I will be posting a letter to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune "your View" section. My thoughts on this matter have changed from the outrage I felt that night to resolve once again. I recieve all e-mail from ACORAUSA.com and would be happy to forward them and respond accordingly, our bbs didn't take off as hoped. I've been told its server problems but try to do the best with it I can third party. Back to my point, My resolve is to aquire as much information as I can on the subject matter (MTBE) and add it to my information,(I cannot be Bogged down on one issue) and plans in the works with the Forest service. My concern is that ACORA changes its course from a proactive stance to a response stance. I need people in the pit that inform the new users to stay away from "water play" driving up and down the streams or trying to cross and being left to sit for to long. My biggest problem at this time is the new visitor that is ill equipped to "wheel" and decides "well, in the commercial they drove in the water" and heads in. If I can reach these people before they are photographed in the water ( I do Chase as many as I can) we will all be better off. Secondly the L.A. regional water quality board will be starting to test to get a baseline, and that information will be forwarded to the forest plan. I know that the water test found NO DETECTABLE trace. So there is no reason we cannot keep it that way if people stay out of the water. I am working with the forest service so they can get extra personal down in the pit during the week. Budget constictions are being sited at this time so it is up to the OHV users that have days off during the week to look after the area. When the L.A.R.W.Q. Rep. was out there during the week there were three trucks there and one drove right up the stream as reported, She had never been there before and most likely be again but in her mind if 300 trucks are there on a sunday she must think a third drive up and down the stream. Thats how this stuff gets blown out of proportion. Thats why I cannot waste my time fighting the people that sit on the side of the road and point but do nothing. I will be meeting with the Sherriff,CHP and Forest service so that enforcement will be there to keep people out of the streams. ACORA members have been threatened just because they are asking people to get otu of the WATER. I will let all know when this meeting is to be held. ANYONE who has good ideas to add will be considered, we need more information on MTBE I am combing the web reading that type of information now. Also removal can it be removed? I know it is lighter than water for a time then "plumes" down through the water into the ground water. So who knows about the San Gabriel reservoir and how water is taken from the reservoir? from the bottom, top what? How likely is it for them to get MTBE when they take water?if there were any? If I know that then I can move forward with other plans. Now you can see how I do not want to try to Fight with people that do not know only speculate, it serves no purpose. I agree we must somehow let AZUSA know that they sold out, but nicely, and drive the point home. Thanks

easy there Mike... breathe... ok now isn't that better? :D...

I'd like a copy of the newspaper that the article we were being interviewed for that night came out in if you still have one...I'll pay for it and get out there and pick it up at a meeting or something if you want to hold it for me....


Keep me posted on any meetings that you guys have, Even if I can't make it, I'll at the very least spread the word and try to get you some help...

Also, my email address is in my sig line, add me to any mailing list you have regarding this or any other Land Use issues...

Thanks,
PSD


:usa:

ACORA1,

Please let us know if your editorial runs and on what day. Good luck!

Crowdog

Lets see if I can do this right, (problem is I don't know how to space this out) the web address is www.sgvtribune.com go to archieves then search "Dust", then scroll through to page 6 for the article on monday then I believe page 7 holds tuesday's. If you can look around in the there and find the "Your View" section, you will see a submisson from Tim Schudar on MTBE. Sorry for not linking this but maybe someone can do it,then post it properly. Thanks.

OK I can follow directions ;) Here's the text. I'm sending a letter to the FS to help you guys out. I'm using info from the meeting thread to substantiate the facts.

Robert

Dust may fly as council considers off-road site

December 17, 2001

By Marianne Love
Staff Writer

AZUSA -- Emotions are expected to run high tonight, when off-road enthusiasts meet environmentalists in a battle over off-roading in the San Gabriel riverbeds in the hills above Azusa.

The Azusa City Council is expected to decide whether to support Rincon OHV Route, the 150-acre off-road area adjacent to Highway 39, or to recommend a ban on off-roading.

Each side will come armed with environmental reports supporting its case.

The USDA Forest Service, scheduled to update its plan in December 2003, makes the final decision whether the off-roaders stay or go.

The Forest Service took control of the off-highway area in 1988. Rangers patrol it for violators.

Every Sunday, some 300 people migrate to the sanctioned playground about 11 miles north of Azusa to watch from the mountain ridge or at ground level.

Members of the Azusa Canyon Off-Road Association, a tight-knit group that spends each Sunday playing in the mud or dust depending on the time of year, call themselves environmentalists and say they respect the area and take care of it.

"Nobody's talking about the improvements and monitoring that has been done over the past 20 years," Mike Bishop, president of the 200-member group, said on a recent Sunday from the cab of his white 1979 Ford F250.

