San Diego Meeting 3/22

[Bo Neece]

Nobody post this info yet? If it's a R,

Enthusiasts prize site of potential training ground
By Michael Gardner
UNION-TRIBUNE U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU

March 14, 2008

SACRAMENTO – California's off-road riders have launched an aggressive campaign to oppose any move by the Marines to annex Johnson Valley, a nationally acclaimed high-desert recreation area on the perimeter of an important military base at Twentynine Palms.


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The potential expansion of the battlefield training ground for troops being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan has sparked a conflict between the traditionally conservative off-road community and the military.

It also may pressure Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, a former Army Ranger and outspoken advocate for the military, to choose between his loyalties to the Marine Corps and to longtime off-road allies alarmed over shrinking legal places to ride.

“We're pretty devastated,” said Ed Stovin, president of the San Diego Off-Road Coalition. “It's hard to fight national security when you're at war, but you sure hate to lose the area.”

Stovin said he hopes the off-road community can work with Hunter on a compromise, perhaps pushing the Marines to consider taking land not used for off-roading. “He's a good friend of ours,” Stovin said.

Hunter has not taken sides, said Joe Kasper, a spokesman. “Congressman Hunter supports both the interests of the off-roading community and the potential expansion of the facility to better simulate and prepare our Marines for conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Kasper said.

Hunter plans to address the issue at a meeting with off-road enthusiasts March 22.

Off-roading is a booming sport, with nearly 1 million vehicles registered in California to take to the terrain. About 4 million people ride in state parks set aside for that use, and countless others use federal land.

Off-road advocates say they are squeezed for space by urban demand and environmental-based restrictions.

DETAILS
Off-road meeting

When: 9 to 11 a.m. March 22.

Where: Cuyamaca College Student Center, 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway, El Cajon. Conference rooms 1207-1208.

Issue: Possible Marine base expansion into a Johnson Valley off-road area.
Growing more alarmed as word spread of the possible land requisition by the Marines, off-roaders this week mounted a four-hour “virtual rally” over the Internet in a show of solidarity. By their count, there were 1,495 messages posted and 33,976 page views within four hours.

Many posts carried a common theme: admiration for troops, hopes that they return home safely and support for the military – but near-unanimous opposition to turning the valley over to the Marines.

“The Marine Corps has a need, but the off-road community also has needs and rights to enjoy and recreate in this well-established off-highway vehicle area,” Philip Hall of National City wrote.

“If this land were unused and dormant, it would be a different situation all together,” Hall's post continued. “But Johnson Valley OHV area already has a purpose and is owned by thousands of tax-paying citizens like myself who are not willing to sacrifice such a pristine locale to be turned into a practice war ground.”

The Marine Corps has issued a statement confirming that it is looking to expand training facilities, but it says no decision has been reached and urges patience.

“This process of simply figuring out what land the base might actually need to meet the Marine Corps training requirements and how it affects other interests could take anywhere from three to five years,” said Jim Ricker, assistant chief of staff at the Twentynine Palms base.

The statement continued: “It is imperative that the Marines receive the most realistic training before deploying into a combat environment that demands split second life or death decisions.”

The 140,000-acre off-highway vehicle area, located southeast of Barstow in San Bernardino County, also is home to the federally protected desert tortoise, a fact that could provoke strident opposition from environmentalists.

Protecting the tortoise was a key issue when the Army expanded training facilities near Fort Irwin a few years ago.

Johnson Valley is under the supervision of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Mike Pool, California's BLM director, is expected to attend Hunter's March 22 meeting with off-road enthusiasts.

John Dearing, a BLM spokesman, said the military followed a regular process before taking other federal lands.

“We have not yet received an application from the Marines,” said Dearing, referring specific questions about Johnson Valley to the military.

The Marine Corps said it plans to prepare an environmental review of alternatives once a decision is made. It promises full disclosure and public participation.

Johnson Valley is nationally known as “the Hammers” – one of the best four-wheeling, boulder-hopping areas in the country, off-roaders say.

The off-roading mecca draws thousands every year to numerous organized events, including rock-racing, rock-crawling and a “King of the Hammers” championship each February. The area's landscape is dotted with Joshua trees, steep red-rock mountains and sandy washes.

Losing the Hammers, one Internet posting read, “would be like baseball losing Wrigley Field or golf losing Augusta.”

[shoyrtt]

Thanks Bo Neece for the info.

Please attend the meeting and show your opposition to the proposed closure of Johnson Valley.

Here is a thread on the meeting in land use: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...18#post8015718

[dontdo_that]

Yeah thanks for reposting.. Ive been trying to find info about this since El Cajon isn't too far from here.

