Help protect California ’s National Forests, State Parks and other public lands from off-road vehicle damage and disruption.
Join us and meet with your State Legislator to voice support for protecting California ’s wild places.

What’s At Stake?

California’s off-highway vehicle (OHV) grants program funds important law enforcement and restoration efforts to protect California ’s wilderness, wildlife, and waterways from off-road vehicle damage, and to protect our communities and recreation opportunities from off-road vehicle disruption. This year’s legislative session will be critical to the future of California ’s $18 million OHV Grants Program. The program is set to expire on January 1, 2008, and off-road vehicle industry groups are working to undermine important elements of the program that prevent and repair the damage caused by unmanaged off-road vehicle use.

A growing coalition of conservationists, outdoor recreation advocates, private landowners and community activists is working to strengthen the California OHV grants program to make sure that wild places and communities are protected from irresponsible and illegal ORV damage.

Join us for Lobby Day on March 13th at the State Capitol or for a local meeting with your representative.
Contact Brent at bschoradt@calwild.org or 510-451-1450 to attend ORV Lobby Day in Sacramento or to sign-up for a local meeting with your representative.

CALIFORNIA WILDERNESS COALITION | 1212 BROADWAY, SUITE 1700 | OAKLAND , CA 94612
EMAIL US AT: info@calwild.org | TEL: (510) 451-1450 (c)2001-2005 CALIFORNIA WILDERNESS COALITION

[LAO comments: Of importance is that this meeting is being held 1 week before the CLORV Lobby Day invitation sent out to all members of the legislature. This press release/invitation by CWC is being sent to the same legislators. The text they have written paints us as bad people and OHV radicals, which is not true. What they don’t say is all the good things we do, and are only out to control the sport of OHV, and to continue to have control of our money. Please note that former OHV Commission Chair Paul Spitler was the Executive Director of the CWC. He is a current sitting member of the commission right now. OHV has filed 2 lawsuits against this commission, and one just had a judge slap them down on the Desert Riparian Policy they have tried to enact. The 2^nd one filed is for being Arbitrary & Capricious concerning the Grants process that just ended.

The CWC statement “Strengthen the California OHV grants program” basically is a cash grab for control of more OHV dollars for restoration. The recent Grants hearings clearly saw the majority of OHV funds used for purposes other than what the legislature had intended for the program. Law Enforcement, as they say they support, had its funding cut by this commission due to excessive finding going to one area, that being Restoration.

District 36 supports, and always has, funding for Law Enforcement in a fair, and responsible manner. Support for Law Enforcement grants – on the public record, including the last grant hearings – are clearly supported by the OHV community. As an example, this last grants cycle had over $10,000,000 in statewide Law Enforcement grants submitted. This commission only allocated $4,000,000 total for the entire state. In reality, this is only pennies per OHV enthusiast per year. The bottom line is CWC want more OHV money for Restoration, and paints the picture OHV does not want Law Enforcement, which is not true. Restoration grant submissions did not even burn up the funds available, yet the excess could not be transferred to LE, or trail maintenance. Feel free to contact your legislator and let them know your views. Remind them this is a self funded, user fee based program for the last 35 years, and that you support Law Enforcement where necessary. Tell them to ask hard questions if they attend the CWC meeting, and to justify what they are saying here. Partisan politics should NOT guide the OHV program, as we are all Californians first, and this is a legal form of recreation for families. Let them know they are being deceived and not getting all the facts regarding the OHMVR program]
Dave Pickett District 36 Legislative Action Office - Director

Also check out www.calwild.org and their “Off-Road Vehicle Defense Campaign”.
http://www.calwild.org/action/alert_1.12.07.php

PRESS RELEASE

EcoLogic Partners, Inc.

Another Victory for OHV Use – Sacramento Court

Says “Desert Riparian Policy” May Not Be

Implemented Until Rule Making is Completed

SACRAMENTO – On Friday, February 2, 2007, the OHV community won another victory over improper efforts to curb off-road recreation in California.  During an hour-long court hearing, a judge in Sacramento stated that the California Off-Highway Motorized Vehicle Recreation Commission (the “Commission”) may not implement its “Desert Riparian Policy” unless and until it develops formal rules defining the policy’s terms and scope.  As currently drafted, the Policy would prohibit use of OHMVR grant funds for projects that allow OHV use in desert riparian areas.  EcoLogic Partners, Inc., along with five OHV groups – the San Diego Off-Road Coalition, the American Sand Association, the California Off-Road Vehicle Association, the Off-Road Business Association, and American Motorcyclists Association District 37 – sued the Commission last year over the policy, claiming that it conflicted with the text of the OHMVR Act itself.

