Congress passed and President Trump signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). This SAN-supported law will dedicate $9.5 billion over the next five years to address the maintenance backlog on federal lands by creating a national parks and public land legacy restoration fund, enabling the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and several other federal agencies to rebuild and improve trails, roads, docks, campgrounds and more. The bill will also appropriate $900 million annually to the Land and Water Conservation Fund for projects that help to protect natural areas, water resources, cultural heritage sites and to provide recreation opportunities. The GAOA will benefit SAN’s off-roading community in addition to those who use RVs and boats to enjoy the nation’s parks and recreation areas.

I personally did not get out for Memorial Day Weekend but many of you did. Johnson Valley, Moon Rocks, Sand Mountain, Rubicon, Fordyce, Hollister Hills SVRA and many other trails and campgrounds all had big crowds over the weekend. Unfortunately, I saw way too many posts on social media about piles of garbage left behind on our trails and in our campgrounds.

Slowly we are starting to see states, counties and cities begin to reopen after governors start to ease up on their local “shelter in place” orders. It’s going to be a slow process getting everything reopened and everyone back to work, but unfortunately for us who live in California it will seem like we are in slow motion. Governor Newsom’s four-phase plan will keep many parts of our economy locked down for a few more months.

Here is a quick update on both the bills regarding Carnegie SVRA.

AB 2551- Alameda/Tesla Carnegie SVRA Expansion – As of April 30, 2020 the bill had been cancelled at the request of the author.

SB 1147- Carnegie SVRA – The bill has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee on March 5 and no action scheduled.

Public Meeting Purpose:

The purpose of the public meeting is to receive comment on the Oceano Dunes HCP Draft EIR. This is an opportunity for the pubic to provide verbal comment on the environmental analysis contained in the Draft EIR. Anyone wishing to provide verbal comment will be given an opportunity to speak. Meeting participation is the only way to submit verbal comment. It is not necessary to attend the meeting to submit written comment. The public may also submit written comment on the Draft EIR through emailing comments to the following address: OceanoDunesHCP@parks.ca.gov.

The Bureau of Land Management El Centro Field Office invites the public to provide written comments on additional off-highway vehicle (OHV) routes in the Vinagre Wash Special Management Area, near Palo Verde, Imperial County.  The public comment period will end on May 21.

This Special Management Area, designated under the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (Public Law 116-9) in March 2019, allows for the consideration of additional routes that would provide significant or unique recreational opportunities and are consistent with the purposes of the Management Area. 

As we go into the sixth week of this “shelter in place order” there looks to be light at the end of the tunnel. This week, 16 states are taking the first steps to reopening and putting their people back to work.

Well, here we are five weeks into the “shelter in place order” and most Californians are doing their best to follow the rules and help flatten the curve. The first few weeks were not that bad, we got a few projects done, binge watched our favorite shows, worked on our off-road vehicles, or just relaxed a little. But I see cracks beginning to develop in even the best of people; this home isolation is beginning to take its toll and cabin fever will be the new pandemic to sweep through our community. The off-road community is used to being outside, we enjoy all types of outdoor recreation, but not being able to spend time out on the trail with our off-road family has been difficult.

Here we go again with more legislation to stop the Alameda/Tesla Expansion at the Carnegie SVRA. Similar legislation was shot down by both Gov. Brown and Gov. Newsom in the past few years. But they are back again, this time even more aggressively trying to keep the expansion and the SVRA tied up in the legislature and the courts.

I hope everyone is staying sane during this shelter in place order. I know its hard for me to just stay home, but I’m trying to do my part and do what ever it takes to get back to a place when business can start to open back up and when we can return to recreating on our favorite trails.

On Sunday President Donald Trump extended the voluntary national shut down for another month, until April 30. The initial 15-day period of social distancing urged by the federal government expires today and the President decided to extend the guidelines when the current modeling showed that they should expect the coronavirus pandemic to peak within the next few weeks.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the lockdown which includes shelter in place and distancing measures will continue on through at least the end of April but also possibly through mid-June.