[shoyrtt]

Originally Posted by dontdo_that

Yeah thanks for reposting.. Ive been trying to find info about this since El Cajon isn't too far from here.

Are you going to make the meeting?

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...18#post8015718

[shoyrtt]

Thanks Bo for posting the meeting on the TDS site!

http://www.tds4x4.com/

[kf6zpl]

Actually, I am the one that did that....

BTW, I am President of Tierra del Sol......

[Kurtuleas]

Originally Posted by kf6zpl

Actually, I am the one that did that....

BTW, I am President of Tierra del Sol......

It's cool John....BUT (constuctive criticism, you know I love you! In a non-gay kinda way that is! LOL! )

Is there anyway that we can make it more persuasive to get people to attend? IMO, I think a large showing at this event will further show that the OHV crowd is very worried about this. Yeah, we can show them the rally, but people in person are even more effective.

The way it's presented makes people think "Oh, someone will show up for me" not, "DAMN! I better get to that meeting!"

Maybe just an announcement ASKING people to come??

[shoyrtt]

Originally Posted by kf6zpl

Actually, I am the one that did that....

BTW, I am President of Tierra del Sol......

Thank you John!

[u-joint]

I just got off the phone with one of the staff members of Congressman Mr. Duncan Hunter. I called his San Diego phone number. I asked if it was possible to know whether or not Johnson Valley OHV/29 Palms Marine Corps expansion was an item on the agenda for the upcoming Saturdays Cuyamaca College meeting with Mr. Hunter.

I asked this because I heard there was some serious confusion concerning this and I wanted to be 100% certain this was on the agenda and I didn't want folks to travel distances and be disappointed. I wanted to weed-out any possible uncertainty.

She confirmed that this was definetly on the agenda. I asked if other topic items were on the agenda and she informed me that this was the only one she was aware of.

I also asked if there was a way to look online to see the official agenda, she regreted it's not available online after looking into it for me.

I also found out that Mr. Mike Harrison of Mr. Hunters staff is who is coordinating things and that he was currently in a meeting. I was told I could probably call him directly at ~10:00AM, which I plan on doing.

I also contacted the nice folks at Cuyamaca College again to confirm the appoximate anticipated seating capacity for the meeting to be held their this Saturday. Mrs. Sara Grasmick of CC informed me that 2 classrooms/conference rooms set-up for this type meeting that will be held is ~180 seats using two adjoining conference rooms.

More info to follow.

[u-joint]

Update:

I got some good news, and some not so good news.

I just spoke to another member who's much more familiar with this upcoming event who works in Congressman Hunter's office. He mentioned that the agenda is mainly for San Diego Offroading issues and that it has been mis-reported on accident that the townhall was for the Johnson Valley OHV/29 Palms expansion plan.

However, he said that if/when the JV/29 Palms issue is brought up, Congressman Hunter will address it and he will try to formulate a course of action. Mr. Hunter has a reputation of supporting the offroad community and I'm hopefull that this event will continue to build upon that reputation.

Basically, not on the "scheduled agenda", however, come on out and bring up the issue, so we can discuss it and see what we can do.

Sorry for the somewhat misinformation earlier. Some of the staff isn't as well informed. You can shoot me later.

[Brewster2]

Here is the press release from Duncan Hunters web site:



Washington, D.C. – Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) will hold a town-hall meeting on Saturday, March 22nd at 9 AM PT, to discuss issues involving the San Diego off-roading community. Congressman Hunter will also be joined by special guest Mike Pool, the California State Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

A recent news report by the San Diego Union Tribune erroneously stated that Saturday’s town-hall meeting is centered on the Marine Corps potential expansion of its Twentynine Palms facility and the related concerns of off-highway vehicle users. The focus of the town-hall meeting is to discuss San Diego County specific issues involving the San Diego off-roading community.

Topic and Guest: San Diego Congressman Duncan Hunter will host State BLM Director Mike Pool to discuss San Diego off-roading issues;

Date and Time: Saturday, March 22, 2008, from 9 AM PT to 11 AM PT;

Location: Cuyamaca College Student Center in El Cajon (900 Rancho San Diego Parkway), Conference Rooms I-207 and I-208. Parking is available in Student Lot #4.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speec...own_hall.shtml

Ride on
Brewster

[SBChero]

so... is the 29palms expansion not going to be discussed? or like 2 posts up, if its brought up it will be, but not on the agenda? anyone have more details?

[YJ Bill]

I'll be there in the mall cruiser TJ with SAVE THE HAMMERS on the hardtop windows!!

[u-joint]

Originally Posted by SBChero

so... is the 29palms expansion not going to be discussed? or like 2 posts up, if its brought up it will be, but not on the agenda? anyone have more details?

