Arizona's Cinder Hills OHV Area Threatened

The National Park Service has released three proposals that threaten the Cinder Hills OHV area of Arizona. The proposals would expand the borders of Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon and Wupatki National Monuments into the Coconino National Forest and close your OHV areas permanently. All concerned users are urged to submit comments to the Park Service in writing or via e-mail before the December 28 deadline.

Urge the Park Service to preserve both our National Monuments and our OHV areas, not to sacrifice one for the sake of the other. Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon and Wupatki National Monument already strictly limit motorized use. The expansion of the parks borders would effectively be at the expense of the Cinder Hills OHV area, and would eliminate your riding opportunities in yet another previously available OHV facility.

For more information visit www.nps.gov/planning/flag/gmp/news3/flag2p10.htm. Comments can be mailed to:
Superintendent, Flagstaff Area National Monuments
Attn.: Sam Henderson
6400 N. Highway 89
Flagstaff, AZ. 86004

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California's OHV Areas Threatened

California off-highway enthusiasts have filed a petition with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the Pierson's Milk Vetch from the endangered species list.

The move was in response to actions by the US Bureau of Land Management to close portions of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.

The American Sand Association, San Diego Off-Road Coalition and the Off-Road Business Association filed the petition based on BLM and their own independent studies which show the Pierson's Milk Vetch is thriving.

The Pierson's Milk Vetch is a short-lived perennial with purple flowers. It grows up to 27 inches high and is found in the sand dunes of Imperial County.

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility sued the BLM to force the bureau to close 49,300 acres of the Imperial Sand Dunes to vehicles as a settlement with the environmental groups.

The bureau also ordered another 25,600 acres east of the Imperial Sand Dunes closed to camping. The closure is part of a settlement with the same environmental groups to protect desert tortoise habitat.

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The US Bureau of Land Management has issued orders temporarily closing various roads and trails to off-highway vehicles on public land in the California High Desert. The order, issued as part of a federal settlement between the bureau and three environmental groups, immediately closes various back roads in four subregions of the western Mojave Desert.

These roads, part of a network of off-road routes under study by the BLM, will be closed until the bureau consults with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, as required by the federal Endangered Species Act, and an interagency West Mojave wildlife conservation plan is completed, BLM spokesman Duran Sanchez said. For more information about these closures visit www.ca.blm.gov/cdd/lawsuit.html.

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Rhode Island Proposal of New Governing Rules for Motorized Recreation

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management is proposing the adoption of new rules governing state owned management areas that will further restrict motorized recreation opportunities. The proposed rules would ban motorcyclists from all single-track trails while restricting them to an 18 mile loop of dirt and tar roads. Additionally, the new regulations would require so much "red tape" cutting by special event promoters that organized races, trail rides and dual-sport runs are unlikely to continue. To learn more see the Statewatch section of AMADirectlink.com. To get involved contact local activist David Lynch at Lynch@IDS.net.

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Texas Senate Bill 2

Texas recently enacted Senate Bill 2, creating the Joint Committee on Water Resources. The Joint Committee is researching ways to protect the "natural conditions of beds and banks of state-owned watercourses". Though nothing has been finalized, Texas off-road vehicle enthusiasts are concerned that Committee recommendations may adversely impact motorized recreation. To read SB 2 or to contact the Joint Committee members see the Statewatch section of www.AMADirectlink.com.

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