In preping for the press release, I am taking some time to read some of the Rally posts.

There is some REALLY good stuff in there!

While ALL the posts are great, I just thought of posting a thread spotlighting some of the better arguements and quotes to help me form the press release.

#146 by a newb who signed up just for the rally was :smokin:

Since my retirement 3 years ago, my wife and I have become dedicated Off-Road enthusiasts. Since we acquired our Jeep (new in 2005) we have traveled throughout the West to enjoy many miles of unpaved roads and Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) routes located upon inspiring terrain. Within the 71,000 miles we have logged in our OHV, I believe Johnson Valley (JV) is an OHV recreation area unique in the western United States. It is a nationally recognized area with the most challenging and diverse terrain we have yet encountered.

After good health, off-roading is the cornerstone of how we define “quality-of-life”. We belong to a variety of four wheel drive clubs and organizations. Within the OHV community we fall into “crawler” category measuring progress by miles-per-day (in the teens) rather than miles per hour. We also spend quite a bit of time and effort maintaining various OHV routes and trails through organized Adopt-A-Trail activities. We always leave an area we visit better than we found it.

I agree the Military Mission is vital to the preservation of the freedoms we enjoy. However, in my frequent travels in Mojave areas of Los Angeles, Inyo, Kern, San Bernardino and Imperial counties, I can not help but notice the extensive acreage committed to maintaining training and operational readiness of our troops via the:
• Naval Weapons Center - China Lake;
• Fort Irwin National Training Center;
• Edwards Air Force Base;
• 29 Palms (Bullion Mountains) USMC Air/Ground Combat Center;
• Carrizo/Superstition U.S.Naval Gunnery Ranges & Impact Area, and,
• Chocolate Mountains Impact Area.

Including the additional exclusions to OHV activities upon public lands imposed within the same region by the extensive National Parks and Preserves and other wilderness designated public lands, I hope you may appreciate the high value our recreational community places upon the JV area. I certainly understand the need for a desert training environment, but it is incomprehensible to me that the vital Military Mission can not be accommodated within existing military reservations in the Mojave area (or Arizona, Nevada or New Mexico for that matter).

I urge the decision-makers to get a map and look at the “big picture”. Surely the military branches can work together in a joint “problem solving effort” to find a way to accommodate the Marine Corps “desert environment” training needs within the footprint of existing military reservations without impacting this unique off-road recreation area.

Please obtain a copy of the California Trail Users Coalition Motorized and Non-Motorized Trails for the area covering the San Bernardino and Barstow Areas www.ctuc.info. The Johnson Valley OHV Area a is vital recreation resource and public trust responsibly administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Countless hours of volunteer labor has created this unique network of OHV routes.

This is a matter of public trust not to be taken lightly.

Thank you,

Glenn Odell
Santa Barbara, CA
Retired Firefighter (32 yrs)