October 1998 Newsletter
Awarded #1 Off-Road Club for 1998 by the California Off-Highway Motor
Vehicle Recreation Commission
CHAIRMAN'S CORNER
- Jim McGarvie
CARB GREEN STICKER UPDATE
We have more information on the CARB Green Sticker issue, and it is not
pretty. While the current position of CARB is an improvement over what
we have now, it is not as good as we had hoped.
Short refresher course follows: Not really a "2-stroke ban" as it is so
often referred to, the current CARB (California Air Resources Board)
regulations prohibit motorcycles and ATV's manufactured after December
31, 1996 from obtaining a green sticker unless they comply with CARB's
emissions limits. Currently no 2-stroke OHV's comply, and only a
handful of 4-stroke machines. What does this mean? Non-compliance
equals no green sticker equals no legal riding on public land.
So what has changed? Many people and organizations, including AMA
Districts 36, 37 and 38 - including our own Harold Soens -, the
California Motorcycle Dealers Assoc., the California Off-Highway Motor
Vehicle Recreation Division of the Department of Parks and Recreation
and others have been negotiating long and hard with CARB to try to get
them to ease their restrictions.
And to a considerable degree they have succeeded. There will be a new
sticker, similar to the current green sticker but a different color,
issued to those non-complying OHV's built after December 31, 1996. In
many parts of the state those OHV's may be operated with no
restrictions whatsoever. That's the good news. The bad news is that our
part of the state is not one of them.
Supposedly based upon areas and seasons with air pollution problems,
Southern California OHV areas will be open seasonally only to use by
OHV's with the new stickers. For example, the Ocotillo Wells SVRA may
be used by those vehicles from October 15 through May 15. The Imperial
Dunes will be off-limits to those vehicles except for November 15
through April 15. Plaster City will be open from October 1 through May
31. And in the Cleveland National Forest, Wildomar will only be open
from December 1 through the end of February, and Corral Canyon will not
be open to non-complying vehicles at all!
What can we do about this? The new regulations will not be signed until
a CARB meeting in December. In the meantime negotiations are ongoing.
Legislation has already been introduced to prevent CARB from
implementing restrictions like these, but that bill died in Sacramento.
All else failing, there have been threats of lawsuits should these
restrictions remain in effect.
In the meantime, rumor has it that the DMV computers will not be
capable of determining a non-complying OHV for another two years, and
those non-complying vehicles inadvertently receiving green stickers
will be "grandfathered", and will be allowed to keep and renew their
green stickers in the future.
OCOTILLO WELLS
The Ocotillo Wells SVRA is holding its annual cleanup day on November
7. Contact a Board member or the OWSVRA for further details.
Further information from Ocotillo Wells: There has been considerable
traffic of undocumented immigrants in the area, and a few of them
haven't made it. Should you be so unfortunate as to happen upon one of
the ones that didn't, leave the corpse alone and contact a ranger.
GROUNDED!
Dick Miller, our intrepid Phone Committee Chairman, is in the shop
recovering from surgery on his spine. Hope to see you back in action
again soon, Dick!
BOOZE NEWS
Previous issues have addressed the new OHV alcohol bill. That bill was
signed by the Governor in August and became law immediately. As a
reminder, it is now illegal to have an open container of alcoholic
beverages in your possession while in or on a vehicle, other than in a
locked container, even while the vehicle is not in operation.
LAND CLOSURE CRISIS
BLACK SANDS UPDATE
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TODAY!
By Don Klusman, CA4WDC
On September 10th 1998 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) brought in
front of the California Coastal Commission (CCC) a Federal Consistency
determination to modify management plan to close Black Sands Beach to
Off Highway vehicle use. What this means is BLM was looking for support
from the CCC in their efforts in trying to close the beach. They were
asking the CCC to agree that closing the beach was consistent with the
California Coastal Commission Plan.
First off, I want to thank all the people who turned out for this
meeting. There were over 250 people in attendance. We packed the
meeting room. There was standing room only. Many people drove long
distances to be there and make comments.
We knew the deck was stacked against us from the start in dealing with
the CCC. It is unfortunate that the CCC commissioners did not listen to
the public that they are serving. In my opinion, many of their minds
were made up before they ever walked into the room. Over two and a half
hours of public testimony took place. The CCC took a vote and did agree
that this action was in consistency with the coastal plan.
BLM may have won that battle but the war is far from over. Next we
wait for the decision to be signed by BLM and then we will appeal that
decision. The next step will be to file federal suit in federal court
on this action. We will do both of these items!
BLM has drawn the line in the sand and it is time that cross that line
and make them accountable for their actions!
I have talked with the California Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs
Inc. (CA4WDC) Board of Directors and President of CA4WDC, and we are in
the process of filing a federal lawsuit. We cannot let BLM get away
with this type of value call. If they see they can do it here, they
will close other areas throughout the state the same way. A pass
through account has been established for donations to help in this
legal battle. This is going to be costly for all parties involved. We
are asking anyone to donate to the Black Sands Legal Fund today. This
is not just an OHV issue, this is an issue of the public being locked
out of our public lands. This closure will hurt the access of not only
OHV's but fishermen, clamers, surfers, divers, rockhounds and just
people who want to enjoy the Lost Coast. So please tell your friends to
donate and support our rights to public lands.