Shelter in Place Order

The order takes effect immediately and remains in place "until further notice." Californians are not allowed to leave their homes except for essential purposes. The mandatory order allows Californians to continue to visit gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, takeout and delivery restaurants, banks and laundromats.

This meeting was like most meetings, long and dry, with comments from CORVA, Friends of Oceano, AMA District 36, Cal4 Wheel and more. Topic for the meeting was about the Transformation of the OHV Division into the Parks and Rec. Further topics brought up were Carnegie and Oceano.

The Marine Corps will temporarily close the Johnson Valley Shared Use Area to the public beginning Thursday 30 April through Monday 11 May 2020 in order to conduct military training. The closure period will include the necessary time required to conduct pre- and post- inspections of the land with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Marine Corps will provide notification when the area is reopened for public access.

Comments have been submitted to California State Parks regarding Red Rock Canyon State Park's general plan.

Download the comments at this link

The Marine Corps will temporarily close the Johnson Valley Shared Use Area to the public beginning Thursday, April 30 through Monday, May 11, 2020 in order to conduct military training. The closure period will include the necessary time required to conduct pre- and post-inspections of the land with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Marine Corps will provide notification when the area is reopened for public access.

Comments submitted on Cal4Wheel regarding the Sequoia-Sierra National Forest Plan Revision Update.

Download copy of letter

TEXT OF THE LETTER:

September 25, 2019

Plan Revision Team Lead

323 Club Drive

Vallejo CA 94592

Subject: Sequoia and Sierra Forest Plan Revision Update

Dear Planning Team:

These comments are submitted on behalf of the California Four Wheel Drive Association (Cal4Wheel) and its membership. Cal4Wheel represents clubs and individuals within the state of California that are part of the community of four-wheel drive enthusiasts. These comments are directed to the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Revision of the Sequoia and Sierra National Forests Land Management Plans. This document shall not supplant the rights of other Cal4Wheel agents and organizational or individual members from submitting their own comments and the agency should consider and appropriately respond to all comments received to this proposed planning project.

Many people are voicing complaints about the pending loss of their favorite trail and are threatening to file a lawsuit. Sounds simple. But, is it that simple?

Keep in mind, to file a lawsuit, you must have “standing” and prove that you are “harmed” by the decision. So, just what is “standing” and what is “harm”?

OPPOSE: AB 1086 Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area: Alameda-Tesla Expansion Area

(As Amended September 6, 2019)

Senate Bill 767 died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week.

But now, SB 767 has been resurrected into AB1086, this bill is a "gut and amend" bill that is very similar to SB767. Cal4 was opposed SB767 and opposes the resurrected AB1086. But in addition to the policy objections of the bill, we object to the underhanded process that is being attempted to ram AB1086 through the legislature with only days to go in this session of the State legislature.

If you want to watch yesterday's AB1086 hearing in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee follow this link to the hearing- https://www.senate.ca.gov/media-archive and select the September 11 hearing of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee and click “Watch.”

For months, a coalition of off-highway vehicle recreation associations (Coalition) representing off-road recreation enthusiasts throughout the state of California, have worked on legislation to provide reauthorization of the highly successful Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) program that is administered by the Department of Parks and Recreation.

The State Assembly recently passed amended legislation that provides permanent status for the program. The State Senate concurred and the legislation was submitted to the Governor for signature. On October 3, 2017, the Governor signed legislation making the OHMVR program permanent.

I recently received an email from a county supervisor outlining a situation where the county believed that the Forest Service was in violation of a county law when they closed close to 400 miles of routes in the forest that spanned two counties.

After reading the details submitted, I noted several false assumptions cited in the discussion.

First, let me address what NEPA is and is not. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to disclose and analyze the effects of their proposed action on the natural environment. NEPA is the law (passed by Congress) that requires this action. NEPA is an outline of a process with specific actions the agency is required to do. The resulting document from a NEPA process is not a "law". The result of a NEPA analysis is a Record of Decision stating that appropriate level of environmental review has been conducted and the proposed action can be implemented.