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A Long, Busy & Good Day in Johnson Valley
Hi Roger,thanks for asking.
The meeting went well, and it capped off a very long, busy, but good day in Johnson Valley.
We left home in the San Fernando Valley at 5 AM and headed out to JV. Our first stop was at the Johnson Valley Improvement Association Community Center for their weekly BIG BREAKFAST. They serve breakfast EVERY Saturday from 7 AM to 10 AM. Only 4 bucks a plate and all the profits go to help the community. Great folks and great conversation. These people are real 4 wheelers too, as most of them decided to settle in JV after wheelin out there over the years. Stop in some Saturday morning and meet these pioneers. The Community Center is on the corner of Larrea Rd. and Quailbush. From Boone Rd and Hwy 247 travel about a 1/2 mile west to Larrea Rd. turn left (south) and the Community Center is about 1 3/4 miles on the left. It's the only paved road going south in Johnson Valley. If you go, please tell the folks there about how important JV and their community is to offroaders.
We then headed over to Means to visit with the Victor Valley 4 Wheelers at their Fun In The Desert event. It was starting to get warm, but a slight breeze kept it comfortable. We spent an hour or so, talking with Desert Jewel at registration and taking pictures of the campsite, so that we can add to the power point. Got a great shot of a little redhead on an pink electric quad. Also saw the new FOJV/PFJV banner, very cool. Leaving Means we headed up towards Sledgehammer. Not into it, but up on top, to find a good vantage point to watch AND HEAR the group bump their way through. Leaving Sledge, we meandered up past the big sand hill to the west and worked our way around Clawhammer. The further we went the more evidence we found of mining. We passed dozens of claim markers, piles of tailings and a large operation with modern vehicles. We worked our way over to a point above Emerson Valley before we decided to turn around and head back towards Victorville for the evening meeting. While on our run around the Hammer area, we surprised a quad rider and a couple FOJV folks with how far we'd been able to travel in a full size extended cab Chevy pickup. And while we did not do the Hammers, we did see a lot of the area. So, to echo a comment heard just that morning at breakfast, "There's no place on earth, like Johnson Valley!"
On the way back to Victorville, we stopped off at Mike Mansfield's house, to pick up a just published map that shows all of the proposed locations for solar and wind sites in the Barstow BLM District. Yes, a lot of them are in Johnson Valley. This map will be available for viewing at the Currie Open House and the EXPO next weekend and at the October 13, FOJV meeting. Mike Mansfield is a photographer who allowed us to use his photos of JV historic sites in the power point.
Once back in Victorville, we met Kim Carpenter who had arranged for us to speak at the monthly Save Our Country dinner hosted by radio personality, Barb Stanton. Kim is the lady who is collecting the economic data for the Partnership For Johnson Valley. If you haven't sent your usage and spending data to Kim, please do it now.
carpentersa5k@msn.com. Kim and her husband Ken, also volunteer with Rescue 3.
There were about 40 people at the dinner, and all of them were residents of the Lucerne/Apple Valley/Victorville area. As most were not off roaders, we were talking to a whole new audience. However, we were very pleased to finally meet the forum leader of My Jeep Rocks, Sarah, her husband Rick and MJR contributor Mitch (great88). Thank you for coming to the meeting and for all that you do to keep the community informed.
Harry was the final speaker after two candidates for City Council and a used car salesman with city permit problems, so the audience was getting restless or sleepy or both. Once Harry put up his big 6' X 6' map of the proposed expansion area, they really perked up. There's nothing like a big government takeover to make folks sit up and listen. Harry spoke of the Marines need to expand their training area and how their training needs could be met without withdrawing Johnson Valley, as there is room to expand to the East. I believe that Harry gave a very balanced explanation of our position. He encouraged everyone to attend one of the BLM public meetings in October and to make comments about the proposed withdrawal of public lands.
Meetings like this are very important because they provide an educational opportunity within the community. Thank you Kim for arranging this.
For anyone else wishing to set up a presentation please contact the Partnership For Johnson Valley at info@pfjv.org or Harry Baker at bakerhab@aol.com.
HAVE MAP, WILL TRAVEL
Our day ended back in the San Fernando Valley at 10:30 PM.