You can send your checks to:
CA4WDC, Black Sands Legal Fund
3104 "0" street
Sacramento CA 95816-6519
Please make your checks payable to CA4WDC Black Sands Legal Fund.
Thank you for all of your past help and thanks in advance for your
support on this most important issue!
[Please forward your checks to Megan Palazollo or any SDORC Board
member and we will see to it that SDORC gets credit for the
contributions. - Editor]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to express our deep gratitude to Sunlight Press and their
employee - and new SDORC member - Linda Berman. Sunlight Press just did
a beautiful job of printing 1,000 new copies of our
brochure/application at no cost to us (we did provide our own paper).
And a beautiful job they did, too. Our brochure has never looked
better. For your printing needs please consider Sunlight Press, 10101
Maine Avenue, Lakeside, 619.443.8880. Thanks folks!
COMMISSION MEETING
The next meeting of the OHMVR Commission will be on November 20, 1998
in Barstow, California. One of the agenda items will be the fee
proposal on BLM lands. For information contact Janette McGarvie at
619.561.3877.
NEW SVRA!
The eighth California State Vehicular Recreation Area will be
designated at Heber Dunes on November 7, 1998. It is near the town of
Calexico, California.
ELECTIONS
Election time approaches once again. It is vital to our democracy in
general and our favorite hobby in particular that each of you who is
eligible to vote do so. Does your vote really matter? You bet your
sweet knobby it does! Especially in an off-year election such as this,
there will be some very close races. If you have not registered let a
Board member know and we can help you. Remember too that all candidates
need and greatly appreciate volunteers. Call a candidate you support
and offer to help.
The League of Off-Road Voters, of which your coalition is a member, has
once again sent questionnaires to candidates eliciting their opinions
regarding off-highway recreation issues. The following is a listing of
those candidates in southern California whose responses to those
questionnaires indicate a certain measure of support of off road
recreation. Save this newsletter and take it to the polls with you on
election day.
United States Senator
Matt Fong (R)
United States House of Representatives
District 39 Ed Royce (R)
District 40 Jerry Lewis (R)
District 41 Gary Miller (R)
District 42 Elia Pirozzi (R)
District 43 Ken Calvert (R)
District 44 Mary Bono (R)
District 45 Dana Rohrabacher (R)
District 46 Bob Dornan (R)
District 47 Christopher Cox (R)
District 48 Ron Packard (R)
District 49 Brian Bilbray (R)
District 50 Did not respond
District 51 Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R)
District 52 Duncan Hunter (R)
California Governor Dan Lungren (R)
California Lieutenant Governor Tim Leslie (R)
California Attorney General David Stirling (R)
California State Senate
District 30 Did not respond
District 32 Joe Baca (D)
District 34 Rob Hurtt (R)
District 36 Ray Haynes (R)
District 38 Bill Morrow (R)
District 40 Steve Peace (D)
California State Assembly
District 65 Brett Granlund (R)
District 66 Bruce Thompson (R)
District 67 Scott Baugh (R)
District 68 Ken Maddox (R)
District 69 Jim Morrissey (R)
District 70 Marilyn Brewer (R)
District 71 Bill Campbell (R)
District 72 Dick Ackerman (R)
District 73 P. Bates (R)
District 74 Howard Kaloogian (R)
District 75 Charlene Zettel (R)
District 76 Did not respond
District 77 Steve Baldwin (R)
District 78 Jean Roesch (R)
District 79 Denise Moreno Ducheny (D)
District 80 Jim Battin (R)
FOREST CHANGES
Through the Sierra Nevada Framework Conservation Planning process
currently in progress, the U.S. Forest Service will amend the Land
Management Plans for 10 forests in California. These changes will have
a direct affect upon OHV recreation!
Your commitment to being involved in the process will assure that your
voice is, at least, heard. If we, as a community, do not attend the
public meetings and speak up about our needs and wants then others will
certainly plan our future for us.
Most of the forests involved are in northern California, but they
include Inyo and Sequoia N.F. There will be a meeting October 10, 1998
in Los Angeles. For information call Rick Alexander, USFS Regional
Office, 415.705.1837.
PREFERRED MERCHANTS
Just a reminder to support our Preferred Merchants, as they support us
with their discounts, donations and contributions.
Alignment & Brake Specialties Lemon Grove Motorcycles
Aros Trailers Off-Road Warehouse
County Motor Parts Rhino Linings of El Cajon
Fun Bike Center Webb's RV Supply
HIGHWAY CLEAN-UP
We are past due for a clean-up session on our adopted stretch of
Interstate 8. We have set a date of Saturday, October 17 for our next
clean-up. Those of you who have participated in the past know we
normally have a pretty good time. By keeping up with the project it
doesn't take too long, and afterward there is normally a barbecue,
ride, or some such affair. Contact Roy Denner for details:
619.443.9101.
CLASSIFIEDS
JOB! A Chicago area manufacturer of motorcycle equipment has an
immediate opening for a project engineer. If interested contact Debbie:
630.978.1693, Fax: 630.978.0356, or Email: DR1693@aol.com
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.
FLAT BED TOY TRAILER: 12'x7 1/2' bed, 12" side rails, tongue jack,
ramps. Brand new! Asking $800 OBO. Call Sean at 619.561.8161.
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*Safe riding! From your friends @ The San Diego Off Road
Coalition!* http://www.sdorc.org
Last Updated October 19, 1998