Author Archives: rahul

GETTIN’ OFF 4WD Off-Road Club – Oct 13 Meeting Minutes

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GETTIN’ OFF 4WD Off-Road Club – Oct 13 Meeting Minutes

Website: http://www.gettinoff4x4.com . We meet monthly, every 2nd Tuesday in the patio area at Antonella’s Ristorante, 1701 Park Avenue, San Jose , CA 95126 (408) 279-4922. Park on Naglee Ave or in the parking lot across from the restaurant. Meeting minutes are distributed a few days after each club meeting.

7:00 PM – BUFFET DINNER: Salad, Pasta, Pizza, Bread & Soft drinks($10). Attendees are encouraged to enjoy the buffet dinner or order from the menu to help Antonella’s recover the cost of using the patio area.

7:30 PM – Meeting starts NOTE: the actual meeting start is 7:30 PM (not 8PM as noted from the yahoo groups automatic reminder email).

 

WELCOME and BOARD REPORTS

President – Terry: Welcomed everyone.
Vice President – Brian: unable to attend.
Treasurer – Don: unable to attend
Secretary – Paul: No special news, but check “Saving Our Trails”, below.
Members Attending – Chris W, Chris, Eric, Gary, Lyle, Mario, Michael, Paul E, Paul H, Randy, Roger, Ron, Steve, Terry
Brand New Members this month –
Guests Attending – 1, unnamed(?)
(If I missed anyone who attended please let me know.)

CLUB NEWS, ONGOING ACTIONS & IDEAS

1) Some of our Yahoo Groups recipients are not getting emails from the server (Chris W., Terry); Check your spam folders! Your secretary removed the emoticons in this issue to see if that helps.
2) Yahoo’s automatic meeting reminders – Need to change our meeting start time from 8 PM to 7:30 PM (7PM dinner).
3) Fire Permits are needed for any fire or stove use outside of improved campgrounds in National Forest or BLM areas. Obtain at http://www.preventwildfireca.org/Campfire-Permit/ and check local area rules too. .

VEHICLE PAINS & PROJECTS, STUFF FOR SALE

1) Chris W – Steering box causing frame cracks, welded in new crossbar & plate steel.
2) Randy – ‘Frankenstein’ Jeep almost ready
3) Steve – Suzuki painting nearly complete
4) Paul – To solve most starting & charging gremlins: “First replace the battery ! “. Don’t finesse it at first. Yup, that did it.
5) Lyle *Pain !* – Told horrific story about being T-boned on freeway while in F350 a few weeks ago by a drunk driver, with no insurance, and was charged with 4 other felonies(!) related to accident. Thankfully no major injuries, but some healing needed for all. All airbags deployed in Lyle’s F350, and all vehicles & trailer totaled (except 1 in trailer). Lyle says F350 design & safety systems saved them. Highway was closed for several hours. Was in Salinas (does alot of bad stuff seem to happen down there?).

RECENT RUNS & ‘CHANCES TO LOCK AXLES’

1) Sept 12 -13 – Twin Peaks & Ellis Lake+Peak trails. We’ll ran the Twin Peaks route near Sawmill Pond, and parts of the Tahoe side of the Rubicon on Saturday. 33″+ tires & 1 locker recommended. We arrived & stayed Friday & Saturday nights at Terry & Alane’s new place in South Tahoe off Hwy 89. Their house is very nice, in a neighborhood adjacent to national forest land. A big Thanks to Terry and Alane for inviting the group to stay a few nights. And there is a bear story too ! But it was not told.. yet…

Before lunch on on Saturday we went up Twin Peaks Road, which starts at Sawmill pond (copy & paste 38.888885, -120.025223 into Bing map’s search box) There are a few rock gardens on the way. (that have bypasses). At the top is a play area and views of the south Tahoe valley. We finished the trail and had lunch back at Sawmill Pond. the higher rock garden is pretty gnarly. No one went up it, a few went down it.

After lunch, we headed toward the Rubicon trailhead in Tahoma, and took the Ellis Lake/Peak Route located just a half mile in from the staging area. It’s a bumpy, rocky climb up, with a few tricky spots. We should have turned right at 39.057781, -120.200089 but we took the southerly fork to the left which eventually leads back towards the Rubicon. This fork route is not highlighted in the online maps but is clearly visible in the satellite views. (note on map apps: the new Bing maps app allows GPS tagging. Google allows tagging but road details are not as good as Bing. Yahoo Maps is now permanently off the air).

Photos & videos at: https://4door4x4.smugmug.com/Off-Road-Trips-1/Twin-Peaks-and-Ellis-Lake-Sept/n-x6ZFqh. To play a video, use the thumbnail view, and click on the “>” . The videos do not play in the slideshow mode.

2) Sept 18-19-20 Chris W. went the ‘Nocibur’ way into the Rubicon for the Marlin Crawler Round-up a few weeks ago. County workers were working on the V-Notch, but apparently the concrete bags they needed were run over & pushed down the hill by other wheelers, so work trail was suspended. Chris talked to Marlin, and said he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He went back out the Tahoe side due to traffic towards Loon Lake direction.

3) Chris – Niagara Rim – A few tough spots encountered. (sorry I did not get the details. Chris – feel free to chime-in).

4) Michael – Pinecrest Peak & Eagle Peak, up Hwy 108, off of Herring Creek Rd, ~10 miles past Strawberry. Pretty area up there and on Eagle Peak.

UPCOMING RUNS

1) October 24 – Sourgrass Adopt-A-Trail run. Hwy 4 Protocol (per the Adopt-A-Trail run) . Meet at ARCO off of Grant Line Rd Tracy 7:30, Burger King in Angels camp 9:15, Big independent gas station in Arnold at 10, or trailhead at 11 am. Bring lunch and tree trimming tools. Afterward, possible run to Slick Rock or ?

2) November 10- Club Meeting

3) November 14 – Barrett Lake Trail http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/news-events/?cid=STELPRD3847114. One day only, as camping at either lake could be pretty cold. Meet at the trailhead at Wright’s Lake at 9:30 am Saturday. We’ll run halfway in, until 2pm, and return back to Wrights Lake. 33s & rear locker minimum. I’m very interested in running this trail again and see what work was done over the past few years. It’s been some time since the last run. (better to run this trail in October for more daylight & outdoor temps if possible).

