Last Updated December 10, 1998
NEXT MEETING In December we return to our normal meeting date, the first Tuesday of the month, December 1. The location is Giovanni's, 9353 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard at the corner of Ruffin Road. Their phone number is 619.279.6700. A buffet including all-you-can-eat pizza, salad and soft drinks for $7.00 will commence at 6:00 p.m., and the meeting proper will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. This month we are honored to have as guest speaker Mr. Cliff Glidden, Deputy Director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, in charge of the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Division. An avid off-roader himself, Mr. Glidden is an excellent, motivating speaker who volunteered to come down from Sacramento and share with us some of his insights into the OHMVR program. Don't forget to bring some extra money for raffle tickets. Each month the pot gets bigger and the prizes get better. CHAIRMAN'S CORNER - Jim McGarvie Those of you who missed the annual Halloween Poker Run this year missed out on a lot of fun! The event, held annually by Los Pretot's Desert Club, was attended by over 750 fun-loving off-roaders. SDORC put on one of the checkpoints, a staged crash scene complete with corpses, ghosts, doctors and nurses. Even the Grim Reaper was there, driving his new victims to eternity. "Time to go!" Roy and Nancy Denner were most of the brains and much of the brawn behind SDORC's checkpoint, ably assisted by a small but enthusiastic committee and a few others of us. I think we had almost as much fun as those driving through, and many said we had the best show out there! We'll probably do this again next year, so make plans to keep Halloween open and join us in the fun! FEES IN IMPERIAL DUNES - Alan Klumph, Director of Legislation and Natural Resources If you missed the November SDORC meeting then you missed an opportunity to let the BLM know how you feel about the user fee program they have scheduled to begin soon at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area. Mark Conley, a BLM liaison to the OHMVR Division, was one of our guest speakers and he listened as everyone told him how upset we are with this program. All the comments were very good and everyone was very polite with no personal attacks directed toward Mark. Mark should be commended for enduring a half-hour of our ranting. We are sure he got the message and hopefully will pass along to the BLM that we will not tolerate this type of action in the future. This program has been mismanaged from the start but the end result is that we are stuck with it. Terry Reed screws up BIG TIME and so there are two choices: 1. The BLM takes responsibility and pays for his mistakes, or 2. The BLM takes the easy route and lets the off-roaders pay the BLM's way out of the wrongdoing. Guess who loses? This is an example of what happens when an agency official is out of control, out of touch with reality and everything that can go wrong, does. Please realize that we must continue to work with the agencies as much as possible to prevent this type of occurrence in the future. The following is an outline of the events that led to where we are today and captures the essence of most of the comments that Mark heard from us: In the fall of last year the BLM distributed questionnaires to the users at the Imperial Sand Dunes asking what type of improvements they wanted. The questions were carefully worded to make it appear to the off-roaders as a "wish list" for improvements and services that we might want. The BLM in reality used this information to help justify the fees being contemplated. The fee program was originally going to start on Easter weekend this year but was postponed until the fall. This summer the BLM conducted a number of public meetings to solicit requests for more services and improvements, but advertised the meetings as public hearings to get input for the rewrite of the Imperial Dunes Recreation Area Management Plan (RAMP). At these meetings we observed much of the same type of misleading questioning and prompting for input from the off-roaders. Most said we didn't need any new services or improvements and did NOT want to pay fees. There was very little public notice about the meetings. We heard about them just a few days before the two in San Diego were held. The results of the questionnaires and meetings were not made public. A management plan or update to the existing plan for the implementation of the fee program was not made public. A user fee program plan was not presented for public review. The fee program was not reviewed or approved by anyone at the BLM state management level. It was conceived, concocted and implemented by the El Centro Field Office of the BLM under the direction of Terry Reed, the (former) Area Manager. It was decided that the fees would be collected by using ATM style machines and a contract was awarded for this without any competitive bidding. The El Centro office of the BLM was directed to cancel the contract but there are severe monetary penalties for early cancellation so it was decided not to cancel. Half of the first $300,000 collected each year, 20% of the next $300,000 and 15% of everything over $600,000 goes directly to the ATM machine vendor. So much for the promise that "100% of the fees collected