Cleghorn trails blocked??

[GP4Play]

I'm seeing this in a bit different light than many of the people in this thread.

It is my understanding that ALL of the bypasses were previously illegal and that they were created by people going off-trail and cutting new trails on their own without permission.

They are now blocking most of these illegally cut trails.

Apparently, the positive aspect of what is happening is that they are retaining some of the bypasses and signing them into the management plan as "official."

I believe that the net result is that we are actually "gaining" official routes on Cleghorn that we will be allowed on once they've done some rehab.

There are other routes in the forest that are being re-routed for various reasons, but we're not losing them. As I understand it, most (if not all) of the reroutes are being applied to "administrative" routes, which are not supposed to be used by the general public anyway. So, most of us shouldn't even realize that these administrative routes are changing, since most of us are not authorized to use them anyway.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding or miscalculating something.

What I would ask of all of you is that you do not try to drive these blocked routes "in protest." That will only ensure that the entire route gets permanently closed, because it will only prove that the Forestry Service can not adequately manage that route.

Instead, please learn more about the existing planning process for the routes in the forest and become active in that process.

I personally know very little about the process at this time, but plan to learn more about it.

Respectfully,

Christian

Christian said it better then I can so X2.Last year was a bad year and I hope to do better.

[NAILER341]

:bolt: Wouldn't go that far. haha Let me guess Paramount High?

No.. Vero Beach High or [COLOR="LemonChiffon"]Ridgemont High [/COLOR]

[Old Fart]

Off-Highway group Christian, not Off-Road. Don't make me get out the white board and the dry-erase!

[headhunter]

Off-Highway group Christian, not Off-Road. Don't make me get out the white board and the dry-erase!

Jeff,

My comments were intended to paint with a broader brush when referring to those who are affected by public comments.

I was thinking beyond the SBNF and considering how those in open areas (like much of the BLM land in Johnson Valley) will also be included in the rhetoric spouted by the "anti-x" groups.

That said, I acknowledge that all legal motorized vehicle travel in the SBNF is "off-highway."

Christian

[karstic]

Karstic,

I did not know about the "Route Management" posting or how submit comments overwise I would have been all over it. I have always sent letters on trails issues or land issues. Sorry I missed this one. It just makes me even more concerned about things like Mottino, Heartbreak, Pontiac........ Oh well, drive them while we can.

Mitch

Mitch

All Federal land managing agencies post their planning processes online. I have a lot of different interests in our public lands. I frequently check the BLM, USFS, and NPS websites to see if anything interesting is coming down the pipe.

Stephan

[Mitch]

Stephan,

Thank you for the info. I will monitor those sites for upcoming projects and information.

On top of a couple AAT things (Meeting and trails repair), I've done the Calico Clean twice, El Mirage Cleanup twice, attended a dozen meetings on the Marine Corp expansion, Wind Turbine project, Solar panel project, I've written dozens of letters to our Representatives , Congress, and Senate defending the constant take over of public lands. I've talked to the BLM both in the field as well as at the Field Office many times about the closing of trails in the ORD Mountain trail system and others. So while I don't have 100's of hours invested in it like some of our dedicated AAT guys and gals, the effort is there.

If you notice a public info meeting of interest please let me know anytime.

Thank you,

Mitch

[curtis]

Well the guys that are closing the trails. Have made there way through BB and are at 2N01. They are working there way up to onyx summit and then probably down the 38. So I guest I need to do all the trails from Lighting ridge to Angeles Oak this weekend. Also looks like my last chance to make it from the coon cabin to rainbow lane.

[Mitch]

Looks like dozens of trails and spurs are lost in the Holcomb Valley area, the area at the end of John Bull, and the Rose Mine area. So much historical stuff out there blocked from vehicle access. I guess someone decided that 100 year old trails were not important to anyone. Lets pretend that the mines and trails were not ever there or that this why people came to the area. Sucks! Oh well, our tax dollars at work again.

Mitch

[nwoods]

I just can't get my head around this. Where the hell is the funding coming from? Why is this trail closure effort getting funded? Is there an elected official directly involved in all this? What is the rationale behind these closures? Don't they realize that forcing us onto fewer and fewer trails will result in more and more damage? And where the heck is the money coming from? Isn't this the same State that issued me an IOU on my tax return, just so that they could spend money on completely unimportant trail closures?

Maybe we need another good forest fire event so that the FS will reopen all the access roads to fight the fires!

[Mitch]

Amen my brother! Oh yeah it's our tax dollars and the State and Fed is broke. Go figure.

[Russ Chung]

I just can't get my head around this. Where the hell is the funding coming from? Why is this trail closure effort getting funded? Is there an elected official directly involved in all this? What is the rationale behind these closures? Don't they realize that forcing us onto fewer and fewer trails will result in more and more damage? And where the heck is the money coming from? Isn't this the same State that issued me an IOU on my tax return, just so that they could spend money on completely unimportant trail closures?

Maybe we need another good forest fire event so that the FS will reopen all the access roads to fight the fires!

1. The funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
2. The elected official(s) involved in all of this are the President of the United States who proposed the economic stimulus plan and the members of the majority party in control of Congress who passed the plan.
3. "They" don't care what the closing forces us to do; "they" want to close EVERYTHING.
4. The money is not coming from the State of California, it is coming from the federal government. Indirectly, the money is coming from China because they are the ones who are buying the government bonds that are financing the federal budget deficit. If you are a cynic, you might say that the money is coming from Wal-Mart shoppers because they are spending the money that is going to China so that China can buy the bonds so that the federal government can spend it.
5. Although constructing roadblocks for illegal trails is not a priority, one of the requirements for ARRA funding was that a project be "shovel-ready".
6. Forest fire fighting access is not a good reason to justify keeping our trails open. Two very popular 4WD trails in Arizona, the Crown King Trail and the Charouleau Gap Trail have been bulldozed in order to improve fire fighting access. Now you can drive a Prius over those trails.

[curtis]

Russ you are probably 100% right. How much money do think the tree huggers gave Obama and the dnc? NOTHING BUT HOPE AND CHANGE.

[aw12345]

Goes back to an economic certainty find a way to make it more expensive to close a trail than to keep it open and it will stop or reverse it self, lawyers can be your friend on this one

[nwoods]

Russ, I trust your info. What a collosial F-up and misuse of the bailout funds. Motorized recreation is a huge industry, severly hurt by the mortgage & bank failures (people lot homes and sold toys like 4x4, MX, boats, etc...). So instead of doing something to ressurect fo OHV industry, like open up recreation areas, they pound nails into the coffin by closing trails. F'ng stupid.

[karstic]

Research "San Berardino National Forest Management Plan" and "National Forest Travel Management Rule".

Become familiar with them.

Those two documents direct the management of OHV use on the San Bernardino National Forest.