2) November 25-29 – Death Valley / Panamint. Eric suggested a few new areas to visit. About 4 rigs signed up so far. Not a hard-core rock crawl run, will be scenic, for exploring & history. Nevertheless, lockers recommended just in case it gets wet. (I think everyone has some kind of lockers now, right? Is anyone still “open-open”?)

3) December 12 – December Club Meeting, Toys for Tots & Christmas Dinner. Meet Saturday afternoon at Antonella’s at 3:30 PM, unless we decide to collect gifts at dinner, and someone to brings them to TFT the next day. If so, then arrive ~5pm; tbd.

8:30 PM – Meeting adjourned.

If there are any corrections, clarifications or updates, please chime-in. If you are an active member your name should be on this list:
Aaron, Alicia, Brad, Brian, Chris W, Chris ?, Dimas, Don, Eric, Gary, Genna, Jon, Joe, Lyle, Marco, Mario, Matt, Michael, Paul E, Paul H, Rahul, Randy, Roger, Ron, Steve, Terry, Tom K, Tom W.

Paul
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SAVING OUR TRAILS
Updates and New info in BOLD type. If you have new information feel free to send out an update. Though some are several months old, they are still active projects waiting for an outcome or completion.

1) California desert:
This is an important opportunity to contact the president & legislators about preserving multiple-use public access to areas in the California desert. CORVA, Cal4, BRC, and ARRA have sent out action alerts on this. Each has a slightly different take on the issue :

CORVA Background info & links: http://www.corva.org/email

CAL4 Background info: http://cal4wheel.com/access-issues/southern-california-access-issues/647-feinstein-to-host-public-meeting-on-proposed-desert-monument-designations
Action Link: http://cqrcengage.com/cal4wheel/app/onestep-write-a-letter?11&engagementId=136354

BRC- (BRC is using ARRA’s action alert page for this) Background info & link:
https://www.sharetrails.org/alerts/2015/10/08/urgent-letters-needed-oppose-going-forward-designation

You can create a brief or extended comment using the CORVA links, and/or read the talking points from the Cal4 & BRC/ARRA links which have other detailed information. Keep comments respectful & professional. I took the suggested text from Cal4 & BRC/ARRA, re-wrote the text in my own words, and sent comments using CORVA’s links. CORVA’s links are generic, direct to Pres. Obama, Sen. Mukowski, etc, whereas Cal4/ARRA copy & forward your text & basic personal info to the president & legislators. I also copied Dept. of Interior.

2) Jeff Blewett, Cal4 Wheel’s Natural Resource Consultant for No. Calif. just reported latest status these trails in the Fall issue of Cal4’s IN GEAR magazine:.
Deer/Clover Valley- Cal4: “late summer” ENF: “Fall 2016 or Summer 2016”
Pardoe’s/Squaw Ridge(‘Squaw’ renamed ‘Hungaleti Ridge Trail’) Cal4: “by the FS it is open”; ENF “mitigation work starts Fall 2016 or Summer 2016.
Strawberry Ridge- Cal4: “Summer 2016”; ENF “Summer 2017”
ENF’s overall route status is at : http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/home/?cid=fsbdev7_019037 . Finally a June 2015 update on the 42 Routes initially closed is at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3843438.pdf.
Many lessor-known routes are re-opened, but the best remain closed. Some of the route status in this update appear to be in conflict with Cal4’s assessments:
There are apparently no “public” links from the ENF Home webpage to the 42 Route Project web page, but it’s at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/home/?cid=stelprdb5362046

3) Carnegie State Vehicle Recreation Area near Livermore:
There have been attempts in the past to close it, but the riding public, CORVA, local Carnegie groups, and the Calif Dept of Parks-OHV Div have persisted to keep it open. A few years ago a new 4×4 obstacle course was created. Now, they plan to open up a new area, adding about 3000 acres with dozens of miles of new trails for motorcycles and 4x4s added to the existing 900 acres. CORVA created an entire web page for the expansion, which is chalk full of great resources and information: http://www.corva.org/Carnegie-SVRA-Expansion . It’s hard to know if this will be litigated, but it is moving that direction. In part these negative votes by Livermore & Alameda County were promulgated by the East Bay Regional Park District, who set up a false public expectation that this land could be acquired by them and converted to another regional (non-motorized) park. EPRPD has 120,000 park acres in Alameda & Contra Costa Cos, while Carnegie is the only motorized park in Alameda & Contra Costa Cos and is only 900 acres; (hopefully to be ~3900 acres). The SVRA owns the land, purchased by money from the OHV Trust fund, which comes from a tiny fraction of gasoline taxes and green sticker fees.

4) Know your Anti-Access Organizations – a sampler:
CSNC is the group that sued Eldorado National Forest and successfully convinced a judge to force ENF to close and/or repair trails. One of CSNC’s primary goals is to limit OHV. Website http://www.sierranevadaconservation.org/achievements/. While we generally have no issue repairing or re-routing routes around what have recently been identified as ‘sensitive’ areas, there was no need to close the entire lengths of all 42 routes for 2, 3 years or more. Many have re-opened, but many still remain closed to public access until only small sections are repaired.
CBD is one of the most notorious and powerful anti-access organizations. They often tend to lump motorized recreation access in with all forms of habitat interference, even though 99% of OHV use causes very little or virtually zero affect on animal habitat & popluation. Sample: “… cumulative threats from our changing climate, predation, drought, disease, and off-road recreation; and other threats all support an endangered listing….” re: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/Gunnison_sage_grouse/pdfs/Gunnison_sage_grouse_NOI.pdf and http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/off-road_vehicles/index.html. It’s very interesting they almost never mention other causes of habitat interferences such as: hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, camping, hunting, wildfires, highways, fences, etc. But apparently off-road recreation is “equal” with climate change, predation, drought & disease! CBD are also well known for launching a plethora of lawsuits, using the “Sue & Settle” tactic, thus taking millions of taxpayer dollars from the Forest Service & BLM to pay their attorneys: http://naturalresources.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=301242 and http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/about/staff/
PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) http://www.peer.org/campaigns/public-lands/off-road-wreckreation/news-releases.html and http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/2013/01/07/court-orders-tighter-off-road-plan-for-stanislaus-forest/

