of how many riders (or vehicles) can gather on a single property without getting a “staging permit” from the county Code Enforcement office. Off-roaders believe that the current limit of 10 people is too restrictive. Community ORV Watch and
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Photos of 8/21 meeting, by Eric Hamburg
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DPC will be engaging with County Code enforcement and the Board of Supervisors to ensure that this element of the code is not weakened.
This victory is significant not just for the benefit it provides the desert communities of San Bernardino, but because it demonstrates the power of citizen and community groups to oppose the powerful and highly motivated OHV lobby. Similar efforts to mobilize the average citizen (as opposed to the usual suspects in conservation campaigns) are vital if we are ever to achieve reasonable statewide OHV legislation.
For more on this victory see this L.A. Times article and the Community ORV Watch website.
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Thanks to a lawsuit brought by DPC and the Center for Biological Diversity, the State Department of Parks and Recreation is moving ahead more quickly to develop a management plan for this starkly beautiful and fragile area. After a year of foot-dragging since the acquisition of 4,000 acres in the Desert Cahuilla area, State Parks has now agreed to initiate review under
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A scar left by a dirt bike mars ancient "sleeping circles" in the desert pavement of the Desert Cahuilla area. Such disrespectful and destructive behavior would be outlawed if the area were appropriately managed by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, while responsible drivers of street-legal vehicles would still be able to access the area on appropriate routes. Photo by Larry Hogue. |
the California Environmental Quality Act for a comprehensive management-plan process by December 15, 2007; to process any applications for “special events” such as off-road vehicle gatherings at least 45 days in advance of the events; and to implement interim measures to protect rare and sensitive cultural and biological resources from degradation.
Recognizing that the development of this management plan will be a contentious public battle, DPC Conservation Coordinator Terry Weiner said, “We are dedicated to helping craft a management plan that will enable recovery of some of the damaged areas in Desert Cahuilla and ensure protection of these fragile and beautiful lands for future generations.” Our main goal will be to put as much of the Desert Cahuilla area as possible into the stewardship of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, rather than the less conservation-oriented management of Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area. Stay tuned for what is sure to be a raucous public debate. When the time comes, we’ll need all of our members and capable volunteers ready to send in comments and attend public hearings to ensure protections for this worthy area.
For more information, see our joint press release with the Center for Biological Diversity in our Press Releases section.
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As a result of DPC’s seeking an injunction, two off-road vehicle organizations changed their
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Desert Cahuilla Area: It may look indestructible, but it contains fragile desert pavement, ancient Native American artifacts such as trails and fish traps, and habitat for the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep |
plans
this winter for massive jeep safaris in the Desert-Cahuilla area. These lands, known to off-roaders as “Truckhaven,” are bordered on the west by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and on the south by Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area. Four thousand acres of the area were acquired by the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 2006, and now a contest is being waged to determine which branch of the department will end up managing the new acquisition.
The off-roading events have been going on for years, but the difference this year is that for the first time they would have been officially sanctioned by State Parks. Our position is that the state should not be permitting such large off-road vehicle events in an area containing Critical Habitat for the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep, as well as a wealth of sensitive archaeological and paleontological remains.
read on >>
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The deserts of San Bernardino County are safer and quieter this season, thanks to an ordinance
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Despite repeated attempts at signage, off-roaders persist in trespassing on this Wonder Valley resident's property. Photo courtesy Community ORV Watch – www.orvwatch.com |
passed by the county’s Supervisors and supported by a variety of gruoups, DPC among them. Spearheaded by Community ORV Watch in San Bernardino, the new Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Use code limits the number of OHV users who can ride on private land at one time, and establishes heavier fines for trespass on private and public land. According to Philip Klasky, resident and member of the Community ORV Watch Steering Committee, “The ordinance was passed unanimously by the board and was a result of a grass-roots effort by a diverse coalition of individuals and groups.”
In recent years, the problems of trespassing, noise, and dust pollution generated by large groups of off-roaders have made life nearly intolerable for the many Morongo Basin residents who cherish the peace, quiet and clean air of the desert. A number of these residents have also been threatened with physical violence for simply trying to protect their own land from trespassers. To respond to these threats to private property rights and quality of life, Morongo Basin residents founded Community ORV Watch, with the help of our own Terry Weiner during her hiatus from DPC employment. The group has been remarkably successful in bringing attention to these problems and in crafting the new ordinance. DPC was present at the Board of Supervisors hearing to give testimony in support of the new rules.
read on >>
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