AZ LAND USE MEETINGS 4/24 and 4/25 @ 5:00....Be there if you can!!

[YellowSub1962]

<FONT COLOR="yellow">This is very important and short notice (sorry). I got it last night and didn't check it till today. There is a meeting in Payson TONIGHT (- Payson, April 24, 2001, at the Payson High School auditorium from 5:00
pm-9:00 pm) and Phoenix tomm. night (- Phoenix, April 25, 2001, at the Embassy Suites, 44th Street and McDowell
Rd. from 5:00 pm-9:00 pm) that we need to make a presence at. Details below.</FONT c>

NOTICE:.......

ASA4WDC; AMA; ATR; ASA and ATV'ers

THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!!!!

CHECK OUT THE DATES LISTED BELOW AND MARK YOUR CALENDARS! WE NEED TO "SHOW
OUR PRESENCE" ONCE AGAIN. You all were GREAT when you were needed at the
Dynamite and Pima meeting to show Ariz. State Land Dept. WE were concerned
for the land and felt ALL could use it............. BTW: Your time and
efforts paid off .......... Let's REALLY SHOW OUR STRENGTH AND NUMBERS.

Bottom line on this issue is: Forest Service wants to 'CLOSE ALL
ROADS,TRAILS, AND CROSS COUNTRY TRAVEL UNLESS POSTED OPEN".........

YES, They DID try a fast one with setting a 5:00 p.m. start
time............. most of us are still working or most certainly cannot be
there by 5:00................ PLEASE DO IT ANYWAY. COME IN LATE. FIND THE
TIME PLEASE. This is probably one of the most important issues and meetings
to date.

WE NEED ALL OF YOU TO BEAT THIS..................

WEAR RED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHOW RED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RED BEATS
GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO YOUR MAILING LISTS.

Below you will find several posts and information regarding this meeting.

Subject: Fw: USFS OHV Meetings LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!
Importance: High


Fellow OHV'ers:

This post will paste together several important posts for convenience.
First, several additional USFS OHV EIS meetings have been sheduled (news
release enclosed), the events remaining are:

- Tusayan, April 11, 2001, at the Grand Canyon Quality Inn from 3:00 pm-
7:30 pm
- Fredonia, April 12, 2001, at the Holiday Inn Express in Kanab from 4:00
pm-8:00 pm.
- Clifton, April 19, 2000, at Clifton Ranger District office from 3:00
pm-7:00 pm
- Payson, April 24, 2001, at the Payson High School auditorium from 5:00
pm-9:00 pm.
- Phoenix, April 25, 2001, at the Embassy Suites, 44th Street and McDowell
Rd. from 5:00 pm-9:00 pm.
- Show Low, May 2, 2001, at the Show Low Town Council Chambers from 3:00
pm - 7:00 pm
- Prescott, May 3, 2001, at the Fire Center near the airport from 3:00
pm -7:30 pm
- Camp Verde, May 4, 2001 (location to be determined) from 3:00 pm - 7:30 pm
- Springerville, May 8, 2001 at the Forest Supervisor's Office from 3:00
pm-7:30 pm

A note from a public land manger:

--------------------------------------


Nobody in the OHV community expects or even wants unlimited access
but they do need to insist on a reasonable range of quality roads and
trails. Planners do not always recognize that primitive equates to quality
for many activities besides hiking. If a forest is going to restrict access
they certainly need to develop alternatives and if users can make specific
recommendations it would help a lot. This exercise proposes to create
uniformity in management between forests but as well as possibly changing
policy they should complete the process by assessing the adequacy of
facilities that will remain available to OHVs. Forests like the Coconino do
not have much to offer because they felt that the open designation was
adequate for user opportunities. If they end up changing the policy part
without following up it may never happen. --MORE--
--------------------------------------
>From Tom Bickauskas (Phoenix),

I received the below email from Center for Biological Diversity. CBD is
telling all of it's friends to attend the forest service scoping meeting
regarding OHVs on Apr 25. The location is the Embassy Suites at the S-E
corner of 44th St and McDowell starting at 5pm.

Give the email below a quick read. CBD is turning it's attention away from
CA and towards AZ.

NOTE: THE CBD PROVIDES AND E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR JIM ANDERSON (EIS Team
Leader).

regards,
Tom

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

<www.biologicaldiversity.org <http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/>> 4-11-01
#272
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><>><<>

§ ARIZONA NATIONAL FORESTS TO REIGN IN ORVS: SEND EMAIL,
ATTEND PUBLIC HEARINGS

________________________

ARIZONA NATIONAL FORESTS TO REIGN IN ORVS:
SEND EMAIL, ATTEND PUBLIC HEARINGS
The Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino, Kaibab, Prescott, and Tonto National
Forests will be holding public hearings this month on a proposed rule to
make their off-road vehicle policies more consistent and to limit the
rapidly
increasing abuse of Forest Service lands by off-roaders.

Attendance at public hearings is critical to show public support for ORV
reforms. The ORV community is a very well funded and organized
lobbying group. It will fight meaningful protections at every step.
______________________

SEND EMAILS to Jim Anderson <janderson08@fs.fed.us>

Key talking points

ORV use must be allowed only on designated system roads and trails
posted as open for ORV's. Cross-country ORV use must be prohibited.

ORV use must be prohibited within proposed wilderness areas,
inventoried roadless areas, uninventoried roadless areas, and any other
areas with roadless values.

ORV use must be prohibited unless monitoring and enforcement
programs are fully funded and implemented.

Any designation of ORV routes, construction or upgrading of existing
routes, or construction or upgrading of ORV facilities must undergo full
NEPA analysis.


The following pretty much says what this is about............... This is a
great article.

Katy Whitehouse, Editor

Payson Roundup

April 15, 2001

Katy, please consider this for your Tuesday, April 17th or Friday, April
20th editions. Thank you.

GUEST EDITORIAL:

On Tuesday, April 24, 2001, at 5:00 PM in the Payson High School
Auditorium, the US Forest Service will be holding a public "open house"
regarding proposed changes in their land use policies for all of northern
Arizona's national forest lands.

One change that is being proposed is for the USFS to adopt a
"closed unless posted as open" policy for controlling access to forest roads
by motorized vehicles. This seemingly simple proposed change in policy has
created a great deal of concern among folks who enjoy traveling on the back
roads of our national forests utilizing various types of motorized
transportation.

Under the current policies, any road on national forest lands is
considered to be open, unless it is posted as closed. This means that there
are hundreds of miles of roadways in northern Arizona available for
exploration by four-wheel-drive vehicles, motorcycles, and ATVs. If there
is a valid reason for the USFS to close a road, they may do so at their
discretion by posting the appropriate signs. If the proposed "closed unless
posted as open" policy were to be adopted, many of these roads would
suddenly become off-limits for most recreational users..and it is feared
that local USFS ranger districts, who don't have the funding and staff to
enforce even the current rules, would simply "never get around to" posting
the Road Open signs on many backroads, creating large new de facto
wilderness areas open only to hikers and horseback riders.

Throughout Arizona, and in the Payson area particularly, a large
percentage of motorized recreational users are folks of retirement age,
whose physical condition prevents them from strenuous hiking. For them, for
the physically handicapped, or for the very young, the only practical method
of getting out in the backcountry is by riding in a four-wheel-drive
vehicle.

Granted, there are problems on national forest lands. Illegal
dumping and woodcutting, and the irresponsible actions of some campers,
off-roaders, motorcyclists, and ATVers has caused significant damage in
places. But the answer is not to make potential criminals out of anyone who
wants to take a little side road on a sunny afternoon for the simple joy of
seeing where it leads.

If you like to get out in the backcountry, and if you are
concerned with what the USFS is proposing, be at this meeting and let them
know (politely, please) what your opinion is. The future of all of our open
access to forest lands may be at stake.

Signed: Rim Country 4 Wheelers Club
Bill Berggren, Vice President
Charlie Conover, Adopt-a-Road Chairman
Chuck Jacobs, Newsletter Editor


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<FONT COLOR="yellow">"Its a Wheelbase Thing, Your Jeep Wouldn't Understand"</FONT c>

Peter S. Di Primo
V.P. - Ventura County Axle Snappers 4WDC
www.axlesnappers.com
Yellowsub1962@aol.com