Older Actions

1) Plumas National Forest lawsuit. (for details see previous Saving Our Trails and go to Corva.org) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jN3Xdy0CKM&feature=youtu.be and http://www.corva.org/FS.Lawsuit

2) Deer Valley Route closures from Jan to July 31 due to Yosemite Toad (see previous Saving Our Trails and latest Eldorado 42 Routes closure news above) http://cal4wheel.com/access-issues/northern-california-access-issues/541-forest-service-proposing-seasonal-closure-on-deer-valley-trail & http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/land-use-issues/1909145-forest-service-proposing-seasonal-closure-deer-valley-trail-yosemite-toad.html
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Let Amazon.com contribute a 0.5% of your purchases to BRC. The Blue Ribbon Coalition, a 501(c)(3) organization. It costs virtually zero $. How do you sign up? 1) Sign-in to your Amazon account. 2) On another tab/window, Go to http://www.sharetrails.org/content/support-brc-while-shopping-online to read how it works. 3) Click on http://smile.amazon.com/, and you will see info and a short list of charities. For BRC, type in “BlueRibbon Coalition” exactly as shown here, in the search box. The result should be “Blueribbon Coalition Inc” and “Categories: Natural Resource Conservation and Protection” and “Location: Pocatello, ID”. (Be careful–there are dozens of other ‘Blue Ribbon xxxx’ charities out there, be sure you have the right one.) 4) Click OK to sign-up, and BRC will receive 0.5% of your purchase amounts at no cost to you. To automatically donate, shop only at the “Smile” web address: https://smile.amazon.com/ (if you use Amazon’s normal web address, no donations are made). You can change charities or cancel anytime.
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There are dozens of other, mostly irrational public land & road closures in the works by the enviro-left/elite, so we encourage everyone to check Blue Ribbon Coalition, Cal4wheel, Corva.org, and Pirate4x4 websites for the latest access news, and contact land managers and government officials and tell them public land is for everyone.

GETTIN’ OFF 4WD Off-Road Club – Aug 11 2015 MEETING MINUTES

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Website: http://www.gettinoff4x4.com . We meet monthly, every 2nd Tuesday in the patio area at Antonella’s Ristorante, 1701 Park Avenue, San Jose , CA 95126 (408) 279-4922. Park on Naglee Ave or in the parking lot across from the restaurant. Meeting minutes are distributed a few days after each club meeting.

7:00 PM – BUFFET DINNER: Salad, Pasta, Pizza, Bread & Soft drinks($10). Attendees are encouraged to enjoy the buffet dinner or order from the menu to help Antonella’s recover the cost of using the patio area.

7:30 PM – Meeting starts NOTE: the actual meeting start is 7:30 PM (not 8PM from the yahoo groups automatic reminder email).

WELCOME and BOARD REPORTS

President – Terry: Welcomed members & guests.
Vice President – Brian: no announcements.
Treasurer – Don: A few still need to pay dues. T-Shirts have been ordered and are in stock now. Contact Don by email or at the next meeting. New members get a shirt & decal included with initial membership.
Secretary – Paul: no announcements.
Members Attending – Aaron, Brian, Chris 4R, Chris JK, Dimas, Don, Eric, Gary, Jon, Lyle, Marco, Matt, Michael, Paul E, Paul H, Rahul, Randy, Roger, Ron, Steve, Terry, Tom K, Tom W.
Brand New Members this month –
Guests Attending – Andy 85 4-Runner, welcome!
(If I missed you or anyone else who attended please let me know.)

CLUB NEWS, ONGOING ACTIONS & IDEAS

1) Club web page is fixed ! Eric looked into problem with editing & solved issue.
2) Some of our Yahoo groups recipients are not getting emails from the server (Chris W for example); and meeting start time to be fixed..
3) Fire Permits are needed for any fire or stove used outside of improved campgrounds in National Forest or BLM areas, when allowed.Brian suggests http://www.preventwildfireca.org/Campfire-Permit/ .

VEHICLE PAINS & PROJECTS, STUFF FOR SALE

1) Chris 4R: Smog issues. (ed.: a new cat could help; prices have dropped).
2) Marco: Installed body lift & new fenders
3) Eric: Tranny leak/water pump leak, part of recall that dealer attempted to fix, took 2 times.
4) Terry: ’02 SC300 acquired.
5) Randy: D35 axles for sale cheap.
6) Chris JK: Body lean and wobble fixed (ed: check for too much toe-in)

RECENT RUNS & ‘CHANCES TO LOCK AXLES’

1) August 14,15,16 BBQ Run: Bear Valley Loop Trail. A few arrived Thursday to reserve campsites, and by Friday evening nearly everyone had arrived. That evening most of the group drove up Sardine Peak for a gorgeous view and to appreciate the fantastic restoration of the Sardine Peak Fire Lookout. It can be rented this year for free from Tahoe Nat’l Forest. On Sat morning we ran most but not the last few miles the 20-mile Bear Valley Loop trail, avoiding most of the manzanita, but ended up with little brush rash anyway. It’s a moderately difficult route overall, with a few bypasses at the steep spots. The 2nd winch hill caught a few rigs who needed the winch, mostly for traction but also to keep rigs on all fours. Other than the few winch-ups, a tricky rock garden or two, & Matt’s steering box leak (later fixed) the run went without a hitch. A young deer running nearly slammed into my front fender, as I only crawling along up a hill.

The BBQ went very well with plenty of great food to eat. On the Door prizes, the folding chair & slingshot were traded the most. A Big thanks to every one for helping at the BBQ set up, cooking & clean up. Tim (Paul H’s buddy) and I were the last to leave the campground, and then one of the bow-hunters camped nearby had to ‘shake our hands’ for cleaning the campsites up so well. So kudos to everyone!