Bishop said the hobbyists were blamed for endangering the Santa Ana sucker fish, but it turns out bass found their way into the same area of the stream and feed on threatened larva and minnows.

Water officials worry about rollovers resulting in contaminated drinking water supplies.

But Bishop says his group's members have taken it upon themselves to carry necessary supplies in case of an accident, which rarely happens.

"All cars have rollover valves with a ball-check that goes into place and won't allow gas to escape," Bishop said. "All of the drive-train components (underbellies) of the vehicles are sealed, keeping gas and oil from leaking into the water."

But some environmentalists say the sport impacts the stream and its aquatic life, polluting it with gas and floating oils, tire bits and zinc from brake pads.

Others worry if the group gets kicked out it will go unleashed and do real harm to the river and the drinking water.

And one environmentalist wonders whether the group is really destroying nature.

"The San Gabriel Mountains are the fastest eroding mountains in the world because of its composite granite," said Eileen Takata of the San Gabriel Mountains Regional Conservancy. "Environmentalists are saying the OHVs are destroying the environment, but I'm saying its already disturbed."

Takata said because the ecosystem is disturbed, sediments back up behind the dam, raising the original levels of floodplains. The area is periodically dredged behind the dam to remove the sediment for increased water capacity.

It's that sediment that creates the dust off-roaders are blamed for kicking up.

-- Marianne Love can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108, or by e-mail at marianne.love@sgvn.com.


City Council vote deflates off-roaders

December 18, 2001

By Marianne Love
Staff Writer

AZUSA -- The City Council will recommend the U.S. Forest Services ban off-road vehicles in an area about 11 miles north of the city.

The council agreed to make the recommendation despite protests from about 100 off-road enthusiasts.

Councilman Dave Hardison, an off-roader and longtime Azusa resident, said his vote wasn't against off-roaders but for clean water.

"I was never a fan of the park," Hardison said. "I find it hard to believe that gas tanks won't get punctured and leak into the water."

At issue is Rincon OHV Route, a 150-acre area along the San Gabriel River adjacent to Highway 39. Off-roaders say the park - a perfect blend of water, mud and dust - is one of the few places where they can enjoy their sport. But environmentalists and those in the water industry say off-roaders are contaminating the river with gas and oil.

The Forest Service, which took control of the off-highway area in 1988, is expected to complete its forest plan by December, 2003 and is taking input on the plan.

The Forest Service will make the final call on whether off-roaders stay or go.

Members of Azusa Canyon Off-Road Association say the council's decision takes away a great form of recreation for families. They say they abide by the laws and leave the canyon area cleaner than when they arrived.

"There's no effect on the water," said Kelle Brydon, of Simi Valley.

Mike Bishop, president of the 200-member organization, said the group is protecting the area and brings income to Azusa by patronizing restaurants and businesses and filling up 35-plus gallon gas tanks every week.

"I have a sense of frustration," Bishop said, after the council's decision. "Frustration because I don't know how to fight them (environmental extremists)."

Group members claim environmental extremists started the claim that off-roaders endanger the native sucker fish. Then the migratory birds. Then the dust. Now the water.

"This is the last straw to close down public access to public land," said Peter DiPrimo of Simi Valley and a member of the Ventura County Axle Snappers Four Wheel Drive Club.

But Tim Schuddar, who lives above the off-road park, said he is affected by the dust. He said off-roaders are polluting the riverbed.

He said that if 100 gallons of gas found its way into the river, it's enough to contaminate the entire San Gabriel reservoir.

Off-road enthusiasts attending the meeting said they are blamed for everything that goes wrong.

"I'm afraid of losing (the access to off-roading)," said Hacienda Heights resident Joey Sotomayor. "Where are we going to go?"

-- Marianne Love can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108, or by e-mail at marianne.love@sgvn.com.

I got a quote in the second article, but it might not make enough sense without the sentence I said before it... It was something like "First they tried to use the suckerfish, then the migratory birds, then the dust. This its the last straw to close public lands to the public." oh well, I was so pissed I'm surprised I made that much sense :(....


:usa:

"This is the last straw to close down public access to public land," said Peter DiPrimo of Simi Valley and a member of the Ventura County Axle Snappers Four Wheel Drive Club.

Go PSD!

Environmental Wackos -> :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

Crowdog
Public Land for Public Use!

Hey could someone pull up that butthole Tim Schudars article in the your view section for me? Thats the only thing I have not read yet.Hey Schudar if you read this this is for YOU.:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: Can you believe this guy drives across SAME river to get to his cabin. The way I feel about is if we go so does he.(my 4 flip offs got edited for some reason)
:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2: