The OHMVR Commission has submitted some new policies that will be talked about on April 29th in Sacramento. Yeah, I know it's a week day and I know it's a long way from here (gee, you think that's accidental?), but a huge showing of OHV enthusiasts would sure set the tone for the OHVMR season.

Go here to review the policies

Please read them and then ask questions or make comments.

Vicki

too bad it's a pdf file and we can't easily copy and paste paragraphs to discuss here. I wrote this one out by hand.

"PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

Priority will be given to appications exhibiting a willingness to involve a broad spectrum of interested parties. Applications should outline efforts to reach out and seek input from all interested publics, as well as, a demonstrated ability to gain support for the OHV, environmental, and local communities for all proposal activities."

This seems like an invitation to work together.


In reading the whole document, it seems to be aimed at mitigating the long-term and long-standing effects of OHV rec on the non-riding public. I believe that is the greatest need at the present time. The public's perception of OHV riders as nuisance and danger is the greatest threat to managing this recreation. I don't need to reiterate here the complaints of the public about riders and their impacts.

I stand ready to consult or cooperate on proposals to OHMVR for grants for the OHV community here at GD.

Two DUNERS board members will be in Sacramento on April 28th participating in the annual OHV lobby day events. I'm working on getting the next day off also, but my paying gig is getting a little restless with all my time off for my OHV work, so I may have to toe the line.

We have allies who will be attending though. Maybe we can put some general comments together to send along?

Vicki

[quote]I stand ready to consult or cooperate on proposals to OHMVR for grants for the OHV community here at GD.[/quote] :roll:

[quote]I stand ready to consult or cooperate on proposals to OHMVR for grants for the OHV community here at GD.[/quote]

HAHAHAHAHA! Please stop, It's killing me!

I read it...it's a joke. Spitler wants to set the grant system up so that if it isn't "green" it isn't gonna happen. There is not one single "amendment" that is not directly related to his personal agenda. A stringent code of ethics for the OHMVR committee members might go a long way towards stopping this crap.

Mitigation, my ass... :roll: :roll: Blackmail is more appropriate.

Hey Frankie, How's the weather been? :wink: Gotta love them greenies! :roll2:

[quote]STATE OF CALIFORNIA
OFF-HIGHWAY MOTOR VEHICLE RECREATION COMMISSION
PROPOSED POLICIES
For Local Assistance Grants and Cooperative Agreements
April 15, 2003
Preamble
The following proposed policies are presented for Commission consideration, public
comment, and adoption pursuant to the Commission’s role as established by Public
Resources Code section 5090.23. Section 5090.23 states as follows:
The commission shall establish policies for the general guidance of the
director and the division regarding all aspects of the system and the program.
Compliance with executive orders issued by President Richard Nixon (1972) and by
President Jimmy Carter (1977) in conjunction with current regulations will significantly
improve off-road vehicle recreation and management on federal lands. These orders
require federal land managers to designate legal off-highway vehicle (OHV) roads, trails
and areas, monitor the effects of motorized vehicles on soil, vegetation, watersheds,
wildlife, and cultural and historic resources, and to minimize environmental impacts and
conflicts with existing or proposed recreational uses, as well as, ensure compatibility in
populated areas.
The Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission (OHMVR Commission)
supports these goals for federal lands. The local assistance program will be used to assist
federal land managers in achieving these goals. Grants should supplement federal
appropriations, and should not be used as a surrogate for federal funding to carry out land
management responsibilities.
There have been significant changes in the California OHV program since the Off-
Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Act of 1988. The population of the State has
continued to grow at a rapid rate, with a result in increased demand for OHV riding areas,
and an increase in urban encroachment threatening existing OHV recreation opportunity.
The increased population along with demand for OHV recreation has created further
concern for the environment and the need for effectively managed areas and ecologically
balanced recreation programs.
The keys to successfully competing for a grant include, but are not limited to:
• Having a designated system of roads, trails and areas, or embracing the goals of
completing a designation process;
• Providing sufficient environmental documentation to sustain opportunity and
meet CEQA compliance;
• Restoration of permanently closed routes and damaged areas;
• Reopening of adequately repaired routes; closure of areas and trails should not be
used in place of sound management;
2
• Restricting cross-country travel of wheeled vehicles to designated roads, trails and
areas. Boundaries of open areas need to be clearly defined on user guide maps and
marked on the ground;
• Improving wildlife habitat protection and monitoring;
• Addressing and minimizing conflicts with residents, landowners, and nonmotorized
users to enhance and/or sustain OHV recreation opportunity;
• Protecting air and water quality; and
• Repair and maintenance of a system of routes designed to encourage and promote
responsible use while providing quality recreation for all OHV skill levels.
The OHMVR Commission, through the adoption of these proposed guiding policies,
seeks to: (1) inform and educate applicants in the importance of understanding these
issues and priorities, and (2) guide the director and the division in implementing the grant
program and its regulations. Consistent with Regulations sections 4970.16 (d) and
4970.17, the allocation of funding to grant applications and establishment of the funding
priority list for grants will be based on the applicant’s ability to apply in a manner that is
consistent with OHMVR Commission goals and priorities. Additionally, applicants
should support sound resource management and OHV recreation opportunities. The
higher priorities are identified in the policies set forth below.
Conservation
The top priorities for conservation grants are:
• Restoration of off route impacts to minimize and/or eliminate resource damage;
maintain the integrity of the routes, and prevent closure;
• Resource inventories and surveys to aid in the accomplishment of route
designation;
• Restoration of routes and areas that are causing significant resource damage;
• Monitoring and repair of existing resource damage and prevention of future
damage;
• Restoration of closed routes or damaged areas within inventoried roadless areas;
and
• Implementing appropriate measures to protect wildlife and cultural sites when
studies or monitoring indicate a route is having an adverse impact.
Recreational Opportunity
The priority for the OHMVR Commission is a balanced approach to restoration,
conservation, and law enforcement activities designed to protect the environment and
sustain OHV recreational opportunity. To obtain funding and support for enhancement of
opportunities or development, applicants should demonstrate a compelling need and
technical ability to maintain existing opportunities in a manner that exhibits sound
resource practices and care for the environment. Priority funding may be provided for the
following activities:
• Reduce dense trail networks and replace with a trail system designed to disperse
use and extend the distance between the recreational activity and urban interface
areas;
3
• Trails which have an educational or interpretive component;
• Destination trails and/or extended loop trails;
• Long distance motorized corridors designed with a minimum degree of challenge
for a heightened outdoor recreational and educational experience; and
• Reroute, where feasible alternatives exist, steep, poorly located and eroding trails.
Law Enforcement
The primary mission of law enforcement is the protection of life and property.
Furthermore, patrol efforts provide a visible presence with the intent to reduce crime and
achieve compliance with laws and regulations.
In addition to these primary duties, priority will be given to applications that:
• Provide sufficient patrol presence and signage to keep riders on legally designated
routes and/or within limited use or designated open areas;
• Have a high number of user contacts emphasizing environmental education, user
safety, and the ethics of responsible riding;
• Provide clear and informative route maps of the area at staging areas and
trailheads, as well as, during law enforcement contacts;
• Effectively enforce closed areas;
• Protect soils and watersheds; and
• Demonstrate the ability to adapt law enforcement efforts to the changing needs of
the area.
The OHMVR Commission supports grants for federal law enforcement activities. The
Commission recognizes the need for Forest Service Law Enforcement Officers, Forest
Protection Officers and BLM Law Enforcement Rangers to enforce various local, state
and federal laws and regulations.
Proper maintenance
Although the desire of the OHMVR Commission is to provide supplemental funds to
applicants, the priority is to applications demonstrating a willingness to provide highquality
OHV recreation while implementing sound environmental practices aimed at
sustaining OHV opportunity. Maintenance of roads and trails should be accomplished in
a manner that conserves soil, prevents erosion, protects water quality, reduces potential
resource damage, and sustains or enhances OHV recreation.
Education
To receive priority, applications containing an educational component should educate
current and future riders about the ethics of responsible riding, promote rider safety,
emphasize environmental knowledge and responsibility, and compliance with appropriate
laws and regulations.
4
Local grants
The OHMVR Commission will prioritize grants to local entities as follows:
• Sheriffs; especially in counties where OHV problems exist on private lands;
• Cities and counties to develop local OHV areas where they can control and
contain potential damage through intensive management and maintenance;
• Local entities that demonstrate an effort to work collaboratively with other
federal, state, and local agencies;
• Non-profit organizations to do restoration work; and
• Various local entities to work collaboratively with groups and other agencies to
conduct research to address resource and/or conflict issues.
Public Involvement
Priority will be given to applications exhibiting a willingness to involve a broad spectrum
of interested parties. Applications should outline efforts to reach out and seek input from
all interested publics, as well as, a demonstrated ability to gain support from the OHV,
environmental, and local communities for all proposed activities.
Urban Encroachment & OHV Compatibility
To receive priority funding, grant applications submitted should strive to reduce conflicts
with non-motorized recreationists, existing or proposed recreational uses, and to protect
residents, private property and landowners adjacent to the proposed area from noise,
trespass, and property damage.
Acquisition and non-motorized buffers
Priority funding will be granted for purchasing lands contributing to:
• Mitigation;
• Buffer needed to reduce the deleterious effects to OHV opportunity due to urban
encroachment;
• The preservation of existing and future OHV opportunity; and
• The protection of important habitat by providing contiguous lands.
Compliance, Development & Acquisition
To sustain long-term OHV use, applicants should strive to insure compliance with state
and/or federal laws, regulations, and/or policies. Areas out of compliance will be low
priority for development and acquisition funding. Exceptions may be made for
development or acquisition projects that demonstrate a direct affect on achieving
environmental compliance and protection, in addition to eliminating trespass and conflict,
and/or preventing closure of an area.
5
Specific Deliverables and Fiscal Accountability
Grant applicants that demonstrate fiscal accountability by producing a product at the end
of the grant period - such as a rehabilitated hillside, repaired routes, closure enforcement
and signs, or a route inventory – take precedence over those that cannot. Applicants
should insure all potential expenditures are accurately reflected in the project
deliverables.
Federal agency staffing
To fund higher priority projects, the OHMVR Commission will minimize funding for
federal administrative overhead. The OHMVR Commission will give low priority
funding for federal employees not directly involved in “on-the-ground” OHV
management, conservation, resource restoration, monitoring, or law enforcement.
Exceptions could be given in cases where coordination and oversight are required for
“on-the-ground” project deliverables. Federal staff engaged solely in facilities work or
administrative activities are in principal the responsibility of the federal agency to fund.
The following policies are directed toward the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation
Division activities to provide further clarification and guidance.
Reporting
For OHMVR Commission members to be better informed, the Off-Highway Motor
Vehicle Recreation Division (OHMVR Division) will provide quarterly reports to the
OHMVR Commission on the status of implementation of the local assistance program.
Reports will include summaries of grant expenditures, balances to date, results of field
reviews at federal and non-federal sites, and implementation of grant requirements.
Education
To sustain and enhance environmentally sound OHV recreation opportunities, the
OHMVR Division will implement a continuous campaign designed to reach out and
educate recreationists throughout the State about the OHV program, the benefits, and the
many recreational opportunities it provides.[/quote]

Not hard if you know how to use Adobe...
Simply select the "Text Select Tool" and highlight and copy!

Vor

I have a copy of the policies, all marked up, to take with me to Sacramento. You can bet we'll be talking about the OHMVR for sure!

Vicki

[quote]Simply select the "Text Select Tool" and highlight and copy![/quote]

thanks vor!

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I have to go to work today so I couldn't stay for the OHMVR Commission meeting in Sacramento today, where they'll be discussing the new policies.

Instead, I sent copies of my comments along with John Ellis and Roy Denner and between the two of them, they'll get heard

Vicki