On Sunday we had a bonus run to Snake Lake. Tim & I ran just part of the trail, since it took some time to get to the trailhead using the Gold Lake lakeshore route on the south side. Yes it is a PITA because there are lots of stock pickups tip-toeing over the rocks & boulders along the way. But it is a beautiful place to camp, right along the Gold Lake shore. We saw some great views along the way up to Snake Lake. We arrived at Snake Lake Loop about 12:30 pm and made it to Little Deer Lake, only about 1/4 of the loop. Other than winch hill 2 at Bear Valley Loop, Snake Lake trail is rougher, with more steep climbs and ‘proper rock-crawling’ compared to Bear Valley Loop. At 2 PM we headed back, and located the short cut routes back to the Gold Lake highway, that Tim from Diablo Valley 4-Wheelers described. It’s much faster but has several L & R turns. We got home about 8 PM. http://4x4trailmaps.com/4x4Trails.php?Trail_ID=47 .

I will have photos of both runs soon, with a description of how to reach Snake Lake route using the fast way (hint: use Sardine Road, a left turn off of Gold Lake Highway, about 1 mile before Gold Lake. Do no use the bumpy route to the OHV campground).

2) Andy (new guest) Ran Rubicon with JK Club in late July.

UPCOMING RUNS

1) Aug 20-21-22 – Run the Rubicon with Chris W. (contact Chris W. directly)

2) Sept. 8 – Club Meeting

3) Sept 12 -13 – Deer Valley & Twin Peaks trails. We’ll run DV trail on Saturday. Hwy 4 Protocol (per the Adopt-A-Trail run) . You can stay Sat night at Terry’s new place in South Tahoe off Hwy 89. 33″+ tires & 1 locker recommended. A ‘side’ run will be the Twin Peaks route near Sawmill Pond possibly on Sunday morning. Details at the next meeting.

4) Sept 26-27 – Barrett Lake Trail is Open !! See http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/news-events/?cid=STELPRD3847114. This will be an overnight run. Optionally camp at Wrights Lake Friday night, On Saturday run Barrett Lake one way and camp there Sat night. Run the trail back out Sunday morning.

5) October 17 or 24 – Sourgrass Adopt-A-Trail run.

6) November 25-29 – Death Valley / Panamint or somewhere else in the desert run (Calico Hills & area?).

7) December – Toys for Tots & Christmas dinner.

***Summer season: It is possible certain National Forests may “close” OHV mid-to-late summer due to fire hazard***.

8:30 PM – Meeting adjourned.

If there are any corrections, clarifications or updates, please chime-in. If you are an active member your name should be on this list:
Aaron, Alicia, Brad, Brian, Chris W, Chris ?, Dimas, Don, Eric, Gary, Genna, Jon, Joe, Lyle, Marco, Mario, Matt, Michael, Paul E, Paul H, Rahul, Randy, Roger, Ron, Steve, Terry, Tom K, Tom W.

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SAVING OUR TRAILS
Updates and New info in BOLD type. If you have new information feel free to send out an update. Though some are several months old, they are still active projects waiting for an outcome or completion.

Recent Actions

*:-w waiting Here’s the latest on our cherished yet closed Eldorado trails, direct from Jeff Blewett, Cal4 Wheel’s Natural Resource Consultant for No. Calif.. Cal4 appears overly optimistic , while ENF has just published its own status.
Deer/Clover Valley- Cal4: “late summer” ENF: “Fall 2016 or Summer 2016”
Pardoe’s/Squaw Ridge(‘Squaw’ renamed ‘Hungaleti Ridge Trail’) Cal4: “by the FS it is open”; ENF “mitigation work starts Fall 2016 or Summer 2016.
Strawberry Ridge- Cal4: “Summer 2016”; ENF “Summer 2017”
*:D big grin Barrett Lake- Cal4: OPEN !! – Finally…See http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/news-events/?cid=STELPRD3847114
ENF’s overall route status is at : http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/home/?cid=fsbdev7_019037
Finally a June 2015 update on the 42 Routes initially closed is at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3843438.pdf
Many lessor-known routes are re-opened, but the best remain closed. Some of the route status in this update appear to be in conflict with Cal4’s assessments:
There are apparently no “public” links from the ENF Home webpage to the 42 Route Project web page, but it’s at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/home/?cid=stelprdb5362046

*:-h waveSome of you are familiar with the Carnegie State Vehicle Recreation Area near Livermore. It has been controversial from a “greenie/enviro” perspective. There have been attempts in the past to close it, but the riding public, CORVA, local Carnegie groups, and the Calif Dept of Parks-OHV Div have persisted and kept it open. A few years ago a new 4×4 obstacle course was created. Right now, they plan to open up a new area, adding about 3000 acres, with dozens of miles of new trails for motorcycles and 4x4s added to the existing 900 acres. There was a city council meeting in Livermore to take and advisory (non-binding) vote on wheather the city of Livermore supports the Carnegie expansion or not. I sent my comments days earlier to the entire Livermore City coucil (however Livermore residents carry much more “sway”). Three voted against the expansion and only 2 voted in favor. CORVA created an entire web page for the Carnagie/Tesla SVRA expansion, which is chalk full of great resources and information: http://www.corva.org/Carnegie-SVRA-Expansion . BRC’s Don Amador has a blog too: http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/2015/05/code-red-carnegie-action-alert-update.html . Dan A, Cal4 & CORVA also asked us also to contact the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to vote in favor of the expansion and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement contracted out by the Calif Dept of Park, OHV Divsion. I did. The county supervisors voted 100% against the DEIS and expansion of Carnegie SVRA on an advisory vote. It’s hard to know if this will be litigated, but it is moving that direction. In part these negative votes by Liver more & Alameda Couty, were promulgated by the East Bay Regional Park District, who set up a false public expectation that this land could be acquired by them and converted to another regional (non-motorized) park. EPRPD has 120,000 park acres in Alameda & Contra Costa Cos, whereas motorized parks are now only 900 acres, to be 3900 acres we hope. The SVRA owns the land, purchased by money from the OHV Trust fund, which comes from a tiny fraction of gasoline taxes and green/yellow sticker fees.

