According to the Grass Valley Union, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 last week to SUPPORT Boxer's wilderness bill. Since only a few of you found it worth your time to write letters to the BOS or show up to the meeting, the board didn't feel enough heat to change their mind. Now our job of fighting this bill will be even harder in Nevada County. Since the proposed wilderness boundary comes within 1/4 mile from the trail, it is very possible that it could impact the trails use. Think it couldn't happen? Read this:


The creation of buffer zones around Wilderness areas or even Wilderness Study Areas (WSA's) by the land management agencies or by the courts is a growing problem. In Northwest Motorcycle Association vs. U.S. Department of Agriculture the district court found and the appeals court upheld that the Forest Service could consider the presence of a nearby wilderness area in Washington's Wenatchee National Forest in restrict activity outside the Wilderness area. This, even though the legislation establishing the Wilderness area specifically prohibited establishing buffer zones. Similar actions have been taken in Colorado despite legislative prohibitions on creating buffer zones. In 1990, the Interior Board of Land Appeals upheld a BLM decision not to allow a mine development because of the "visual impact" on a nearby WSA. In New Hampshire, the Forest Service acceded to pressure from wilderness advocates and dropped plans to allow people with disabilities to use a previously closed road near the Sandwich Range Wilderness Area.


Pissed off enough to do something about it?

1. Write a letter to the editor of the Grass Valley Union to educate the sheeple out there that 4-5 of their supervisors are idiots. Send you letter to:
Email: letters@theunion.com
Fax: (530) 477-4292

2. Write a letter to Senator Feinstein asking her to oppose more wilderness designations.
http://www.senate.gov/~feinstein/email.html
Fax: (202) 228-3954

3. Next time, get off your lazy ass and do something about keeping our trails open when the action alert comes out! :mad:

Jon

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July 25, 2002 - Grass Valley Union

Wilderness plan wins backers
County supervisors, bike groups now on board

John Dickey

Nevada County supervisors are supporting a wilderness bill proposed by Sen. Barbara Boxer, now that mountain biking enthusiasts - once opposed - have decided to support it.

Supervisors voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to support wilderness designations for the Grouse Lakes and Castle Peak areas of Nevada County - with a change in the mapping.

Wilderness boundaries were redrawn to leave some popular mountain biking trails out of the 25,000 acres of Nevada County land in two separate areas proposed for the designation, which would exclude mechanized transportation, including bicycles, snowmobiles and off-road trucks.

The Hole-in-the-Ground Trail, a portion of the Mt. Lola Trail, and the Glacier Trail are now out of the wilderness proposal.

Area mountain biking groups, including the Bicyclists of Nevada County, had opposed the original wilderness plan.

They came on board after the compromise, worked out at a July 8 meeting attended by the mountain bikers, a four-wheel drive club, wilderness groups including the California Wilderness Coalition and the Sierra Club, and Supervisors Bruce Conklin and Barbara Green.

Conklin said he wanted to support the bill because he believes wilderness is important, and the county only has two places suitable for the wilderness designation - areas without roads in them.

He believes the wilderness designation attracts hikers and fishermen, who get a higher-quality experience, making it good for tourism.

Groups the wilderness designation would definitely not attract - they would be banned from the wilderness areas - include snowmobilers and off-road enthusiasts.

The California Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs is against the bill, which it says would close nearly 2.5 million acres of California public land used by four-wheel drive enthusiasts.

Also opposing the bill is the California Association of Business Property and Resource Owners.

Supervisor Sue Horne voted against the motion to support the California Wild Heritage Act of 2002, which she said is poorly written, hampers the ability of the U.S. Forest Service to fight wild fires and bans outdoor activities in areas popular with snowmobilers.

Horne said the bill would ban bulldozers without special permission, and helicopters could only be used in emergencies in the designated areas - leaving firefighting decisions in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.

Prospects for passage of the bill are uncertain, Horne noted, and until Sen. Dianne Feinstein comes on board, "It's a dead bill."

The bill is currently in committee in the U.S. Senate.

