RE: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

RE: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

Who: COW (Community ORV Watch), SB County Sheriff's, Code Enforcement, DA

What: Meeting to discuss ORV usage in our area

Where: Joshua Tree Community Center, 6171 Sunburst Rd, Joshua Tree CA 92252

When: Tonight! 11/22 @ 6pm

Why: These guys are anti-ORV/off-road. They brought about San Bernardino County Ordinance 3973[FONT=&quot]. That is the link to the ordinance, from their own website. Here is a link from CORVA.org regarding this same ordinance. Last time they all got together and made this ordinance, none of th representatives were even from this area, making large decisions affecting The whole Morongo Basin area without any input from us.

I know a lot of you are a couple hours or more away, but if anyone has the slightest chance of coming out here, please do. Because of our proximity to Johnson Valley, any decisions made by or because of this group could affect our access to JV as well.
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Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

thanks for the post Justin! i wish I could make it, too last minute for me to even think about making it out there I hope some people get out there to give the OHV community a voice.

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

The only standout issue I see with their ordinance is the 10 person limit. I see this as too limiting and something that would create costs for any sizable group that wants to get together to ride. The ordinance basically limits all ORV use to Johnson Valley and a few other designated trails. I think it is worthwhile to oppose this though because there are likely adequate rules and regulations already in place to deal with the issue. It is always worse to create new laws if they are redundant. I hate to see public funds spent to address an issue that has already been addressed.

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

Too late of notice for me to make it as well, keep us posted on what happens.

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

The ordinance linked is actually one they already got passed from my understanding. This meeting is in regards to enforcement and possible future laws, as far as I can tell.

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

Darky said:

The ordinance linked is actually one they already got passed from my understanding. This meeting is in regards to enforcement and possible future laws, as far as I can tell.

Click to expand...

It would be great to actually have some input into how this ordinance is to be enforced.

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

I just got back on the comp ands seen this..Sorry but i would have had a hard time getting there tonite

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

Well, just got back. It was a good meeting overall. The DA commented on people being threatened and harassed after reporting people riding illegally. When Sgt Porter with the Sheriff's Dept OHV Enforcement got up to speak, he stated that he had no data showing any incidences of that being reported to the Sheriff's Dept. He went on to say that since enacting this ordinance in 2006, calls have dramatically decreased. From somewhere around 1400 the first year to 600 this year, YTD. The grant funding they receive to run the OHV enforcement divisionhas gone down quite dramatically as well, from $150k in 2005 to $44k this year, funded through green sticker fees as well as a portion of the gas taxes.

Mike with the Code Enforcement team out here confirmed what Sgt Porter said in that the number of complaints he received regarding OHV use were drastically lower. Interestingly, one of the questions he was asked pertained to retaliation by OHV riders using Code Enforcement to get revenge on the person making the report, ie: lodging a complaint against the person for a code violation. His response was, if the complaint is legit, he has the duty to investigate. I thought it funny that these people who call Code Enforcement to report illegal OHV use would then get mad if the rider pulled the same trick and reported them for a legit violation.

There were two BLM reps present, Mickey Quillman and Steve Razo. Currently the position is that if land is not signed as being open, consider it closed. Also, we can expect an initial EIS (Environmental Impact Survey) from the Marine Corps in regards to JV in the 1st quarter of 2011.The MDR 200 was a hot topic for them as well. They said that they are currently reviewing their policies and admit that they are understaffed to handle big events like that. Since the crash, they have denied four permits for races, but have allowed 14 to go through. They have had a minimum of 9 staff members at each event. There is talk of adding more staffing to the department and charging more large events to recoup some of the cost of the additional staffing. However, they recognize that this could make the cost prohibitive to some of the smaller promotions and/or racers.

Meg from ORBA was also present and making regular points for us. She made sure to point out that in over 40 years of desert racing, those have been the only recorded deaths. When one woman asked how the OHV ordinance jibed with California vehicle code, she was quick to answer. The woman was attempting to claim that the ordinance's clause stating that riders could not ride in such a way as to disturb other residents via noise, smoke, fumes, or dust gave her the right to not have to even hear a dirt bike and trumped CA vehicle code that regulates exhaust noise to 96 dB. Meg explained that regulation was agreed on because everyone has different tolerances. The woman claimed her tolerance was 30 dB. Meg, who has done sound checking explained that ambient noise levels at Borrego are around 45dB, no bikes present. And I guarantee that the conference room was considerably louder than that anyways.

I got up during the question and answer period and made the statement that mutual respect would go a long way towards coexisting peacefully. I also noted that threats or intimidation go both ways. People have had tires slashed for no other reason than it just being a lifted truck. I also brought up the CORVA Truckhaven challenge (I think it was 2008) when a lawsuit was filed against CORVA to stop the event from happening, the night before everyone started showing up and how this actually did more harm than good as the route had been set and cleared through BLM marking off areas not to go and now all those vehicles show up and are given a free for all.

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

Kudos on standing up speaking on our behalf Justin :cheers: thanks for the meeting report!

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

Thanks for the post Darky and the update about JV EIS.

Re: Desert Rats, desert dwellers and those who just enjoy playing in the desert

I finally saw this. I thought the title was a casual post rather than an important meeting.

Thanks Justin for posting this, speaking up, and reporting back! We need more people like you to spread the info and report back with info about how its affecting our sport.