*~X( at wits’ endKnow your Anti-Access Organizations, a sampler:
1. CSNC is the group that sued Eldorado National Forest and successfully convinced a judge to force ENF to close and/or repair trails. One of CSNC’s primary goals is to limit OHV. Website http://www.sierranevadaconservation.org/achievements/. While we generally have no issue repairing or re-routing routes around what have recently been identified as ‘sensitive’ areas, there was no need to close the entire lengths of all 42 routes for 2, 3 years or more. Many have re-opened, but many still remain closed to public access until only small sections are repaired.
2. CBD is one of the most notorious and powerful anti-access organizations. They often tend to lump motorized recreation access in with all forms of habitat interference, even though 99% of OHV use causes very little or virtually zero affect on animal habitat & popluation. Sample: “… cumulative threats from our changing climate, predation, drought, disease, and off-road recreation; and other threats all support an endangered listing….” re: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/Gunnison_sage_grouse/pdfs/Gunnison_sage_grouse_NOI.pdf and http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/off-road_vehicles/index.html. It’s very interesting they almost never mention other causes of habitat interferences such as: hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, camping, hunting, wildfires, highways, fences, etc. But apparently off-road recreation is “equal” with climate change, predation, drought & disease! CBD are also well known for launching a plethora of lawsuits, using the “Sue & Settle” tactic, thus taking millions of taxpayer dollars from the Forest Service & BLM to pay their attorneys: http://naturalresources.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=301242 and http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/about/staff/
3. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) http://www.peer.org/campaigns/public-lands/off-road-wreckreation/news-releases.html and http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/2013/01/07/court-orders-tighter-off-road-plan-for-stanislaus-forest/

Older Actions

Moab: (for details see previous Saving Our Trails) and https://www.sharetrails.org/alerts/2015/03/23/national-call-to-action-help-save-moabs-trails & http://www.cal4wheel.com/access-issues/22-other-states-access-issues/610-moab-trails-need-your-letter-of-support

Plumas National Forest lawsuit. (for details see previous Saving Our Trails and go to Corva.org) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jN3Xdy0CKM&feature=youtu.be and http://www.corva.org/FS.Lawsuit

Deer Valley Route closures from Jan to July 31 due to Yosemite Toad (see previous Saving Our Trails and latest Eldorado 42 Routes closure news above) http://cal4wheel.com/access-issues/northern-california-access-issues/541-forest-service-proposing-seasonal-closure-on-deer-valley-trail & http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/land-use-issues/1909145-forest-service-proposing-seasonal-closure-deer-valley-trail-yosemite-toad.html

Oceano Dunes “air pollution” (for details see previous Saving Our Trails) and: http://cal4wheel.com/access-issues/central-california-access-issues/595-urgent-comments-needed-on-oceano-svra and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Oceano-Dunes/141393079248971 .

Amazon.com has a charity program where they contribute a 0.5% of your purchases to a charity of your choice. One of the charities is Blue Ribbon Coalition, a 501(c)(3) organization. It costs you virtually zero $. So how do you sign up? 1) Sign-in to your Amazon account. 2) On another tab/window, Go to http://www.sharetrails.org/content/support-brc-while-shopping-online to read how it works. 3) Click on http://smile.amazon.com/, and you will see info and a short list of charities. For BRC, type in “BlueRibbon Coalition” exactly as shown here, in the search box. The result should be “Blueribbon Coalition Inc” and “Categories: Natural Resource Conservation and Protection” and “Location: Pocatello, ID”. (Be careful–there are dozens of other ‘Blue Ribbon xxxx’ charities out there, be sure you have the right one.) 4) Click OK to sign-up, and BRC will receive 0.5% of your purchase amounts at no cost to you. To automatically donate, shop only at the “Smile” web address: at https://smile.amazon.com/ (if you use Amazon’s normal web address, no donations are made). You can change charities or cancel anytime.
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There are dozens of other, mostly irrational public land & road closures in the works by the enviro-left/elite, so we encourage everyone to check Blue Ribbon Coalition, Cal4wheel, Corva.org, and Pirate4x4 websites for the latest access news, and contact land managers and government officials and tell them public land is for everyone.

Oct 14, 2014 Meeting Agenda

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Time & Location: Monthly, every 2nd Tuesday at 7 PM, in the patio area at Antonella’s Ristorante, 1701 Park Avenue, San Jose , CA 95126 (408) 279-4922.

7:00 PM – Buffet Dinner: Salad, Pasta, Pizza, Bread & Soft drinks($10), or order direct from the menu. To help Antonella’s cover the cost of our meeting in the patio dining area, members are encouraged to have the buffet dinner or menu items.

7:30 PM – WELCOME and BOARD REPORTS

President – Terry:
Vice President – Brian:
Treasurer – Don:
Secretary – Paul:
Members Attending (1 point) –
Guests –
Participation points update –

CLUB NEWS, ONGOING ACTIONS & IDEAS

1) Brad has shown us the club business and they look great. Some comments were made. We agreed on the minor changes and we are ready to publish 1000 cards Thank you Brad for all the good work !

2) Other club news & ideas –

VEHICLE PAINS & PROJECTS UNDERWAY

1) Brad – Axle issues….

RECENT RUNS & ‘CHANCES TO LOCK AXLES’

1) September 13 – Deer Valley (the open section). Entered from Hwy 4 side, at Hermit Valley Campground. Attendees: Chris, Rahul, Paul, Alicia, Terry, Steve, Joe, Aaron (and others whom I forget). We had good time, no major mechanical issues. But for various reasons it was a somewhat unusual run. There are/were quite a few things happening on DV, regarding re-opening, the Forest Service evaluation, appellants & sheriff’s tour, anti’s on trail, weird signs, suggestion to write comments & trail work, status of adopters: South County Trail Riders, etc., we’ll talk about at the meeting.

2) October 4 – Slick Rock & Sourgrass planned but interest was very low. Did anyone run up there anyway?

UPCOMING RUNS (2 points for attending, +1 for overnight, +1 for Trail/Run Leader)

1) November 1 – Sourgrass Adopt-A-Trail Run & maybe Slick Rock. Hwy 4 Protocol.

2) November 25-20 – Turkey Trot or similar So. Cal. desert run.

3) December – Toys-for-Tots run & Christmas dinner

4) Winter – CB Tune-Up and Swap Meet. Terry & Tom to determine best day. If you have 4×4 stuff to sell or a CB & antenna to fix or tune-up, this is a good time to do it.

Places we’ve not been for quite some time and not closed (i.e. Eldorado NF): Swamp Lake, Rubicon, Fordyce, Lassen Applegate, Moab, and our persistent favorite: Barney Riley!

8:30 PM – Meeting adjournment.

