OPINION
Don Amador
November 5, 2020
PUBLIC LAND PARADIGM SHIFT SECURES A NEW OHV AREA
As the recreation community anxiously awaits the results of
the 2020 Presidential Election, I want to share an article published by the
American Motorcyclist Association that gives the backstory on how the BLM was
able to acquire a 1,300 acre ranch that will be used to provide enhanced staging,
camping, and riding opportunities at the Cow Mountain OHV Recreation Area near
Ukiah, California.
The article highlights the herculean 15-year collaborative
effort by pro-recreation agency leads and private sector advocates at the
local, state, and federal levels to purchase a private ranch from a willing
seller using monies from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and a grant from
the California OHV Program.
LINK TO ARTICLE (Permission to share was granted by the
AMA)
https://magazine.americanmotorcyclist.com/13110/how-the-cow-mountain-recreation-area-deal-went-down/
One additional factor to the success of this project - that
was not specifically noted in the article - is the growing partnership between
the non-motorized and motorized recreation communities over the last 20 years to
find common ground and embrace shared values in support of sustainable trail opportunities
on public lands.
That paradigm shift in collaboration between diverse
interest groups combined with ever growing bipartisan support for sustainable
recreation on public lands helps chart a positive future for access to public
lands regardless of who is in office.
Feel free to post comments on the blog site or send a
comment to Don Amador at – damador@quietwarriorracing.com
Cow Mtn. OHV Area would never have happened if folks like Stan Whitmarsh, Brian Klock, Lee Chauvet and John Barns. All who have long since moved on, passed on or retired. They all gave me the encouragement to write the Cow Mtn. OHV Plan and the first OHMVR State grant that got it all started. in 1981
ReplyDeleteAs stated, history of efforts are shown in the years and decades to secure land for legal OHV recreation. Kudos to all involved in this process over MANY years to secure this specific property. Dave Pickett
ReplyDelete