SOUTH COW MOUNTAIN OHVMA

The Bureau of Land Management’s Ukiah Field Office invited public comment on future planning and improvements for the South Cow Mountain OHVMA. In collaboration with Santa Rosa 4x4, a local Cal4 club who regularly utilizes this OHVMA, I submitted a comment to advocate for improvements to trails, facilities, and general park amenities. Specific recommendations included request for jeep trail development, looping of trails, and development of the obstacle course to include 4x4 features. Other suggestions included increased security of trash bins to reduce litter across the park, addition of a picnic area at the 4x4 obstacle course (with shade), and increased ranger or sheriff patrols within the park. Many thanks to Chris Silveira and Santa Rosa 4x4 for providing detailed insight on South Cow Mountain’s current status and needs.

As a newcomer to Cal4Wheel, I appreciate the enthusiastic welcome I’ve received from members across the state. Many thanks to everyone who has responded to my outreach or reached out to me proactively to connect. It is exciting to join a membership of thousands who share my enthusiasm for public land issues. There is never a shortage of issues to address in California, and this season presents an array of critical priorities, including forest management, species-related access restrictions, burn scar restoration, OHV program financing, and Oceano Dunes SVRA.

Friends of Oceano Dunes wins lawsuit with Coastal Commission

In late 2017, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) approved a large expansion of dust control measures at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area.

Oceano Dunes SVRA

With the SVRA now closed due to the recent Covid-19 restrictions, the surrounding local economy has been devastated. The tourism that brings revenue into the community has come to a halt. Nearly all of the retail stores, restaurants, hotels, rental companies, and other small businesses in the area are just struggling to stay afloat.

Carnegie SVRA Alameda-Tesla Expansion Legislation- April 2020

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.

State Parks transformation meeting

California State Parks held a special Off-highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Commission meeting in Sacramento to discuss State Parks transformation process. The OHV community has always been very skeptical of the transformation process and many have asked why it was needed. State Parks says they had to fold the OHMVR Division back into State Parks because they felt it was more efficient and it would save money. But the OHV community fears that they just want to tap into our gas tax trust fund (green sticker fund) money. State Parks has always operated in the red and is always looking for more money from the general fund, while the OHMVR Division uses no general fund money and is always in the black.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

On its current trajectory, the BLM headquarters in Washington, D.C. will be liquidated, decentralized, and relocated by the end of March in 2020.