Helen Baker
www.pfjv.org
Originally posted by Roger
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The meeting went well, and it capped off a very long, busy, but good day in Johnson Valley.
We left home in the San Fernando Valley at 5 AM and headed out to JV. Our first stop was at the Johnson Valley Improvement Association Community Center for their weekly BIG BREAKFAST. They serve breakfast EVERY Saturday from 7 AM to 10 AM. Only 4 bucks a plate and all the profits go to help the community. Great folks and great conversation. These people are real 4 wheelers too, as most of them decided to settle in JV after wheelin out there over the years. Stop in some Saturday morning and meet these pioneers. The Community Center is on the corner of Larrea Rd. and Quailbush. From Boone Rd and Hwy 247 travel about a 1/2 mile west to Larrea Rd. turn left (south) and the Community Center is about 1 3/4 miles on the left. It's the only paved road going south in Johnson Valley. If you go, please tell the folks there about how important JV and their community is to offroaders.
We then headed over to Means to visit with the Victor Valley 4 Wheelers at their Fun In The Desert event. It was starting to get warm, but a slight breeze kept it comfortable. We spent an hour or so, talking with Desert Jewel at registration and taking pictures of the campsite, so that we can add to the power point. Got a great shot of a little redhead on an pink electric quad. Also saw the new FOJV/PFJV banner, very cool. Leaving Means we headed up towards Sledgehammer. Not into it, but up on top, to find a good vantage point to watch AND HEAR the group bump their way through. Leaving Sledge, we meandered up past the big sand hill to the west and worked our way around Clawhammer. The further we went the more evidence we found of mining. We passed dozens of claim markers, piles of tailings and a large operation with modern vehicles. We worked our way over to a point above Emerson Valley before we decided to turn around and head back towards Victorville for the evening meeting. While on our run around the Hammer area, we surprised a quad rider and a couple FOJV folks with how far we'd been able to travel in a full size extended cab Chevy pickup. And while we did not do the Hammers, we did see a lot of the area. So, to echo a comment heard just that morning at breakfast, "There's no place on earth, like Johnson Valley!"
On the way back to Victorville, we stopped off at Mike Mansfield's house, to pick up a just published map that shows all of the proposed locations for solar and wind sites in the Barstow BLM District. Yes, a lot of them are in Johnson Valley. This map will be available for viewing at the Currie Open House and the EXPO next weekend and at the October 13, FOJV meeting. Mike Mansfield is a photographer who allowed us to use his photos of JV historic sites in the power point.
Once back in Victorville, we met Kim Carpenter who had arranged for us to speak at the monthly Save Our Country dinner hosted by radio personality, Barb Stanton. Kim is the lady who is collecting the economic data for the Partnership For Johnson Valley. If you haven't sent your usage and spending data to Kim, please do it now.
carpentersa5k@msn.com. Kim and her husband Ken, also volunteer with Rescue 3.
There were about 40 people at the dinner, and all of them were residents of the Lucerne/Apple Valley/Victorville area. As most were not off roaders, we were talking to a whole new audience. However, we were very pleased to finally meet the forum leader of My Jeep Rocks, Sarah, her husband Rick and MJR contributor Mitch (great88). Thank you for coming to the meeting and for all that you do to keep the community informed.
Harry was the final speaker after two candidates for City Council and a used car salesman with city permit problems, so the audience was getting restless or sleepy or both. Once Harry put up his big 6' X 6' map of the proposed expansion area, they really perked up. There's nothing like a big government takeover to make folks sit up and listen. Harry spoke of the Marines need to expand their training area and how their training needs could be met without withdrawing Johnson Valley, as there is room to expand to the East. I believe that Harry gave a very balanced explanation of our position. He encouraged everyone to attend one of the BLM public meetings in October and to make comments about the proposed withdrawal of public lands.
Meetings like this are very important because they provide an educational opportunity within the community. Thank you Kim for arranging this.
For anyone else wishing to set up a presentation please contact the Partnership For Johnson Valley at info@pfjv.org or Harry Baker at bakerhab@aol.com.
HAVE MAP, WILL TRAVEL
Our day ended back in the San Fernando Valley at 10:30 PM.
Helen Baker
www.pfjv.org
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