I looked on the FOPV website, nothing new/updated there. What is/has happened to the lawsuit to open the canyon back up?

What can I do to help?

Thanks for asking.

Bryan and I are still chipping away at this, it is a slow process but it is still moving forward.

The last suit was a “Motion for Civil Contempt” against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for not following the terms of the Stipulation agreement that lead to the closing of the road, but exempting landowners from the closure. This motion was in front of the same judge that signed the stipulation. The motion was ultimately denied, but in the process the judge voiced concerns with the BLM’s actions relating to “Right of Way” (ROW) application that Bryan had submitted, and essentially laid an “Administrative Procedure Act” (APA) case out for us with his comments. The potential for a favorable decision in that case is pretty high, it will just take more money.

Shortly after the dismissal of that case, Bryans ROW application was officially denied (probably in an effort to keep us from pursuing the APA case). This is significant, as the reason that the BLM claimed it was taking so long to process it is that they were going to use the “Environmental Impact Statement” (EIS) that has been in the works as part of the review of Bryans application. They told Bryan for 5 years that they wouldn’t process it until the EIS was done, then denied the application before completing the EIS…

Bryan is currently appealing the decision to the “Interior Board of Land Appeals” (IBLA). We should be hearing back on this soon. The outcome of this appeal will determine if we need to pursue the APA case.

In October of last year FOPV participated in a cleanup of Chris Wicht camp in Surprise Canyon. Details here…
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=625908

In February of this year FOPV organized an additional cleanup of Chris Wicht camp in Surprise Canyon that removed many more tons of scrap and debris as well as the vehicles that were abandoned in the camp. Details here…
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=654198
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=657140

I have been in a pretty heavy research mode for some time now. I currently have a “Freedom of Information Act” (FOIA) request with the BLM that I am appealing. The BLM failed to address several specific requests for information in their response. I should have a response on the appeal in the next week or two.

I am also working with the group preparing for the CWC wilderness proposal that Senator Feinstein is looking at. This proposal currently lists much of the Slate Range (Isham and Fish canyons included) and a chunk of the Panamint Valley floor south of Ballarat as being considered as wilderness. There is also mention of the Surprise Canyon “Wild and Scenic River” (WSR) in the proposal, as well as maps that show the elimination of the current “cherrystem” of Surprise Canyon Road and Panamint City from the current wilderness areas on both BLM and Death Valley National Park land.

The issue of the entire proposal that CWC has submitted is going to be big and far reaching. There will be a lot of work to do fighting it, not only for access in the Panamint Valley region, but also the rest of the Southern California deserts. We will be focusing our efforts on PV, but not limiting ourselves to it

That’s what’s up right now.
Feel free to ask questions. Ill answer what I can, and not answer what I cant.

kris.

Thanks for the FOPV update, we have a big fight ahead on this latest Feinstein proposal and AAPL is onboard for it.
Despite all the roads thru the Slate range can't believe it qualifies as suitable wilderness. Wilderness activists no longer care about the quality of their proposals, revealing their true agendas :mad3:
Keep me in the loop.
Greg in Bishop

Kris and FOPV, thanks for the hard work to get Surprise back open. I hope to travel from MS when it's open again; it's one of the reasons I began 4wheeling after seeing it in the mags back in the day.

That’s what’s up right now.
Feel free to ask questions. Ill answer what I can, and not answer what I cant.

kris.


Thanks for the update Kris.

my question.

Is it time for me to cut down the gate and drive to my private property that the government has locked me out of yet ? seems to me that the national main stream media would like to know what the US government is doing to land owners.

Camo-- i'm right behind you !!!!

Any chance when they take JV, we can get suprise in trade.

Any chance when they take JV, we can get suprise in trade.

Don't start rumors. Johnson Valley is a long way from gone.