Having just returned back to the office from the California
State Park Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Commission meeting held in the
Mammoth Lakes area of the Eastern Sierra, QWR wanted to share with you the
recent edition of The Catalyst, the newsletter for the Interpretation of
California State Parks.
This issue covers a lot of exciting activities in the CA
State Park System including “Earthsnorkeling,” interpretive geocaching, storm
water management, junior lifeguards, access for Wounded Warriors, and
partnerships.
Vol. 16, No. 1 – The Catalyst
QWR’s, Don Amador, wrote the following “partnership” article
for the issue and it can be found on page 20.
Please feel free to check out The Catalyst and share it with your
friends.
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Maybe the single most important factor in modern OHV
recreation is the use of diverse partnerships as a synergistic force multiplier
when it comes to the management of motorized use on designated roads, trails,
and riding areas.
New Sign Installed by Volunteers in Partnership with
the BLM's Bishop Field Office and OHMVRD
Today, partnerships are a core element of any successful
local, state, or federal OHV program. In
2015, OHV management is not just about getting a few riders together to build a
trail. Rather, it is a holistic approach
on a site level that addresses diverse trail-related projects, including forest
health, soil loss, water quality, education, law enforcement, fuel reduction,
signing, trail maintenance, trail construction or reconstruction, and habitat
restoration.
Local Conservation Group works on Restoration Project to Enhance
Watershed Protection at Popular OHV Campground on Inyo National Forest
The Power Sports Industry has stepped up to the plate
with grant programs such as the Motorcycle
Industry Council’s RightRider Access Fund, Yamaha’s OHV
Access Initiative Grant Program, and the Polaris T.R.A.I.L.S. Grant Program.
Many states have an OHV grant program to help support the
efforts of local and federal land agencies to offer the public high-quality and
environmentally sound OHV recreational opportunities.
For example, California State Park’s OHMVR Division has a
grant program that supports county and federal OHV recreation programs throughout
the state. Those funds go to help with trail maintenance, trail construction,
soil loss mitigation, habitat restoration, law enforcement, and safety education.
OHV recreation on public lands has evolved into a highly
complex and diverse, partnership-related
“systems approach” concept. It is important to highlight
those partnerships to illustrate the evolution of managed motorized trail
opportunities. Recently, I was privileged to do an area review of just such an
effort.
The Western Shasta Resource Conservation District (RCD) and
the Bureau of Land Management recently entered into a ten-year stewardship agreement
to cooperatively manage the Chappie-Shasta OHV Area. RCD and the BLM are
focused on projects related to road and trail maintenance, forest health
improvement, fuel reduction, education and outreach and other efforts. For example,
trail-armoring projects are being implemented because of this partnership.
OHV "Partnership" Bridge Installed to Protect Watershed
at BLM's Chappie-Shasta OHV Area
The aforementioned RCD/BLM agreement acts as a force
multiplier when combined with this
unit’s long-standing partnership with California’s OHMVR
Division and Commission.
This is a good case study of how a comprehensive “many-hands/partners”
approach to OHV trail and
resource management is working in a synergistic manner to
protect our natural environment
while providing high-quality motorized trail opportunities.
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