Gabions as Sign Posts - Common Sense and Creativity

QWR is always looking for low-cost and effective travel management tools that can help protect resources while providing for a quality recreation experience.

On a recent field trip to the Upper Lake Ranger District on the Mendocino National Forest, QWR viewed a new use for gabions.  Forest Service recreation staff are using those structures as sign posts to help let riders know what areas are closed because of resource concerns.

Trail users have often seen gabion baskets (wire mesh baskets filled with rock) used along routes in popular riding areas. They can provide erosion control for road bank stabilization or OHV trail crossings.  They are easy to assemble and nearby rock is used to fill the basket.

The use of gabions as natural sign posts at the Middle Creek OHV Campground is a good example of

agency staff using common sense and creativity to help direct riders away from protected areas on the gravel bar. 

Fee Reductions in So Cal Forest OHV Areas

As some of you know, my last meeting as a member (representing summer motorized) of the California Recreation Resource Advisory Commitee (R-RAC) was held at the San Bernardino National Forest’s main office on January 15 – 16.

The purpose of the public meeting was for the R-RAC to review various proposals from the Angeles National Forest, Cleveland National Forest, Los Padres National Forest, and the San Bernardino National Forest to eliminate many standard amenity recreation fee areas, including OHV areas.  Some of those OHV areas include Ballinger OHV Area, Corral Canyon OHV Area, Rower Flats OHV Area, and Wildomar OHV Area.

Fee Area Reduced to Just the Main Staging Site

In the late 1990s, these 4 southern California Forests, under a fee demo project, created a new concept called the Adventure Pass where the public would be charged a fee if they stopped and used any part of the Forest.   Many stakeholders felt this program was difficult to administer and enforce.

These proposals seek to remove that fee requirement for area use and shrink the fees charged to specific campgrounds, sites, or specially zoned areas.

I believe these plans will help make the fee program on the 4 So Cal Forests more consistent with what other Forests are charging. 

As I look back over the last 5 years of serving on the R-RAC,  I believe the agency is doing a much better job today of communicating with stakeholder groups including local and federally elected officials.  It is that dynamic communication and related oversight that will be important to ensure that fees collected are used for on-the-ground public services that benefit both the user and the resource.

Recreation Fee Meeting in San Bernardino on Jan. 15-16

As the end of my term on the Region 5 Recreation Resource Advisory Committee (RRAC) approaches, I wanted to thank all of you who participated in the public process associated with the committee’s work to review fee programs and projects on Forest Service and BLM lands.

The RRAC has a public hearing scheduled for January 15 – 16, 2014 at the following location:

San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor’s Office

602 S. Tippecanoe Avenue

San Bernardino, CA

Teleconference number: 888-285-4585 Participant Code: 828106

Link to the Agenda and Proposed Fee Projects

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/recreation/racs/?cid=stelprdb5444303

It has been a privilege to represent summer motorized recreation on this committee.  I also want to express my thanks to the agency staff and other members of the committee for their dedication and friendship.

Even though I will be stepping down from this appointment due to term limits, rest assured that I will continue to champion responsible OHV use on public lands in other venues and support common sense user fee programs where the agency is accountable for the monies collected.  And, where those fees stay on the unit and are used for “on-the-ground” public services.

Post-Fire Travel Management Tools and Purchasing a Dual-Sport Top 2013 List

As QWR prepares for another busy year in advocacy for responsible OHV recreation, it wanted to look back at the two issues in 2013 that generated the most hits/interest by our readership.

It should come as no surprise that our Post Fire Travel Management Tools (Sept. 25) and Tips for Purchasing a Dual-Sport Motorcycle (July 9) articles were at the top of the list.

Post-fire rehabilitation of destination OHV areas on Forest Service lands requires a lot dedication, determination, and dollars/labor.  Both the 2012 Mill Fire and the 2013 Rim Fire highlighted just how catastrophic wildfires can impact recreational access to public lands.  The fires also illustrated the need for an invigorated forest management program that includes prescribed burning and timber thinning projects.

In the late 1990s, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) determined that it was illegal to register off-highway motorcycles for street use unless they were CARB or EPA certified for highway use.  Today, the dual-sport enthusiast has only two legal options in the State of California.  One, they can purchase a street-legal dual-sport that came from the factory as such.  Or, they can purchase a used “Green-Sticker” off-highway motorcycle that was purchased new by December 31, 2003 and where the owner had initiated its dual-sport conversion with the DMV no later than January 31, 2004.

Travel management and other land-use restrictions has increased the demand for street-legal dual-sport motorcycles so that riders can connect various trail networks that are separated by paved roads where non-street legal motorcycles are prohibited.