July 29, 2002

Typical radical environmentalism

Del Albright

Typical radical environmentalism

The Boxer Wilderness attempt is wrong for Nevada County. Wilderness in her form is an unnecessary lockup of public lands that will do no good for Nevada County residents, or those of us from outside the area who recreate and spend money there. Her form of Wilderness is typical radical environmental extremism.

The original intent of Congress in the 1964 Wilderness Act was to set aside high country, pristine lands, with little or no evidence of human impact. That is not the case in her version of this proposed bill. Bounce Boxer and her Wilderness.

Del Albright

Mokelumne Hill

http://www.theunion.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=TU&Date=20020729&Category=OPINION&ArtNo=107290004&Ref=AR

:( This sucks. :(

Which club attended the June 8 meeting, and can give us more info?

Those MTB folks aren't taking a very long-term view with their influence -- apparently they think that they are 'safe?' The reality is that after Barbie Boxie is done stomping out four-wheeling, she's going to turn around and do the same to mountain biking... and it will be that much easier, since the 4x4 enthusiasts won't be there to support the MTB enthusiasts that abandoned us in our time of need. :(

Randii

:mad: :mad: that sucks

I'll keep sending my letters in.

letter to the union .......SENT

same letter sent to Senator Feinstein.....SENT

come awn....

Yes this really sucks. :(

Originally posted by randii
Which club attended the June 8 meeting, and can give us more info?


I wondered the same thing.

My guess would be the Grass Valley 4Wheelers...? The club who hosts WFF. There cant be too many clubs up there...

Originally posted by ErikB

My guess would be the Grass Valley 4Wheelers...? The club who hosts WFF. There cant be too many clubs up there...

I just got off the phone with 2 members of the Grass Valley 4Wheelers and they were not invited to the meeting and they *DO NOT* support this.

edit -- my previous comment was vague.

the two in GV 4 wheelers I spoke with didn't know what club may have been involved but assured me it was not theirs.


- Dan

Done


Crow - maybe a little honey would be nice, the THANKS FOR NOTHING (vinigar) approach greatly disturbs me. I can't say I've ever seen it work. Maybe raffles, OHV enthusiast of the month type stuff. Anything to make it a little more enjoyable. There are some of us (like yourself) that do this every day. Just an idea. And Thanks for all you do, if only trhere were 100,000 more of you. :D And if you need ideas I'm full of em...... or it .....or something like that:D

I had notified my best friend who is a member of BONC (the MTB group). He found out that the leadership would go an represent the club. When I sent him the copy of the above article from the Union, he was irate and said that the club had been sold out by the leadership w/o consulting the rank & file membership.

Former Nevada County resident,

Jim

Well, I sent one, and I bet a lot of folks did. I bet they could have cared less what we wheelers wanted ....

Originally posted by rokryder
Done


Crow - maybe a little honey would be nice, the THANKS FOR NOTHING (vinigar) approach greatly disturbs me. I can't say I've ever seen it work. Maybe raffles, OHV enthusiast of the month type stuff. Anything to make it a little more enjoyable. There are some of us (like yourself) that do this every day. Just an idea. And Thanks for all you do, if only trhere were 100,000 more of you. :D And if you need ideas I'm full of em...... or it .....or something like that:D

rokryder:
Sorry about the vinegar, but sometimes it gets a little old. I posted the alert in chit chat & general 4x4 a few weeks back and didn't get much response. Thought it was important enough that more people would care without the sugar. It really only takes a few minutes to write a quick letter. I gave everyone a sample and the fax & email address. What more do you want?

DanH:
Please email me with your info.

Jon

Originally posted by Crowdog


rokryder:
Sorry about the vinegar, but sometimes it gets a little old. I posted the alert in chit chat & general 4x4 a few weeks back and didn't get much response. Thought it was important enough that more people would care without the sugar. It really only takes a few minutes to write a quick letter. I gave everyone a sample and the fax & email address. What more do you want?

DanH:
Please email me with your info.