————————————————————————

SAVING OUR TRAILS new=bold (1 point for sending comments or similar action)
(or should it be: ‘Trials for Trails’…?)

Since it’s an election year, individual members may consider giving to TrailPAC, http://thetrailpac.blogspot.com & http://www.thetrailpac.com. Don Amador set up “TRAILPAC” a few years ago (PAC= Political Action Committee).. Don is ‘Lyin King’ on Pirate4X4-Land Use.

Corva is spearheading efforts along with Inland Empire 4Wheelers (IE4W), to fight actions to close trails & open areas within Ocotilo Wells SVRA. Though we do not visit Ocotillo Wells with any regularity (I did about 5 years ago), the implications may be far-reaching, possibly affecting access to Hollister Hills & Carnegie SVRAs, and even routes within other state parks (e.g. Anza-Borrego, Bodie Hills, etc). Donations can be made at: http://www.corva.org/donate , click the “IE4W Ocotillo Wells Challenge!” category. PayPal is accepted. More information can be found at Corva.org, and http://ie4w.com/.

Barrett Lake Jeep Trail: I do not know if work on the ground has started on Barrett yet. In any case, plans are to re-open it no sooner than summer 2015. See previous month’s minutes for details, and read ENF’s plans and comments at:http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3792621.pdf. & http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3810733.pdfI think the next trail ENF may work on is Strawberry Pass. It should have received state OHV Trust funding to study it. No word on Deer Valley, Pardoe/Squaw Ridge, or Long Valley yet.

Check Blue Ribbon Coalition, Corva.org, Cal4wheel, and Pirate4x4 websites for the latest access news.

Aaron, Alicia, Brad, Brian, Chris, Don, Eric, Gary, Genna, Joe, Lyle, Marco, Mario, Matt, Paul E, Paul H, Rahul, Randy, Roger, Ron, Terry, Tom K, Tom W.

Paul E
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GETTIN’ OFF 4X4 Off-Road Club – Sept. 9 Meeting Minutes

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2012-2013 Officers: President: Terry, VP: Brian B, Treasurer: Don, Secretary: Paul E.
Meeting Time & Location: Every 2nd Tuesday at 7, Antonella’s Ristorante (patio area), 1701 Park Avenue, San Jose , CA 95126 (408) 279-4922.
Website http://www.gettinoff4x4.com

7:00 pm. Buffet Dinner: Salad, Pasta, Pizza, Bread & Soft drinks, or order direct from the menu. For Antonella’s to cover the cost of occupying the patio dining area, members are encouraged to enjoy the buffet dinner ($10) or menu items.

7:30 pm. Meeting Start

WELCOME and Board Reports

President – Terry: Terry noted he could not attend; Brian presided.
Vice President – Brian: Presided over Mtg.
Treasurer – Don: Reports ~$1.5K; Reports all active members are paid up. A few recent members have not paid dues or attended in the last year or 2. They are now inactive but are welcome to re-join.
Secretary – Paul: no reports
Members Attending (1 point) – Aaron, Alicia, Brad, Brian, Chris, Don, Eric, Gary, Lyle, Paul E, Paul H, Rahul, Randy, Roger, Ron, Tom K
Guests – Robert, Heidi & Eric, Steve (guests of Brad, Ron & ?)
Participation points – no reports

CLUB NEWS, ONGOING ACTIONS, & IDEAS

1) Brad & Joe will be teaming up to print our club business cards. Thank you guys! Cards should include:
1) Club Logo (scanned from the new club decal) 2) Our website: http://www.gettinoff4x4.com 3) QR coding with our website (available on VistaPrint.com) perhaps on the back side of the card
4) Our location: “San Jose, CA” 5) Our statement or tag-line (abbreviated) : “A friendly & family oriented club, open to all 4WD vehicles” 6) It is suggested we have a note about public land access, to help inform other wheelers we meet. Example: “Keep your right to access. We support sharetrails.org, cal4wheel.com, corva.org” ; this could go on the back side of the card if necessary.

2) Terry & Alane were Married July 26, Congratulations from everyone ! A number of club members attended the wedding. It was a very nice ceremony & reception, with a little humor in the vows too !

3) We did discuss where to send donations to organizations who help keep public lands & roads open to the public. Last year we gave to CAL4, BRC & CORVA. This year we added Friends of Tahoe, as a one-time donation to support their expense in litigating against Tahoe National forest for unjustly closing up to 800 mile of routes. Info at http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/land-use-issues/1773161-need-help-tahoe-group-lawsuit.html#post26441793. About $1100 will be split among the four organizations.

Since it’s an election year, individual members may consider giving to TrailPAC, http://thetrailpac.blogspot.com & http://www.thetrailpac.com. Don Amador set up this TrailPac* few years ago. He is ‘Lyin King’ on Pirate4X4 – Land Use. (PAC= Political Action Committee)

VEHICLE PAINS & PROJECTS UNDERWAY

1) Paul E – Cause of hum/vibration at 55-65 mph is not axle U-joint; but it needed replacement anyway. Could be tires, trans, etc; tbd.

(we did not get into other vehicle issues at this meeting)

RECENT RUNS & ‘Chances to Lock Axles’

1) August 15,16,17 (Fri, Sat, Sun) – Club BBQ Run: Niagara Rim. Arrive Friday or early Saturday morning; most camped Fri & Sat nights, at the OHV Campground: 38.310790, -119.890217. We ran Niagara Rim trail Saturday morning, had lunch on the trail, back to camp mid afternoon. We had a few incidents, needless to day, a few shown in the photos recently published: Paul E- locker on at off-camber spot; Steve – rollover onto passenger side; Tom K – rocker steps broken off (they have to come off sometime anyway); Brian – slipping down Heartbreak hill a few times.

We prepared a great BBQ dinner with Filet Mignon, Salmon, & Chicken (or bring meat of choice). After dinner we had the drawing for door prizes, resulting in quite a few “exchanges”. The wine bottles were exchanged to the maximum 3 times. Sunday morning we packed up for home. There were a few minor operational glitches, Brian & I discussed how to minimize them, and next year we will probably have an official sign-up sheet, which should help define how the event proceeds for everyone.

