SEQUOIA AND SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN REVISIONS

The objection submission process has been completed for the Sequoia and Sierra National Forests Land Management Plan Revisions. The revised drafts were released in 2019, however, revisions have been revisited since to account for changes across the forest terrain that resulted from multiple catastrophic fires in 2020 and 2021. Updates include designation of Wild & Scenic Rivers, efforts towards sustainable recreation, and an overhaul in structure of management of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT). Issues within the plan revisions that are of key concern to OHV enthusiasts include OHV trail closures in the Piute Mountains of Sequoia National Forest, violation of federal law within the planning process and overhaul of PCT management, bias of heavy input from the Pacific Crest Trail Association, and minimized public input from the OHV community throughout the planning process. Read Cal4Wheel’s objection letter via this link: https://bit.ly/seq-sierra-plan-objections

We encourage our members to contact their California legislators to voice support for Assembly Bill 232. This bill would change the way out-of-state OHV permits are handled.

The short version: this bill would require OHV users from Arizona, Idaho and Utah to purchase an out-of-state permit for their OHVs in order to use them on public lands in California. This corrects the inequity that exists in these three states, which do not recognize California's OHV registrations and require California residents to purchase permits in order to recreate there.

The bill's author (Gallagher) points out that, "Californian's [sic] pay other states to use their OHVs in those states while residents of those states don't pay to use their OHVs here. This bill addresses that inquity to limiting reciprocity only to those states who provide reciprocity to California."

Please take a few minutes to contact your legislators to ask them to support this legislation. To find your legislators and their contact information, go to this link.

Read the full bill analysis and see its current status here

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.

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.