Johnson Valley Compromise.

[Roger]

Well, here it is folks. This is the compromise Washington DC came up with. I doesn't seem very different than Alt 6 originally proposed back in the beginning of all this. I think the boundary of the Shared Use Area has been moved north to Emerson Dry Lake. this would put the entire Fry Mtns in the shared used area (SUA). But it is still a shared use area. I don't trust the Government to keep it that way. Wait until they find a group of kids playing on an unexploded 500 lb bomb. That will end any shared use area....

This link is Rep Paul Cook's press release. Note everyone singing its praises. Except me, I expected the entire Fry Mtn area to be out of the SUA:

https://iqconnect.lmhostediq.com/iqe...00992&c=CA08PC

[curtis]

When are the 60 days they get to use it?

[RAT]

Well. Its really no surprise that all these folks a praising this. They are either getting what they want (Dave Cole and KOH) or they've never been there or used the area for recreation. So who is worried about the real possibilty of live ordinance in the area? Not these guys. I'm tired of hearing "well, at least we didn't loose it all". When are we gonna have someone stand up to this crap and not give an inch. All we do is give, all they do is take.

[sarah]

Ha! I love how Cook has "preserved" JV. This kind of language and praise for fellow politicians makes me ill. Everyone in this press release needs to be voted out next term.

It's not a victory that the government is taking only some of our land and not all of it. They created this mess and now they have "fixed" it - classic!

[inVERt'D]

Ha! I love how Cook has "preserved" JV. This kind of language and praise for fellow politicians makes me ill. Everyone in this press release needs to be voted out next term.

It's not a victory that the government is taking only some of our land and not all of it. They created this mess and now they have "fixed" it - classic!

I think this expresses a very dangerous and ungrateful attitude towards our government benefactors. Obviously we have too much money and free time on our hands--time and money that would be better spent on supporting the Bureaucrats' Socialist Republic (an army of HEROES, nay, GODS!). If however, we should be so inclined as to pursue our own selfish interests, and putting ourselves ahead of the State, we should accept the privileges it bestows upon us with humility and gratitude. We must never daring to look at our betters in their eyes, lest we invoke their displeasure at our impertinence and they take back everything they have so generously given.

[curtis]

The truth is, this is what we have become. More of the 1% live in DC.

[Ol Man]

From Dave Cole's post on Pirate:

It would take a month to convey all the details.

We had a plan and were working it. We were putting ourselves in a position to win in Conference Committee (it's what happens when Senate and House don't agree). Two weeks ago, as part of the Filibuster vote, Senate changed their protocol on Conference Committees, there wasn't going to be one.

This issue was going to be decided by 4 people and they were 3-1 in favor of the Marines. We thought we had it 2-2 and Inhoff from Nebraska (?) flopped on us. Once that was certain we had nothing.

Here is where we stood 2 weeks ago...

* Marines to manage Shared Use
*Permanent Take line was on the Means Dry lake side of the mine road and across the tip where Balderdash is
*No more exit to Claw, Wrecking Ball, or Fissure.
*Riffle Monument never to be seen again
*No more Aftershock, Sunbonnet, Outer Limits, Spooners
*Soggy Dry Lake would be 100 Yards wide
*All of the Fry Mountains (Crowbar and Riffle Canyon) gone
*CA200 Monument would be a bombing range
*No designation as OHV area which means that anything left would have been snatched up by renewable energy
*DUD Producing Ordinance language was non-existant, it didn't prohibit or allow. With the Marines in Control, that 50k acres would have been gone in two years including ALL of the remaining Hammer trails and Means Dry Lake Bed


Because we lost our voice (Conference Committee), we had to find a way to compromise.

One of our biggest allies was James Peterson with Feinstein's office. He came down to tour the area and came away thinking something different needed to be done.

That, combined withe the unwavering support from Congressman Cook's office, enabled House Arms Service Committee to push for new language.

The result:

*BLM Control of Shared Use (except for the 60 days max use by the Marines)
*Congressional Designation for JV (Stepping stone to National OHV status, this fight will continue)
*Push permanent take line back to middle of Emerson Dry Lake
*Gives us back all of the existing trails (except Elvis and Martel)
*Push line on the west side above the Rock Pile so the Memorial is still accessible and there is a desert route NORTH of the Fry Mountains which will allow for Desert Racing
*Riffle and Crowbar plus the entirety of the Fry range is still accessible
*Soggy is completely accessible

The reality of where we WOULD have been in 3 years ago...40K acres WEST of Soggy

The reality of where we WILL be for the next 30 years...100k acres from Sunbonnet to Anderson Dry Lake Bed and past.



There is a ranch for sale North of Anderson. It is a HUGE amount of land. It was overvalued because they were holding out for renewable energy transmission lines.

With the new designation, there will be NO RENEWABLE energy in JV.


I was the guy who coined the 'No grain of sand' tagline.

I have layed awake more nights than I can remember over the last 6 years trying to figure out how to have our voice heard.

Four weeks ago, I thought we were in a good place.

We were, and still are.

Offroaders have gotten there teeth kicked in repeatedly in land use fights. We have been fragmented and disorganized. We have been completely over our head in Washington on the political side.

We grew as a group. We learned that success isn't guaranteed by the 'professional' land use guys that ride in on a white horse, it is fought for and earned by the people who call the area their backyard.

Yes, we lost 78k acres of land.

Relative to where we DEFINITELY have been, this is a WIN

Don't like it, get more involved next time. Hell get more involved now. Tell your elected leaders you want THEM to be responsible for what happens to their constituents. Tell them you will hold them accountable. Most of this process was handled by staffers, not elected officials.

And anyone that thinks I was motivated by KOH for this doesn't know me by any stretch. I am motivated by Johnson Valley being the greatest place on earth. I am motivated by this being where I got married and where I recreate with my family and friends. KOH will someday cease to exist. And if that happens before I die, I will still be on the lakebed changing a birfield.
__________________

[curtis]

With jeff knoll and dave cole, only one outcome.