Run Requirements were: a) Bring an appetizer, side dish or dessert for about 8-10 people. Though more than 10 are attending, we always have leftovers so 8-10 is about right. Bring a few extra beverages to share.
b) Recommended minimum 33″ tires & one locker, c) Working CB radio d) Water, camping gear, food for breakfasts & lunches, tools, etc. e) $15 per adult (for BBQ Rib Eye steaks), $4 for campsite/night, & membership paid-up (excluding guests) f) Flying axes are not permitted in the campground area.

2) Mid-August – Your secretary talked about a family trip to Colorado, where (we) ran a few easy trails, high up in the Rockies near the towns of Montrose & Ouray. Vehicle Pain: We had the Neutral/Park Recall done on our grand cherokee at the Jeep dealer in February. But we found in August, the ‘fix’ prevented us from engaging 4LO ! ; “4WD Error(s)” galore. So we relied on 4HI-AWD, which works ok but we kept to easy trails. The dealer did fix it after the trip, after 2 attempts. Fortunately, no charge. This issue is all over the jeep forums.

UPCOMING RUNS (2 points)

September 13, THIS Saturday !! – Deer Valley (the open section). Entering from Hwy 4 side, at Hermit Valley Campground. Going are: Chris, Rahul, Paul, Alicia, Terry, Steve.
Hwy 4 Protocol:
Meet at 7:30 AM Grant line Road off I-205 in Tracy, at AM/PM Arco. and/or
meet at 9:15 AM Burger King parking lot in Angels Camp. and/or
meet at ~10:15 AM at the gas station near Arnold with the big parking lot (but better to meet In Tracy or Angels Camp) and/or
meet at noon??? Hermit Valley Campground.

October 3,4,5 CHANGE of VENUE ~Fri,Sat: Slick Rock & Sourgrass, or Rubicon(!) . (Mohave Rd. in reverse is on-hold)

Oct 14 – Next club meeting.

November 1 – Sourgrass Adopt-A-Trail Run, Hwy 4 Protocol.

Other suggestions: Places we’ve not been for quite some time and not closed (as Eldorado NF): Swamp Lake, Rubicon, Fordyce, Lassen Applegate, Barney Riley, Moab, and our persistent favorite: Barney Riley.

Winter season – CB Tune-Up and Swap Meet. Terry & Tom to determine best day. If you have 4×4 stuff to sell or a CB & antenna to fix or tune-up, this is a good time to do it.

8:30 pm – Meeting adjournment.

————————————————————————

SAVING OUR TRAILS (new=bold)
or should it be: ‘Trials for Trails’…?

Barrett Lake Jeep Trail:
I do not know if work on the ground has started on Barrett yet. In any case, plans are to re-open it no sooner than summer 2015. See previous month’s minutes for details, and read ENF’s plans and comments at:http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3792621.pdf. & http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3810733.pdfI think the next trail ENF may work on is Strawberry Pass. It should have received state OHV Trust funding to study it. No word on Deer Valley, Pardoe/Squaw Ridge, or Long Valley yet.

Check Blue Ribbon Coalition, Corva.org, Cal4wheel, and Pirate4x4 websites for the latest access news.

[go4x4club] May 13 Meeting Minutes

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2012-2013 Officers: President: Terry, VP: Brian B, Treasurer: Don, Secretary: Paul E.
Meeting Time & Location: Every 2nd Tuesday at 7, Antonella’s Ristorante (patio area), 1701 Park Avenue, San Jose , CA 95126 (408) 279-4922.
Website http://www.gettinoff4x4.com

7:00 pm. Buffet Dinner $10. Salad, Pasta, Pizza, Bread & Soft drinks, or order directly from the menu. To help Antonella’s cover the cost of using the patio area, members are encouraged to enjoy the buffet dinner or a menu item.

7:30 pm. Meeting Start

This was an interesting meeting….rated PG-13, or something…

WELCOME and Board Reports

President – Terry: Terry noted he would be away, so Brian presided. Terry noted these business items, which Brian & members accomplished:

BOD elections. No additional nominations were made at the meeting, not a one. As the current board was nominated last month, they were also duly re-elected at the meeting by voice vote.
Two long-time guests are now eligible for membership: Tom K (TJ) and Marco A (4Runner). Each attended the adopt-a-trail for their 2nd trail run, and each has attended at least 3 meetings. Since Tom requested membership, he was subsequently voted-in by the current members. Congratulations Tom ! Marco was not present, hopefully we’ll see him next month.

Vice President – Brian: Brain did a fine job of presiding at the meeting. See notes throughout the minutes.

Treasurer – Don: Reports ~$570 in account.

Secretary – Paul: No special reports other than on a few items henceforth.

Members Attending (1 point): Aaron, Alicia, Brian, Chris, Don, Eric, Gary, Mario, Matt, Paul E, Paul H, Rahul, Roger, Ron.

Tim, our guy with a fleet of XJs, was in attendance. Great to see you, Tim ! He mentioned his red XJ made the cover of a new book called “Jeep Cherokee XJ 1984-2001: Advanced Performance Modifications” by Eric Zappe. Congrats on that one!

Guests – There were a few wives/girlfriends/family members in attendance.

Participation points: No announcement.

GENERAL NEWS, ACTIONS & IDEAS

a) We officially re-agreed(?) to ask Brad to print business cards for the club, next time he attends. Probably can print about 200 cards for less than $50; or perhaps Vista Print?. The vendor he chose has our new logo digital artwork. The card will have, at a minimum: 1) Our logo, 2) Our website 3) A digital ‘QR’ tag to reach our website (see http://www.qrstuff.com/ or similar), 4) Ppen to suggestions…one idea is to say we support fair & open access to public lands, and reference websites: Sharetrails.org, Cal4wheel.org, and/or Corva.org. We should also show we are ambassadors for public land access.

b) Annual Dues collected due at June meeting, $60 per member/family. New members purchase a T-shirt & Decals for $20.

c) Rumor was it was somehow telegraphed that our club member Gena was no longer invited to attend ! This is false. Though Gena was not present, the membership re-voted in favor of Gena’s still-valid full membership to the club. He is welcome back anytime, hope to see him soon.

d) Brian asked if there any other special business. Indeed there was, comments regarding the club’s name. Chris mentioned he would like the club to consider a name change sometime in the future. About 3 or 4 others had exactly the same thoughts, and your secretary too. Most others were silent (or perhaps aghast?) with the proposal.

