Here is some info on the Eldorado National Forest, part of the Rubicon Trail, check out all the sites.
All
I want to compliment the organizers of this very well run event. I was in Reno at an NOHVCC Route Designation workshop, but the Eldorado is an issue near and dear to me personally as well as professionally, so Sunday I drove over to Placerville to check out the event. I got there about 12:20, and there were already several groups of protestors leaving the fairgrounds to head to protest locations.
At the fairgrounds gate, I was greeted by a couple of young volunteers who handed me a sheet with rules for the event, particularly guidelines on the actual protesting around the area. In the large open lawn area inside the gate, there were 30-40 4-wheel drive rigs surrounding the lawn, with an array of easy-ups and tables in a large semi-circle. First, there were sign-up tables for anyone who wanted to protest, with ID required. Then, another area assigned groups of 8-10 protestors to different areas around town and provided materials to make protest signs. There were also information stations, with maps and copies of the DEIS.
About a dozen locations were targeted, with most of the major traffic intersections in town targeted, and some freeway overpasses. For those of you who are not familiar with Placerville , Highway 50, the major road to South Lake Tahoe , has three stop lights in Placerville before it turns into a freeway, and on Sunday afternoons, the road is jammed with people returning from the forest, plus Lake Tahoe , so LOTS of people got to see the protest. As I left to head home to Idaho about 3 PM, it was very impressive to see groups of protestors at all of the intersections and overpasses. Everyone I saw was behaving themselves very well, and most were having fun and getting thumbs up and horn honking from the motorists.
I did get a chance to meet Marlon Allen and Amy Granat, and several of the other people who were involved with putting the event together. I wanted them to know that this is a very serious issue for ORBA and we will be using all of the political and legal resources to turn the DEIS around, and that we are already working with the other major OHV groups, who all feel the same way. The Eldorado is the first Forest to get this far in the Route Designation process, and it is a horrible precedent that can not be allowed to stand.
I also wanted to let everyone know that the Eldorado DEIS was a very hot topic at the NOHVCC workshop. Even other FS staff from adjacent forests thought the Eldorado was on the wrong track. It was also a topic of many discussions with the new FS National OHV Coordinator, Deidre St. Louis, who just took over this position a couple of weeks ago. The former FS National OHV Coordinator, Jerry Ingersoll, was also in attendance, and he is now the Deputy Forest Supervisor on the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest (all of Nevada ). With Jerry on the H-T, we know that they will follow the process appropriately instead of re-interpreting the guidelines the most restrictive way possible the way the Eldorado has.
This “grass roots†protest greatly strengthens the case about how serious the Eldorado problem is, and will hopefully help turn the political tide to the point the Eldorado will revise the DEIS significantly. We can always file appeals and even legal action, but our best chance is to get serious changes NOW, not after the plan is finalized, and this event helped the cause!!
THANK YOU to the organizers and everyone who participated!!!
Bill Dart
Director of Land Use
Off-Road Business Association
Western States Office
24944 Coventry Drive
Caldwell, ID 83607
(208) 459-3304 Office
(208) 241-7894 Cell
www.ORBA.biz
CONTACT: Marlon Allen
EMAIL:
info@ForestClosure.com
WEBSITE:
www.ForestClosure.com
Grass-Roots Demonstration against California Forest Closures
Public Responds Against Eldorado National Forest Road Closure Plans
PLACERVILLE, CA - August 26, 2007. Nearly 300 forest users gathered Sunday in Placerville to demonstrate on bridges and overpasses over Highway 50, catching the end-of-weekend rush hour of users leaving the Eldorado National Forest . With an overwhelmingly positive response from the passersby (thumbs-up, smiles, and waves), the message was 'Public Lands for Public Use.' More than a few drivers stopped to discuss, and some even drove to the demonstration staging area at the Placerville Fairgrounds to participate in letter writing, petition signing, or just to show support or to find more information about
www.ForestClosure.com and proposed road closures in the Forest .
The core of this grass roots demonstration was well-managed, law-abiding OHV users, but the alternatives discussed in the Draft Environmentail Impact Study affect all forest visitors, who stand to lose thousands of miles of roads and trails that access the Forest . Most every hunter, fisherman, and sportsman will be affected, as will casual camping and day users. Anyone who uses — or ever plans to use — Eldorado National Forest dirt roads and trails will suffer decreased access. With more than a quarter of the forest already inaccessible without an extensive hike through wilderness and semi-primitive areas, further closures of public lands make little sense.
Participants included a wide variety of forest visitors, with 4x4, ATV, and motorcycle users, as well as canoe, river raft, and rowboat users, and fishers, hikers, bikers, and horse-riders. Several area politicians stopped in to express support, and there were members of the press from Sacramento KCRA Channel 3, KXTV News10 and Fox 40 KTXL, as well as the Mountain Democrat and Sacramento Bee newspapers.
This grass roots gathering included members from a broad range of groups, including American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), California Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs (CA4WDC), California Enduro Riders Association (CERA), California Nevada Snowmobile Association (CNSA), California Off-Road Vehicle Association (CORVA), Central California Quad Riders (CCQR), Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR), and United Four Wheel Drive Associations (UFWDA).
For more information about this topic, please visit
www.ForestClosure.com or e-mail
info@ForestClosure.com
Geno