will be spent in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area to support the dunes." The ATM machines are being installed without any environmental studies or reports. Once Ed Hastey, State Director of the BLM understood the ramifications of the proposed program, he postponed implementation once again, until the 1999 season. This would allow time to work with the OHV community to develop a better program. However, it was discovered that the BLM could not back out of the contract, so it was decided to put it back on the calendar at the beginning of 1999. Fees were originally planned to be $10 for a week pass or $50 for a year pass. After Coalition Business Representative Justin Cole investigated the status of the program he convinced the BLM that $50 for a year pass was too high. They agreed with him that it should follow the Southern California National Forest Service Adventure Pass and adjusted it to $30 for an annual pass. The fee program is currently scheduled to begin at the first of the New Year. On a brighter note, if there can be one with this program, a public working group of OHV representatives from around the state plus two from Arizona was agreed to. This group, the Technical Review Team (TRT), will be an advisory committee that will make recommendations to the BLM on how the money should be spent. The initial planned expenditures go predominantly towards services in the form of law enforcement and visitor service personnel on holiday weekends. Additional portable toilets, dust abatement and road grading also will receive funding but much less than the personnel services. Having said that, it must be emphasized that this TRT is advisory only. The BLM has the final say in how the proceeds from the fee program are spent. I don't trust them; do you? The lesson to be learned from all this is that we have to be ever diligent in working with the agencies managing our public lands and not let this type of thing happen again. TOTES FOR TOTS It's that time again. SDORC is about to begin its annual "Totes for Tots" campaign during which we collect tote bags, flight bags, backpacks, gym bags, even diaper bags, for the benefit of the disadvantaged kids at the Polinsky Children's Center. Please bring any bags, new or in near-new condition, to the next SDORC meeting, or take them to a drop-off point convenient to you: Cycle Parts West (San Diego & Chula Vista locations), Descanso Trading Post, Escondido Cycle Center, Fiber-Tech, Fun Bike Center, Lemon Grove Motorcycles, Motoworld of El Cajon, North County Yamaha, and all three Off Road Warehouse stores. OCOTILLO WELLS DESERT CLEANUP - Harold Soens It turned out to be a great day to clean up our desert. We users take this time every year to give back to our off-highway recreation area, by picking up trash, nails from the pallets people burn (and you know what those things do to your tires), etc. We had a good turn out: Los Pretot's Desert Club, San Diego Off-Road Coalition, California Off-Road Vehicle Association, American Motorcyclist Association, and the Ocotillo Wells Volunteer Fire Department were all represented, in addition to several individuals. We met at the Ranger Station at 7:30am for coffee and sweet rolls provided by the Blu Inn, the desert's best restaurant. John Ruddley (JR), the Ranger in charge of this clean up, gave us instructions on what we were going to do and where we would be going to do our jobs. The seven members of the SDORC who participated worked the Blow Sand and Devil Slide areas. That was a giant undertaking to say the least. I can remember when these areas stayed clean, but there seems to be a new breed of off-roader these days. They think it is all right to leave their trash wherever they play. There was a ton of broken bottles, cans, paper, half-burnt pieces of wood, and VW cases. What happened to the people who cleaned up after themselves? I guess with more users there will be more trash, and it's a shame that a few have to clean up for everyone. Maybe some day they will get the message - we can only hope. My group Los Pretot's, CORVA, and AMA took on another project. We went outside of the park, to the Tamarisk Trees. This is a great area to go camping because it has plenty of shade, and open area for the kids to ride and you can keep an eye on them. The place is also used as a shooting area. Unfortunately a small percentage of the shooters don't know what they are doing to their sport - or ours - when they take old refrigerators, stoves, car bodies, and anything else they can shoot at and leave their trash behind. Without the help from Don Leedy and his tractor we could not have picked up all that junk they have left. We had the state park's flatbed truck and a small truck with a small trailer. We were almost overwhelmed with what was there to pickup. We hauled out over a ton of this so-called target iron that the shooters left behind. We even got group campers in the area to help pick up the trash around the trees. Thank you Gordon Bugna and James Stickles for your help, we need more people like you. Thanks to Cal Trans, Los Pretot's, AMA, CORVA, SDORC, Ocotillo Wells VFD, and the 18 individuals who were not with any groups; you people did a fine job. Following the cleanup we had a barbecue at Mobiland RV Park. Thank you for letting us use your patio. While we were eating we had a raffle. Everyone who worked on the clean up got a raffle ticket, and had a chance at some great prizes. Thanks to all the sponsors and contributors who helped make this clean up so successful: San Diego Off-Road Magazine, Iron Door, Borrego Springs Bottled Water, Ed Perry Tire Co., Split Mountain Park, Borrego Valley Foods, De Anza True Value hardware, Desert Ironwoods Motel, Mobiland RV Park, Desert Auto Service, Burro Bend Cafe, and the Los Pretot's Desert Club Inc. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. I look forward to this clean up, so I can give something back to the park where I play all year. I hope to see everyone back next year. Remember this park belongs to all of us so we need to use it in a responsible way. Take care of it! If we don't it may not be there, so please pick up your trash and take it to the dumpsters. Don't leave it on the hill or in your camp. If you packed it in, you can certainly pack it out! Harold Soens VP Los Pretot's DLO District 38 AMA CORVA Grants-Legislative Rep. GLAMIS DUNES CLEANUP Speaking of cleanups: If you care about your dunes, plan on joining a few hundred of your closest friends Saturday, January 16, 1999, and help collect some of the trash in the area. Meet at the Ranger Station on Gecko Road at Highway 78 at 9:00 a.m. For further information contact the BLM at 760.337.4451 or Rob or Jennifer Whyte at 714.532.3504. MDA SDORC is proud to co-sponsor the First Annual Off Road For Hope: Ocotillo Wells Adventure '99, February 6th. All proceeds from this exciting new event will support the Muscular Dystrophy Association. SDORC is working in conjunction with the event's co-sponsors California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs and CORVA. Los Pretot's Desert Club will be the host club. Off road For Hope is open to all off-highway vehicles (except for 3-wheelers, due to insurance restrictions). We encourage all our members to join in this great, new annual event. There will be runs for the experienced as well as beginner 4-wheelers and dirt bikes, poker runs and numerous games being organized by Los Pretot's. There will be a pancake breakfast, lunch and barbecue dinner as well as a grand opportunity drawing to end this fantastic outing. Please call Eric Corens at MDA: 619.492.9792 for additional information and to receive your registration packet. Look for more information about Off Road For Hope next month. RIDE FOR KIDS American Honda has collected nearly $1,000,000 so far this year (and still climbing) for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. On March 21, 1999 there will be a Ride For Kids at Glen Helen. The ride will include the GP track and 90 miles of forest trails. Watch for details, or check out their web site at: www.ride4kids.org. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This month a special thanks to those wonderful folks at Slime, that magic green goop that can seal almost any leak in your tube or tubeless tire, for their most generous contribution. Look for Slime at your favorite dealer. We also want to thank Motoworld of El Cajon for allowing us to participate in their "Midnight Madness." MEMBERSHIP UPDATE - Bill Quackenbush, Membership Chairman SDORC welcomes new members Heidi King and Myles Elgle, Richard and Jennifer Wehr, Robert Duggan, Paul Ellingsen and Matthew McMillan. Individual renewals this month include: Jim Berke, Phil Dobranski, Tony Ligutti, Dave Londo, Randy Roberts, Jerry Routt Sr., Gino Venaglia, Brad Webb, Sean Woodard & Rick Yantz. New business members joining us this month were The Brigantine Restaurant and KCO Construction. Renewing their memberships were American Metal Processing, Douglas Wheel, Lemon Grove Motorcycles, and the Michael Allen Company. Please patronize these businesses that support us. Need a membership form? They are available online at http://wwww.off-road.com/~sdorc/join.html Membership questions? Contact me, via e-mail: billq@san.rr.com PREFERRED MERCHANTS Just a reminder to support our Preferred Merchants, as they support us with their discounts, donations and contributions. Alignment & Brake Specialties House of Motorcycles Arma Coatings Lemon Grove Motorcycles Aros Trailers Off-Road Warehouse County Motor Parts Rhino Linings of El Cajon Fun Bike Center Webb's RV Supply New business member and Preferred Merchant Alignment and Brake Specialties makes the following special offer to SDORC members: Complete motorhome or truck visual shock & suspension inspection at no cost to SDORC members. Includes visual inspection of steering, shocks, ball joints, and control arms.10197 Riverside Road Suite J, Lakeside. Also, we welcome Howard Lomas' House of Motorcycles as a new Preferred Merchant. Howard is offering SDORC members a 15% discount on parts and accessories and, through March 1999, 15% off all shop labor. CLASSIFIEDS VW MOTOR PARTS AND DRIVE TRAIN PARTS: Engine cases, heads, crankshafts, camshafts, carbs, manifolds, rocker arms, push rods, oil pumps, transaxles, CV joints, axles, wheels, and much more. CHEAP! Call Roy Denner 619.443.9101. FOR SALE: 1990 1/2 BOUNDER 34C-31.000 mi, no smoke or pets, mint cond., loaded, 454 Chevy, 2 roof AC's, 2 TV's, CB, stereo, micro, coffee maker, water filter, 4 burner stove with oven, dinette, encased awnings, 6.5KW Onan gen with low hours, all new batteries, xlnt tires, 2 dr refrig, must see $31,500. Call 619.443.9101.