FIGHT AHEAD - Newsom EO Vehicle Ban is Counterproductive

Long Distance Remote Backcountry Exploration at Risk from EO

OPINION

By Don Amador

September 28, 2020

 

FIGHT AHEAD -  NEWSOM ORDER BANNING GAS POWERED VEHICLES IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

 Fighting for our rights is nothing new for many of us that work in the field of recreation advocacy and/or resource management.  Over the last 7 months, we have experienced a plethora of executive orders issued by local and state government officials in response to both the COVID and wildfire crisis. Some of these emergency directives have made sense to either streamline the regulatory process to expedite fuel reduction projects, meet critical electrical power demand, or protect public safety.

Electric OHV Trail Sign

 Unfortunately, it appears that some of these executive order-prohibitions have infringed on our Constitutional rights of freedom of assembly or freedom of speech.   And, have created a culture of management by executive orders often with little or no debate in the public arena.

 By now, many of you have expressed legitimate concerns about the recent climate crisis inspired Executive Order (EO) issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom that proposes to ban the sale and use of gasoline-powered OHVs and passenger cars/trucks. The main tenets of that EO are listed below:

 1 - It shall be a goal of the State that 100 percent of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks will be zero-emission by 2035. It shall be a further goal of the State that 100 percent of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the State be zero-emission by 2045 for all operations where feasible and by 2035 for drayage trucks. It shall be further a goal of the State to transition to 100 percent zero-emission off-road vehicles and equipment by 2035 where feasible.

 2 -  The State Air Resources Board, to the extent consistent with State and federal law, shall develop and propose:

 a) Passenger vehicle and truck regulations requiring increasing volumes of new zero-emission vehicles sold in the State towards the target of 100 percent of in-state sales by 2035.

 b) Medium- and heavy-duty vehicle regulations requiring increasing volumes of new zero-emission trucks and buses sold and operated in the State towards the target of 100 percent of the fleet transitioning to zero-emission vehicles by 2045 everywhere feasible and for all drayage trucks to be zero emission by 2035.

 c) Strategies, in coordination with other State agencies, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and local air districts, to achieve 100 percent zero-emission from off-road vehicles and equipment operations in the State by 2035. In implementing this Paragraph, the State Air Resources Board shall act consistently with technological feasibility and cost-effectiveness.

 However well-intentioned this EO is – I believe it ignores, disrespects, and damages the ongoing and robust collaborative process that has been occurring between diverse interest groups from motorized/non-motorized recreation, land agencies, industry, business, and other stakeholders to address and solve many of our public land management and resource issues.

Don on e-MTB on OHV Trail

The shift to electric passenger cars and OHVs is already taking place.  Many state parks and other land management agencies have added electric vehicles to their fleet in appropriate areas.  OHV manufacturers are making electric dirt-bikes, mountain bikes, youth OHVs, SxSs, and dual-sport motorcycles and a growing number of customers are buying them.

 Forest health collaboratives and their members are working to address fuel loading on our forest and grasslands.   Often these projects are funded by the state Climate Change Investment grant program.  Good things are happening!

 Executive Orders have a role to address an immediate and specific emergency when there is not enough time to address said issue through the legislative process.  

 It’s my concern that a significant number of users and other constituents who vehemently oppose this EO will now be forced to abandon the aforementioned collaborative efforts to band together to fight a plan that is an affront our culture and highly treasured way of life.

 LINK TO NEWSOM EO

https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/9.23.20-EO-N-79-20-text.pdf

 LINK TO WHAT CARB CONSIDERS OFF-ROAD VEHICLES

https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/offroad.htm

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Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation management profession for almost 30 years. Don is President of Quiet Warrior Racing, a recreation consulting company. Don is President/CEO of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance, a non-profit post fire recovery organization. Don is Core-Team Lead for FireScape Mendocino, a forest health collaborative. Don served on the California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission from 1994-2000. He has won numerous awards including being a 2016 Inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame and the 2018 Friend of the AMA Award. Don currently serves as the government affairs lead for AMA District 36 in Northern California and also serves as the OHV representative on the BLM’s Central California Resource Advisory Committee.  Don is a contributor to Dealernews Magazine.  Don may be reached via email at: damador@quietwarriorracing.com

  

 

 

 

 

COMMON SENSE STRATEGY TO ADDRESS FOREST FUELS

Ridgetop/Roadside Fuel Break along M5 

Mendocino National Forest

(Photo taken one year after the 2018 Ranch Fire)

*This is article #1 in a series of pro-active common sense wildfire-related forest health management prescriptions ranging from shaded fuel breaks to biomass power plants sited in close proximity to fuel reduction or post-fire salvage projects.

