OPINION
Don Amador
Feb. 4, 2024
Email: damador@quietwarriorracing.com
OHV recreation in California is replete with seminal moments that have impacted motorized access to public lands for better or worse. Such key events include creation of the CA Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Program in 1971, passage of the 1994 CA Desert Protection Act, the complete overhaul of the CA OHV program via passage of SB 742 by the legislature in 2007, closure of the BLM’s Clear Creek OHV Area in 2009, and passage of the National Defense Authorization Act in 2014 that created the Johnson Valley Shared Use Area.
Marine Corps Representative Talks with CA OHV Commission
On a recent visit to the Johnson Valley OHV Area as part
of a CA OHMVR Commission Tour of the King of the Hammers off-road racing event,
I was again impressed by the strong partnership that exists between the Marine
Corps, BLM, State Parks, local law enforcement, OHV community, racing
promoters, powersports industry, and local businesses.
Over 15 years ago, many OHV grassroots groups got their memberships and elected officials engaged (circa 2008 – 2012) in the early planning process for the Combat expansion proposal that threatened to
permanently close all or part of the Johnson Valley OHV
Area to the public. Besides asking our
members to send letters, a strong coalition of OHV recreation groups sent in
the following position statement to the Marine planning team as listed below.
AMA D37 Dual Sport Club Attends March 2008 Scoping Meeting
California OHV Recreation Stakeholder Group
While we respect the need to train our troops, we believe the Marine Corps must clearly demonstrate a need for the expansion of the base. If such expansion is warranted then we support, in general, expansion in an eastward direction from the base.
Signed,
American Motorcyclist Association, American Motorcyclist
Association District 36, American Motorcyclist
Association District 37 Competition, American Motorcyclist Association District
37 Dual Sport, American Sand Association, Blue Ribbon Coalition, California
Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs, California Off Road Vehicle Association,
California Trail Users Coalition, Friends of Giant Rock, Friends of Johnson
Valley, High Desert Multiple Use Coalition, Off Road Business Association,
Partnership For Johnson Valley, and San Diego Off-Road Coalition.
For those who ask why they should be involved in, or support, government
relations, volunteerism, and building partnerships, I believe this issue provides
the rationale for that engagement.
Marine Map of Johnson Valley Shared Use Area
The thousands of comment letters sent in by the
OHV community to the planning process and elected officials combined with the
hard work by your OHV advocacy corps back in the day is why millions of
motorized recreation enthusiasts continue to enjoy use of public lands at
Johnson Valley and elsewhere in CA and the West. And, is why their presence – and member participation/support
- continues to help preserve and protect access to sustainable OHV recreation for
current and future generations.
# # #
Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation management
profession for over 33 years. Don writes from his home in Cottonwood, CA. Don is President of Quiet Warrior Racing LLC.
Don serves as the Western States Representative for the Motorcycle Industry
Council. Don is Past President/CEO and current board member of the Post
Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance. Don served as a contractor to the BlueRibbon
Coalition from 1996 until June, 2018. 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 served as the government affairs lead for
AMA District 36 in Northern California from 2019 – 2023. Don is a Core-Team
member on FireScape Mendocino. Don is a
contributor to Dealernews Magazine.
