Another round of grant requests will be submitted to the OHMVR. This meeting is the first step in that process and our first chance to have a say in the outcome. Anyone who is able to attend should be there... these people need to know we're serious. If you can't make it by 3:00, get there as soon as you can.


The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has scheduled a public scooping meeting to obtain public comments on the off-highway vehicle (OHV) grants being submitted to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Division.

The open house will be held at the BLM California Desert District Office in Moreno Valley on Wednesday, February 26 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The district office is located at 22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, Calif. 92553.

The workshop will provide the public an opportunity to review and comment on grants being submitted by the BLM California Desert District's five field offices as part of the grant application process. BLM staff will be available to discuss/provide information specific about the grant application(s).

The grant request will provide funding for cost directly related to planning, managing, and coordinating the BLM district wide off-highway vehicle program. This grant will fund activities that will support activities such as law enforcement, search and rescue, resource protection, visitor services, and day-to-day maintenance work.

Contact Ira Long at (909) 697-5396 for additional information regarding BLM California Desert District OHV grant proposals.


Vicki

Does the grant fund specific areas SailAway? Or is it broad based for all around OHV use.

The grant will cover all areas of the ISDRA, including law enforcement and maintenance and operation, even conservation issues.

That's why we need to be there. We know the OHMVR is green-sided but there are ways to get as much of our money as possible. The BLM needs our guidance or they won't be asking for what we want and then we'll have no one to blame but ourselves when they do it wrong.

Worse than that, if we aren't part of the process we won't know it when the enviro fanatics slip in those horrible conditions like they did on the last one.

Vicki

10/4, attendance is vital then...Thanks SailAway.

Get there if you can duners, this is very very important for us...

It is important... it's an excellent chance to stand up and do something instead of just groaning from afar.

I live in Corona and would be happy to carpool if anyone's interested.

I'll be double-checking today to be sure of the schedule so we all know when it is most important to be there.

Vicki

I just verified that this is truly an "open house" type of meeting. There will be questions and answers and the BLM will be available from 3:00 to 8:00 to help us help them get funding for the ISDRA.

Vicki

Can you post an address with zip code.. I have no idea where this is..

Here you go Chummin: :o



Vicki

Okay, I've heard from a few people who are planning on going...

anyone else? I'll be leaving my office in Irvine between 1:00 and 1:30 but remember, you don't have to be there at 3:00. As long as you arrive before 8:00 you'll be helping.

Vicki

So Vicki, what happened? Please fill us in. THANKS!


LIVE FREE OR DIE!

(egad, this is a long one)

It was really a good meeting. Things didn't really get rolling until 4:00, but once they did, it was quite productive. There were about a dozen of "us", a handful of BLM guys and none of "them."

Neil Hamada, the Big Guy of the dunes, and his boss, the Big Guy of OHV recreation in California, did most of the talking with a little help from the guy who actually writes the requests for funding.

This meeting was about the money being sought from the OHMVR for FY2004. They started early this year because every year they get into a hole trying to finish them up and then there's no money going out. Hopefully this early start will bear fruit. But it wasn't just about that. We got a brief lesson on how the money situation sits all-around.

The ISDRA gets funding from several different sources and the OHMVR is only one. And although the OHMVR fund was never meant to completely support the ISDRA, merely to subsidize it, little by little other funding has been cut off leaving it mostly up to green sticker money. Kinda like the lottery and schools. And as with the lottery and schools, the people who handle the money start seeing the cash cow and little by little they choke off the original money source. So the people who are paying into the new fund are expecting great things from it but aren’t getting anything else for the extra money. The extra money is absorbed and the original funding is taken away proportionately.

THAT HAS TO STOP. I'm sorry to keep bringing up DUNERS, but one of the reasons the organization was started was to help make agencies, visitors and the general public see the real Glamis. No, I'm not talking about just the "family" or in-bed-at-9 atmosphere (we're not the morality police). I'm talking about the fun of Glamis -- ALL of the reasons people flock to our dunes. We're not trying to get more people to come out, but we want Glamis to get the respect it deserves. It is THE number one sand riding area in the United States (the world?) and yet funding has been decreased steadily for the dunes over the last 5 or so years (even though visitation has increased). Do you think that would happen in Yosemite? Yellowstone? ANY county park? No. But it's been allowed to happen here and we must put an end to it.

And please don't tell me it's not our job; I know that, but it really doesn't matter whose job it is when WE'RE LOSING. In a perfect world, the agencies would police themselves and all would be well. But it's not a perfect world and instead of complaining from the sidelines and still losing acre by acre (hey, I didn't break it so I'm not going to fix it), I'd much rather just do what it takes to get it done and at the same time help these "old school" agencies learn what it's like in the real world. Then when we're gaining ground they can take over. We have the opportunity and the power to control the future of Glamis and more importantly we have the love and passion that it will take so we have to be the ones to do it.

Okay, that's enough of the soapbox. Sorry. Back to the OHMVR.

There are new regulations (not yet in final form) coming out this year, some more constraining, but most are geared toward a more stream-lined way to get to our money. Once those are in final form we'll start holding workshops/meetings so get input from the true lovers of Glamis.

There was some talk about how we're going to make up for not getting all of this year's money, and we made it clear that we're anxious to work with the BLM to make it as painless as possible. Nothing has been decided yet in that regard, but rest assured we will be part of the process.

I have to say, along with the obvious political reasons for turning down the ISDRA grant, there were also some legitimate reasons mostly to do with (perceived or real?) inept handling of funding in the past. There has been, for the most part, little or no real accountability for this money and the gravy train has to stop sometime. Please understand that I'm not pointing a finger at the El Centro BLM... this inaccountability (unaccountability?) takes place across the board, from Forest Service to BLM to Parks & Rec. folk and it's not always the fault of the agency. They're so busy chasing down lawsuits that some things get sloppy.

But the greens play such a prominent role now and they are far less lenient and so in order to get the money the agencies must perform. Kinda like I do with my kids... no money on Saturday if the chores are not done.

Some DUNERS members (and some are non-members) are forming a team to work on the OHMVR funding issue. There are ways to get to that money and it’s not going to be as easy as it has been. But it can be done. So, if anyone is interested, we're doing a lot of talking away from public BBS areas because (wave to Dano) "they" love to spend their time reading our forums, but it doesn't mean we're just sitting idly by.

I've already heard from a bunch of you (check your e-mail by the way), but the more the merrier.

Vicki

Yeah...whatever she said!!

I was there. The BLM dudes gave us a lot of info. We asked a lot of questions. We got some answers. They laughed at my wisecracks. Vicki didn't tell me to shut up...yet!! >:< >:<

Thanks BIG TIME! I live so far out in the woods that it is almost imposible for me to attend these meetings! It's good to know that we have people like you on our side! THANKS AGAIN!


LIVE FREE OR DIE!