OPINION

By Don Amador

September 15, 2020

COMMON SENSE STRATEGY TO ADDRESS FOREST FUELS

  The numerous mega wildfires that continue their devastating march across the landscape in California, Oregon, and Washington highlight the need for enhanced collaborative efforts between  land agencies, recreationists,  property owners, and elected officials to plan for and implement common sense cost-effective “low-hanging fruit” forest health, fuel reduction, and post fire recovery projects.

Shaded Fuelbreak Info Sign along Highway 88 Corridor

Eldorado National Forest

I believe the wildfires currently burning this season have not been caused by any one person, specific agency, or group.   Rather, they are the collective result of a decades-in-the-making firestorm of a well-intentioned but misguided fire suppression policy, analysis paralysis, lack of capacity, and litigation.

 

Based on my experience in resource and recreation management, I believe we should focus on common sense and effective forest health projects starting with roadside or ridgetop shaded fuel breaks where a crown fire will drop down – given the right conditions - to the ground and pass through with less severity.

 

Shaded Fuelbreak Along Highway 88 Corridor 

Eldorado National Forest

The objective of a shaded fuel break is to reduce, modify, and manage fuels within designated areas in order to enhance mitigation efforts in the event of a wildland fire situation. A shaded fuel break does not remove all vegetation in a given area.

These shaded fuel breaks can provide wildlife with important post-fire food and shelter.   These projects can also protect system trails, developed facilities, cultural sites, and dispersed camping or day-use opportunities.  Armoring recreation assets makes good sense and is a wise investment for current and future generations.

Also, local agencies such as the Fire Safe of San Mateo County supports creation of shaded fuel breaks that are placed in strategic locations along a ridge, access road, or other location such as around a subdivision.

Fire Safe San Mateo County Shaded Fuel Break Program

http://www.firesafesanmateo.org/resources/shaded-fuel-breaks

It’s hard to focus on future solutions while deadly megafires continue to torch millions of acres of public and private lands in the West, but working with our partners in a proactive manner and making a commitment to be part of the solution at this time is smart and the right thing to do.

 

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WILDFIRES CATALYST FOR CHANGE?

Mechanical Fuel Project

OPINION

By Don Amador

Date: Sept. 12, 2020

WILDFIRES CATALYST FOR CHANGE

It seems right now that everything is upside down.   Growing up in Northern California in the 60s/70s, there were busy timber towns that employed a lot of people with well-paying jobs - I know because I worked in one of them.  Now many of those communities are ghost towns that are surrounded by federal timber land where the trees, wildlife, and property owners have been – or are waiting - for one of the current wildfires to burn them out.

 Outdoor enthusiasts who have had their homes destroyed or a forest closed to all public access by the ongoing firestorm now have a better understanding of just how important forest health fuel projects - such as logging, mastication, prescribed fire, or fuel breaks - are as active management tools to help protect recreation facilities and other structures from intense uncontrolled wildfires that burn mostly in the summer and early fall.

Many of the same regulatory agencies such as EPA and CA Air Resources Board that govern vehicle engine emissions also have regulations that, for the most part,  functionally eliminate  the meaningful use of prescribed fire  to address excessive fuel loading on Forest Service, BLM, state, and private lands.

 While there has been some movement by state and federal government officials to support and fund mechanical forest health fuel projects in the West, many of those efforts are often blocked due to political opposition or litigation.

  As some of you know, I serve as a volunteer on a Forest Health Collaborative in Northern California in an effort to try and find common ground with other stakeholders on fuel projects that could help reduce the threat of uncontrolled intense wildfires.

 It’s my hope that I live long enough to see some common sense brought back into the environmental equation.  Maybe the deadly 2020 Wildfire Season will be that catalyst to help increase the pace and scale of important resource management and fuel reduction projects. 

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Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation management profession for almost 30 years. Don is President of Quiet Warrior Racing, a recreation consulting company. Don is President/CEO of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance, a non-profit post fire recovery organization. Don is Core-Team Lead for FireScape Mendocino, a forest health collaborative.  Don is also a member of the CA Northern Regional Prioritization Group that is made up of state, local, tribal and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations and is tasked with strategically prioritizing prescribed fire, forest health, and fuel reduction projects for funding consideration by the Forest Management Task Force. Don served on the California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission from 1994-2000. He has won numerous awards including being a 2016 Inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame and the 2018 Friend of the AMA Award. Don currently serves as the government affairs lead for AMA District 36 in Northern California and also serves as the OHV representative on the BLM’s Central California Resource Advisory Committee.  Don is a contributor to Dealernews Magazine.  Don may be reached via email at: damador@quietwarriorracing.com