Jon

I hear you Jon, it gets old quick. I sent my letters, (Several in fact because I love Fordyce), I couldn't make the meeting though. What else can we do to help out?? I feel as though the letters I have sent and will continue to send are pointless. I have never gotten anything but an automatic response to these things, and I feel like I am getting nothing done.

What else is there?? With the wife and baby at home it's hard to make it out to all the meetings. :(

Originally posted by GloNDark

What else is there?? With the wife and baby at home it's hard to make it out to all the meetings. :(


not everyone that wheels in on this board. talk to your neighbors, recruit your freinds. remind them. ask them if they followed through.

Hell, I asked my mom and dad ( both nevada county registered voters) to send in a letter. I'll call them today again to make sure they did.

if we all spent 10 minutes a day and tried other means other than the PBB, maybe we could get a greater mass of interest.

- Dan

jon, email is on the way.

I called the Nevada County BOS offices. It appears the reporting from the Grass Valley Union was a little premature. There is a motion of intent that is on the calendar for the Aug. 13 meeting to support Boxer's bill with some changes. This is when the vote will occur. This means we still have a bit of time to turn up the heat on the BOS.

More information & action items (address, FAX, email) -
http://www.crowley-offroad.com/nevada_county_supervisor.htm

Jon

Jon, thanks for the alerts. I for one did not respond to the posts that you put up, but I did send a copy a copy of your letter and Randii's to each of the addresses you provided.

I'll keep doing the same with each notice.

Rich

Originally posted by Crowdog


rokryder:
Sorry about the vinegar, but sometimes it gets a little old. I posted the alert in chit chat & general 4x4 a few weeks back and didn't get much response. Thought it was important enough that more people would care without the sugar. It really only takes a few minutes to write a quick letter. I gave everyone a sample and the fax & email address. What more do you want?

DanH:
Please email me with your info.

Jon

I would be willing to put $50 towards a pro OHV access shirt to be created that could be won by having some measurable input towards the cause. You could only win twice and you can only get the shirt by winning lets say by posting your letters and the person with the most posted letters in a month gets the shirt. BRC membership would be a prerequisite. I don't know just an idea. I know I would want one and it might start some interest. maybe a sticky showing the winners? I don't know I'm just throwing it out there. If you want I will price it out and get details.

more ideas:
$25 membership with a blue star for BRC members? $5 discount for BRC members? the other $5 goes to BRC. BRC adds on each page (not popups).

rockryder:

Good ideas. Do you have a source for t-shirts cheap? I need to get some done for Friends of Sand Mountain too.

Maybe we could get some companies to "sponsor" the t-shirts and their logo would be included.

Here's a BRC banner that I fly on my website:
http://www.crowley-offroad.com/images/brc_banner.gif

Anyone that has a website out there should at least have this on it (feel free to take any of these banners (http://www.crowley-offroad.com/Banner_Exchange.htm)). How about here on PBB Lance?

Jon

I posted this over at: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=732657#post732657

...but this thread is more on topic.

WE'RE NOT DEAD YET! The Board of Supervisors has not had their final vote yet!

What can we do? Well continued emails, faxes, and phone calls are a top prioitity.

Also, I'm going up to the Sierra Trek work weekend this Saturday, and will be collecting signatures on yet another petition, as well as handing out pencil and paper for other folks to write letters. I'll hand-deliver them to Nevada City, if that helps....

We're lucky in that the largest single use of the trail is coming up next weekend, and we can try to get EVERY one of those in attendance to sign up against this decision...

Will anyone else be up there this weekend or next to help me? I'd be tickled to put in some Burma Shave-style signs along the route that say Barbara Boxer's Wilderness, one quarter mile to your left -- and then How do you feel about losing this trail? ...followed by: Wanna *DO*something about it?

I have Jon's most recent petition from the Boxer Protest at the Capital, and it is impressively large... we need to deliver the same kind of thing to the Board of Supervisors.

Randii

Originally posted by Crowdog
rockryder:

Good ideas. Do you have a source for t-shirts cheap? I need to get some done for Friends of Sand Mountain too.