The JV/29 Palms situation will be brought up - but it's not on the official agenda.

I have spoken with the Congressmans staff on a number of occassions over ~the last week. Some staff members are not as informed as others - so some misinformation (on accident) was said to me.

They (the Congressmans staff) are fully aware that we will be showing up and that we will be bringing up this topic, there's no doubt about that. So I would think that some sort of responces have already been formulated. We'll see.

Also, since Cuyamaca College is only ~1/4 mile from my house, I have taken the liberty over the last few days to stop by and I have met/spoken with their staff on each of these occassions and made several phone calls to them. They also are aware of our concerns of JV and they expect a larger influx of folks due to it. I have tried to let them know that there very well could be more people show up than initially anticipated.

Steve (the guy who's incharge of the Student Center Facility) has also been informed of the possibility that we may need more seats.

I counted the seats yesterday where we will be meeting. They currently have ~180 seats arranged for this. If we were to happen to need more - there are options and an adjoining room with a partition we can open to expand things if necessary.

So, you can bet the farm that at some point we'll be discussing JV/29 Palms.

I'm trying to keep an open mind about things. Being retired military myself - I know that when things get started, they are often hard to change.

[crash]

Thank you who are attending for those of us who are thousnads of miles away

[u-joint]

Originally Posted by crash

Thank you who are attending for those of us who are thousnads of miles away

You are most welcome.

I'll be sure to post-up my views of tomorrows meeting. Hopefully I'll have some good news - we'll see.

[bob91yj]

I think the meeting was a success. Duncan Hunter is on our side of this one. He said he intends to meet with the Marine Corps, find out exactly what their needs are, and how much land they really need.

Expanding 29 Palms to the east rather than the west was one alternative that was presented.

I was the first speaker to bring up Johnson Valley, guy that came behind me was from Full Throttle. He seemed a little irritated that we were using the Congressman's time to discuss Johnson Valley rather than the Imperial Sand Dunes.

If we can't work together to save our land, we're NEVER going to win.

[YJ Bill]

I think that full throttle guy thought it was all about him

Originally Posted by bob91yj

I think the meeting was a success. Duncan Hunter is on our side of this one. He said he intends to meet with the Marine Corps, find out exactly what their needs are, and how much land they really need.

Expanding 29 Palms to the east rather than the west was one alternative that was presented.

I was the first speaker to bring up Johnson Valley, guy that came behind me was from Full Throttle. He seemed a little irritated that we were using the Congressman's time to discuss Johnson Valley rather than the Imperial Sand Dunes.

If we can't work together to save our land, we're NEVER going to win.

[no excuses]

I want to also thank you for going and also for keeping the rest of us informed. Those of us that live hours away appreciate all of youre hard work.

[JeepGal02]

My husband and I attended this meeting, along with about a dozen of the friends that we go to Johnson Valley with.

The discussions started with some local land use issues. After several people got up and discussed issues like racing and renewal resources using blm lands (windmills etc), Bob got up and brought up the issue of Johnson Valley. The guys that were there discussing the issues they had with sponsored races was pretty upset that we were there

Regardless, person after person got up and asked Congressman Hunter and Director Mike Pool of the BLM (oversees all of California) to encourage the USMarines to seriously consider other directions of growth.

After passing around the petition to the attendees, we surpassed over 1000 signatures. I think there were around 150 or so people there, the wide majority there in support of Johnson Valley, based upon the signatures we received.

Congressman Hunter seemed very pleased he had something tangible to take to the Marines to show how special Johnson Valley was to all of us, far and wide. His comments on the subject were that the Marines had no idea how unique Johnson Valley was. We also invited both him and Congressman Lewis out to Johnson Valley for a day of rock crawling, to see what it was all about firsthand. We figured that if he could truly see what makes JV special, he could share our passion, thus communicate it better. He requested that we put together an album of pictures of JV. Noting the locations of the pictures on a map, with the trail names. We have already begun this process, and have MORE then enough pictures as far as we know.

Congressman Hunter and Director Pool went on to say that the Marines had requested information on all the borders of Twentynine Palms, JV being just one of them. One of the attendees encouraged them to tell the Marines that instead of "going west young man" to go EAST instead. We are in the very beginning of this planning stage. He encouraged our community to become more organized and to make it a point to stay informed. As a community well have way more say in what happens.

On that note, this petition even becomes more important. We need this to become HUGE. It becomes our voices to the USMarine Corp.

Thank you again for signing and sharing the petition. Please keep in growing!

Tam

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by YJ Bill

I'll be there in the mall cruiser TJ with SAVE THE HAMMERS on the hardtop windows!!

Next time, write smaller so you can spell expansion correctly.

[kf6zpl]

See my comments at:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=669005