At the February 2 hearing, the Court heard arguments from the Commission, the OHMVR Division, and EcoLogic, et al.  And while the judge denied EcoLogic’s request to dissolve the Desert Riparian Policy outright, he ruled that the current language of the policy is so vague that it could lead to interpretations inconsistent with the existing law.  He also expressed concern that the Commission might adopt future policies, with broad language similar to that in the Desert Riparian Policy, which are designed to cut off funding for OHV projects in other areas of the state.  When viewed cumulatively, such policies could effectively gut the OHVMR grant program.  For these reasons, the Court instructed the Commission and the Division to develop workable definitions and rules that properly circumscribe the scope of the Desert Riparian Policy.  This, said the Court, must be accomplished prior to implementation of the policy.  Moreover, it must be done through an open public process.  Then the rules must be reviewed and approved by an Administrative Law Panel.

Although the judge stopped short of telling the Commission what the rules should contain, he explained that the OHMVR Act was adopted to promote responsible OHV recreation, and any policy that retreats from that purpose, or operates in conflict with it, will be subject to legal challenge.  He invited EcoLogic and the other OHV groups to participate in the rulemaking process, and to come back to court if the rules adopted by the Commission still create conflict with the text of the Act.

Counsel for EcoLogic, et al, David Hubbard, said he was very pleased with the Court’s ruling.  “This could not have worked out better.  We claimed from the beginning that the Desert Riparian Policy was jammed down our throats without public input, without adequate definitions, without evidence as to need, and without limits on its scope.  The court has now leveled the playing field on these questions and forced the Commission to justify the policy in an open public debate.  And if the rules adopted by the Commission would substantially damage funding for OHV projects in the desert, we will be back in front of the judge.”

When asked how long the rule making process would take, counsel for the OHMVR Division estimated 18 months to 2 years.  During that time, the Desert Riparian Policy will remain dormant and unenforceable.

For more information regarding this press release, contact David Hubbard at dph@ecobalance.biz or (619) 992-3600.

(EcoLogic is a non-profit corporation committed to responsible family recreation in the great American outdoors.)

Monday, February 5, 2007 – 10:50 a.m.

OFF-ROADERS challenge OFF-HIGHWAY MOTOR VEHICLE RECREATION COMMISSION OVER arbitrary & capricious

abuse of authority

Grants were approved or denied at the toss of a coin.

BAKERSFIELD, CA (January 29, 2007) On January 26, 2007, EcoLogic Partners, Inc., the Off-Road Business Association (ORBA), the San Diego Off-Road Coalition (SDORC), the California Off-Road Vehicle Association (CORVA), the American Motorcyclists Association District 37 (AMA D37), and the American Sand Association (ASA) filed suit against the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Commission alleging the commission acted in an arbitrary  and capricious manner during its December 8-9, 2006 meeting when it rescored law enforcement grants without any evidentiary support for the new scores. Those actions resulted in decreased law enforcement funding for areas where many California families recreate.

The lawsuit specifically challenges the OHMVR Commission’s action to dramatically reduce the score of the law enforcement grant application submitted by Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) El Centro field office. Despite receiving a score of 82 from Division staff, the BLM El Centro grant application was downgraded to a 69 by the Commission. 

Although more than $10 million in law enforcement grant requests were submitted to the OHMVR Division, the Division was able to allocate only $4 million in law enforcement grants. Once The OHMVR Commission rescored the BLM El Centro law enforcement grant, the $4 million allocation was almost gone. BLM El Centro and another grant applicant with a score of 69 were vying for the remaining dollars.  Rather than analyze the two applications on the merits, the OHMVR Commission simply tossed a coin!  El Centro BLM won the coin toss and was awarded the remaining $387,349.  Still, even this award was more than $1 million less than that recommended by OHMVR Division staff.

Recently the OHMVR division staff implemented a competitive grants process to ensure that the limited funds available are disbursed in a fair and equitable manner. By subverting that new process, the OHMVR Commissioners not only flouted the law, they placed in jeopardy the safety of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (ISDRA) each year.

The ISDRA, the area for which the El Centro BLM was requesting funds, receives approximately 1.4 million visitors each year, the majority of which are families.  OHV grants are a central component in providing law enforcement for this area which is one of the most heavily visited OHV areas in the entire nation.  It is difficult to understand why the OHV Commission would substitute a game of chance for sound analysis and scoring of OHV grants for such a popular area, rather than the scoring criteria established in regulation they are legally mandated to use.

# # #

ORBA is a national trade association composed of off-road related businesses united to promote common goals that support the prosperity and growth of the off-road industry. 

A positive article was recently posted on the Union web site about NCWR. Take a look http://www.theunion.com/article/20070126/TODAYSFEATURE/101260174