Maybe we could get some companies to "sponsor" the t-shirts and their logo would be included.

Here's a BRC banner that I fly on my website:
http://www.crowley-offroad.com/images/brc_banner.gif

Anyone that has a website out there should at least have this on it (feel free to take any of these banners (http://www.crowley-offroad.com/Banner_Exchange.htm)). How about here on PBB Lance?

Jon


I'm on it Crow we have someone that makes up our club shirts and I'll get with him. I'll send you the design and would like any input for design. I'll start a thread in Chit - Chat

And uh lance? no BRC banners???? Whats up with that?? :D

Randii,

Great ideas. A petition for all to hand sign is very effective. I think the Burma Shave idea will help educate too. Didn't think you were old enough to know what Burma Shave was....
I would love to help you out, but I am off to work with biologist counting butterflies at Sand Mountain. And I'm not kidding.


On another note, I finally go through to someone at Nevada County BOS who was at the July 8 meeting. 4x4 interests were NOT represented at the meeting. Mountain Bike's were "represented" by BONC & IMBA. They sold us out.

Jon

Burma Shave is what all the POR4x4'ers use to shave their parts, right?

Here's the partner to what I'll be manually distributing at Trek and the work weekend...

http://www.petitiononline.com/NOonBOXR/petition.html

Let's start some momentum -- if you have ever 'wheeled the High Sierra's Fordyce trail, or ever plan to, please sign this petition to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors advising AGAINST supporting Boxer's latest land-grab.

Randii

randii if you create another thread with your online petition i will put a sticky on it.

also post it in the toy section.

Originally posted by camo
randii if you create another thread with your online petition i will put a sticky on it.

also post it in the toy section.

I did it.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70813

...I'm going up to the Sierra Trek work weekend this Saturday, and will be collecting signatures on yet another petition, as well as handing out pencil and paper for other folks to write letters. I'll hand-deliver them to Nevada City, if that helps....
We're lucky in that the largest single use of the trail is coming up next weekend, and we can try to get EVERY one of those in attendance to sign up against this decision...
Will anyone else be up there this weekend or next to help me?

Please contact me: randii@4x4wire.com if you can help, in addition to posting here... I just can't make it into these forums that often....

Randii

Randii I will be there on the 9th as CalROCS is the dinner committee for fridays dinner. I will be more than happy to do what I can while I'm there.:D :D

Rich

still getting people to send in letters. would petitions work and where would we display them to county officials? scan it and send it via e-mail? mail it in?:confused:

Originally posted by rokryder to Crowdog
And Thanks for all you do, if only trhere were 100,000 more of you. :D


Fortunately for us there Are 100,000 of him, in fact I would be willing to be a weeks pay that there are a couple MILLION of him...

Unfortunately for us the same 500 or so are the only one's who give a shiot enough about whats happening to get off their fawking lazy asses to try to do something about it....




:usa:

The idea of closing off certain area's to certain groups is a very bad idea. Senator Boxer's "Wilderness Bill" would be excluding a very important group to these area's. I'm not sure of the exact area's in Nevada county that are being looked at for "Wildlife Areas" but any closures to off highway vehicles are limiting people with handicaps and the elderly that can not normally view these beautiful areas. I would love to know why these area's have and will always be argued over, to be closed off to mechanized vehicles? Offroad enthusiasts are the ones who sponsor and participate in area clean-ups such as the Greenhorn Creek clean-up and others just like it. There's no way the problems that are happening are going to be solved by keeping one group of people out of the area, especially the offroad enthusiasts. I believe that it is public awareness that will help keep these area's pure and clean. Educate people on subjects that will help them to not polute and needlessly destroy the great outdoors. Education will be the helping hand the Wilderness Area's will gain from, not losing a very dedicated work force like Offroader's. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Brian Landers just sent this one to the Union newspaper and Feinstein. I'm gonna talk to my freind the "mountain biker" tomorrow:rolleyes: