Truckhaven To Be Acquired For Ohv Recreation

[kf6zpl]

PRESS RELEASE

May 19, 2006
Contact: John Stewart
Natural Resources Consultant
California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs
619-390-8747 or E-mail: john@muirnet.net

######

TRUCKHAVEN TO BE ACQUIRED FOR OHV RECREATION


Sacramento, CA (May 19, 2006): Today the California State Parks Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Commission voted to approve the acquisition of the popular recreation area known as Truckhaven. OHMVR Trust Funds, along with funding from the federal highway funds will be used to purchase 4,300 acres of lands used by off-road recreation for over 50 years.

The acquisition is expected to be final in August-September, 2006. For the near term, few immediate changes are expected. The area will come under management control of the adjacent Ocotillo Wells State Vehicle Recreation area. Over the course of the next 2-3 years, a comprehensive management plan will be developed for the area. There is an expectation that some area will be set aside as "buffer" for the housing and there are a number of archeology sites that will be protected.

During the State Parks presentation to the OHMVR Commission in support of the acquisition project, officials noted that in spite of the signs of heavy recreation use, the area was in better condition that other developed recreation areas. One of the OHMVR Commission members toured the area earlier in the week and commented that the area was surprisingly free of trash that is normal in other heavy use recreation areas. The Native American Tribes in the region are in full support of the keeping Truckhaven open for recreation.

Truckhaven is the site of Tierra del Sol Desert Safari drawing thousands of visitors to the area the first weekend of every March. Desert Safari is one of three major OHV events held in the area. An estimated 90,000 recreationists per year visit the area.

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of behind the scenes political maneuvering. On two occasions, members of the Tierra del Sol Four Wheel Drive Club of San Diego provided area tours for State Park officials and Tribal Leaders. One Tribal representative remarked about her familiarity with Tierra del Sol as her father was a friend of Tierra del Sol founding member Bozzy Willis.

Numerous individual and organization letters were written to southern California Assemblymen and Senators urging their support for the acquisition 26 of them signed a letter to the Commission urging a "yes" vote on the acquisition.

In the end, an expected close vote was a surprising 7-0 vote in favor of acquisition.

######

[jedrattle]

[TheTonka]

Sweeeeeeeeeet! :d

[EarlKann]

Keeping land open is great news. For Gary and all of the TDS members that helped make this happen.

[Mustard Dog]

Is this 4,300 acres the ENTIRE area of Truckhaven, or did they just give us these and will fence off the rest of the land out there?

Not trying to be a half-empty kind of guy, just curious.

[YellowSub1962]

If I did the math right (slim chance right now) 640 acres is approx 1 sq mile. so 4300 / 640 ~= 6.7 sq miles... the key will be how big the "buffers" and "arch sites" are. But at the very least we're garanteed at least someplace to wheel for the time being.

[Mustard Dog]

What I was getting at is that I have no idea how big of an area we use out there. Were we used to having 60,000 acres and now we're down to 4,300?


I'm being a pessimist (sp) here cause as a wheeler I've gotten so used to gettin fucked.

[YellowSub1962]

Originally Posted by Mustard Dog

What I was getting at is that I have no idea how big of an area we use out there. Were we used to having 60,000 acres and now we're down to 4,300?


I'm being a pessimist (sp) here cause as a wheeler I've gotten so used to gettin fucked.

I'm sure it's way smaller than we're used to, but for reference I think our last camp was approx 1 mile from the road (edit - highway) as the crow flies, so 6 times that distance in a square.... but the other factor is that there is a checkerboard of private property mixed in out there, so I'm guessing the area isn't just " a square.. I'm sure John can relate the actual area to the areas we're used to...

[kf6zpl]

The acquisition just applies to approximately 4,300 acres of private land that was up for sale.

The entire Truckhaven area is approximately 12,700 acres. There is and additional almost 6,000 acres that are controlled by the State LAnds Commission.

BLM has about 380 acres.

The rest is under a series of private owners.

At this point in time, few changes are expected in the area available for recreation.

Yes, there will be some archeology sites set aside and there is expectation of a buffer near the houses.

The core area is expected to be available.

[SanDiegoCJ]

Originally Posted by EarlKann

Keeping land open is great news. For Gary and all of the TDS members that helped make this happen.

Earl, if you didn't know "kf6zpl" is John Stewart and he's a member of TDS.
He's been working on this issue for MANY months now.

[SlawDog1]

Wow does this mean lots and lots of bikes and quads?

[SanDiegoCJ]

Originally Posted by SlawDog1

Wow does this mean lots and lots of bikes and quads?

There's already lots of both out there. They started showing up when Glamis
starting charging fees and stepping up enforcement.

[EarlKann]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoCJ

Earl, if you didn't know "kf6zpl" is John Stewart and he's a member of TDS.
He's been working on this issue for MANY months now.

Gary, you're the only one that I know that is a TDS member. My thanks to John and the rest of the club members as well.
Donald

[LandCroozer]