It was noted that the club’s name goes way back into the ‘early days’, nearly 20 years (!) and that tradition is strong, so changing the club name will be hard, and that’s a reasonable assertion. The main reason cited to consider a name change was, it’s been “awkward” for some to tell friends, family and/or co-workers about the club and its full name. Of course, changing the club name kind-of obsoletes our investments in t-shirts, decals, jackets, by-laws, etc.

During the discussion, a few members presented the inevitable yet very un-official and un-sanctioned GO 4×4 Club ‘Salute’, if you will…(thank goodness it’s not a handshake!), thus somewhat proving the point of the potential awkwardness of the club’s name. This is worthy of future discussion and forethought, so perhaps we can discuss this at the BBQ run. Well maybe not, if there’s children around. OK, ’nuff said.

VEHICLE PAINS & PROJECTS

Don – The rig is at Tom’s & Gary’s for a full IFS rebuild. Lots of steering, suspension & driveline parts to be replaced, but way cheaper than a full new SAS (Solid Axle Swap). Should be ready for next run to Slick Rock.
Mario – Sold his Ford Super-Duty also ! What’s with selling all the Super Dutys recently?? answer: not being used enough…
Someone (Eric?) – Got a new driveshaft at Southbay Driveline for $600 and a new battery. I wrote down it was Eric but somehow that seems incorrect; who was it again?
Aaron – Just acquired a “new” 1974 Ford Bronco ! He’s either going to build it up for himself, or fix it up and flip it. He got it for a great price, it will need work to make it street & trail worthy. Other good new is he found a substantial leak in the exhaust header of the CJ, which was, in part at least, causing smog to fail. So smog passed now, by a hair. Toyota : clutch issue, fixed?

RECENT RUNS & ‘Chances to Lock Axles’

April 26 – Adopt-A-Trail – Sourgrass, Hwy 4. Terry reports the adopt-a-trail run went well. They spent most of the time digging trenches to get water off the trail. 5 rigs attended: Ron, Eric, Tom K., Marco, and Terry & Alane. Weather was cool in the mid 40’s, otherwise a nice day. There was up to 3-4″ of fresh snow on parts of the trail. All had a good time. Ron reported on the run too: He noted they cleared several puddles, and the creek crossing was fairly low.

Tom K mentioned he took his Grand Cherokee on some fire roads recently to explore around. (I forget to note where it was you went, sorry).

Alicia noted that Joe had gone to Moab for Easter Jeep Safari. Near the end of the week, officials said they were short a Run Leader, so Joe volunteered to fill that vacancy. What trail..? tbd.

UPCOMING RUNS (2 points)

May 31 – Slick Rock, then perhaps the 1st few miles of Deer Valley, from Hwy 4 side. Brain polled who would be going and 8+ members raised their hands*. There are a few options for those going:
1) Run Slick Rock on Saturday, and if there’s time, the back-side of Coral Hollow, and return home the same day,
2) Run Slick Rock Saturday, then head east on Hwy 4 to trailhead & campground at the start of Deer Valley route. Stay overnight, camping, then run the 1st few miles of Deer Valley Sunday am, in & out, and return home Sunday afternoon. Though Eldorado National Forest website says 19E01 (old:09N83) Deer Valley/Clover Valley is still “Closed behind County gate”, it was said the south part of the route is actually open.

June 21-22 Niagara (“Aragain”) Rim pre-run, Hwy 108.

July 12 Hollister (too hot in summer?) or TBD.

August 15,16,17 – Club BBQ Run: Aragain Rim, up .

CB Tune-Up and Swap Meet – Terry & Tom to determine best day. If you have 4×4 stuff to sell or a CB & antenna to fix or tune-up, this is a good time.

Other run suggestions: places we’ve not been for a long time, and not closed (as is Eldorado NF): Swamp Lake, Rubicon, Fordyce, Lassen Applegate, Barney Riley, Moab.

Barney Riley was discussed among a few members, but was noted the hot springs are not accessible from Barney Riley trail anymore – we can’t drive across the river any more (what a bunch of spoil sports!). Though you can access the hot springs from routes on the northwest side of the Carson river.

8:30 pm – Meeting adjournment.

————————————————————————

SAVING OUR TRAILS (new=bold)

Barrett Lake Jeep Trail:
After the lawsuit from PEER last year, and the subsequent truce between litigants, Eldorado National Forest (ENF) has put together a plan make the required changes to the trail. Work should begin this July. The trail could be ready by 2015. It appears it will take many 100’s of thousands of federal & OHV trust fund dollars to make the trail changes. It is amazing all the behind-the-scenes work & expense required to re-open these trails to the public: large additional reports & plans written by ENF for environmental compliance, volunteers, pro-access groups & the county of Eldorado, etc, and of course the actual ground work by contractors. Even the recent plans made are under attack by the only opposition, PEER, who is already complaining to ENF about their remediation plans…unbelievable! It really makes true the motto ‘Freedom Isn’t Free’. To help understand this, read ENF’s plans and comments at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3792621.pdf

I think the next trail ENF will work on is Strawberry Pass, they applied and should receive state OHV Trust funding to study it. No word on Deer Valley or Pardoe/Squaw Ridge yet.

Clear Creek (old Cal 4 “Molina Ghost Run” locations)
See: http://cal4wheel.com/access-issues/central-california-access-issues/508-subcommittee-to-hold-hearings-on-clear-creek-bill

Glamis:
Some good news for Imperial Sand Dunes in So Cal (a.k.a. ‘Glamis’). A generally positive court ruling for potential renewed OHV access to this long restricted area. See BRC article: http://www.sharetrails.org/news/2014/04/04/epic-decision-portends-new-balance-re-opening-dunes-glamis In possible retribution(?), PEER/CBD a day later, apparently notified BLM of their intent to sue them on grounds of inadequate record-keeping of ESA animal populations there.

Utah:
Just a few days ago: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/10/blm-protest-targets-off-limits-atv-trail-on-public-land-in-utah/

Check BRC (sharetrails.org), Corva.org (‘News’), and Cal4wheel, Pirate4x4 websites for more access news.

(*no, not with the un-sanctioned club salute, thank goodness)