QWR believes that 2014 holds significant opportunities to champion responsible OHV use on public lands, but it will require a joint effort by recreation professionals, industry, grassroots leaders, elected officials, and agency staff to find solutions to the regulatory challenges that face our sport.

Post Fire Travel Management Tools

http://quietwarriorracing.blogspot.com/2013/09/post-fire-travel-management-tools-trail.html

Tips for Purchasing a Dual-Sport Motorcycle

http://quietwarriorracing.blogspot.com/2013/07/qwr-trail-tip-for-ca-purchasing-dual.html

# # #

Trail Highlights at Christmas - It's a Team Effort

Trail Santa at QWR with 2014 Trail Workshop Kawasaki Teryx

As 2013 comes to a close, I want to just express my heartfelt thanks to my colleagues in the OHV community.  Those extended family members include OHV clubs, land management agencies, user groups, industry, dealers, media, aftermarket, legislators, and conservation organizations.

This year certainly has had its challenges, but for today, I want to highlight some of our collective (team effort) positive accomplishments in 2013.

Old trails that have been overgrown and unused are being reopened for OHV use in some areas using modern trail reconstruction techniques to address soil erosion and protect water quality.

New Companion Trail at BLM's Chappie-Shasta OHV Area 

Some units are securing OHV corridors for more looped opportunities.  These efforts are important for both casual use and permitted events.

New Bypass for OHV Corridor on Mendocino NF

Land agency line-officers are taking time to come out in the field to better understand their managed OHV recreation programs.  This is a good trend and QWR hopes to help facilitate more field-oriented trail workshops and outreach programs with our county, state, and federal partners in 2014.

Regional Forester Inspects Trail Armor Project

OHMVRD Dep. Director, Chris Conlin, Takes Dirt Bike School Class

at 2013 Trail Workshop (Chris is on Blue Yamaha TTR230)

QWR is also thankful for agency efforts to continue motorized access to some of our beaches on the North Coast of California.  Those wave-slope opportunities are a highly valued treasure to local recreationists and tourists who want a coastal beach experience.

OHV Access to South Jetty at Humboldt Bay

Volunteer projects are an important part of OHV management and those partnerships between user groups and agency staff create value to the resource and instill a sense of pride and ownership for the participants.

Post Mill Fire Trail Rehab 

As many of you prepare to enjoy some time with family and friends, QWR wants to once again say thank you to all members of the OHV community that we have had the pleasure to work with and serve in 2013.

Systems Approach is Force Multiplier to OHV Management

RCD/BLM Trail Armor Project

Over the last 40 years, management of OHV recreation on public lands has evolved into a highly complex and diverse “systems approach” concept that is often at the core of successful programs.  QWR believes it is important to highlight those partnerships in order to illustrate the evolution of managed motorized trail opportunities.

Last week, QWR was privileged to do an area review of just such an effort at BLM’s Chappie-Shasta OHV Area near Redding, California.   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 Off-Highway Vehicle Area.

RCD/BLM Agreement

http://www.westernshastarcd.org/BLM_interlakes_stewardship_agreement.html

RCD and the BLM will focus on projects related to road and trail maintenance, forest health improvement, fuel reduction, education and outreach and other efforts.  For example, trail armoring projects - as the result of this partnership - are being implemented.

This collaborative effort with the support from the Yamaha OHV Access Initiative Grant Program is also in the middle of an OHV staging area enhance project to remove invasive plants that are impacting access and use of the facility.

RCD/Yamaha OHV Access Initiative Enhancement Project

Yamaha OHV Access Initiative Grant Program

http://www.yamahamotorsports.com/outdoor/ohv_grants/ohv_grants_home.aspx

The aforementioned RCD/BLM agreement acts as a force multiplier when combined with this unit’s long-standing partnership with California’s Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division and Commission.

CA OHV Grant Funded OHV Bridge to Protect Watershed

This is a good case study of how a comprehensive “many-hands/partners” systems 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.

# # # 

2013 Ranger Ride - Trail Management, Partnerships, and Collaboration

QWR's Don Amador Tries Out DirtBike School Course at Event

QWR believes there is no substitution for OHV-related on-the-ground training for land managers and recreation professionals.  How can a decision-maker manage an activity they don’t understand? That strong belief is why QWR teamed up with the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC) this year to host the 2013 Ranger Ride and OHV Campout.     The event was based on a very successful series of such field conferences held during the 1990s.

OHMVRD Dep. Dir., Chris Conlin (on TTR230), Stops for Instructor

Although the shutdown prevented a number of historic event participants such as Trails Unlimited from attending, the Ride saw representatives from the Forest Service, BLM, California Conservation Corps, and the California OHV Program.   The trail workshop was held on October 29 – November 1 at the Stonyford OHV Area on the Mendocino National Forest.

DirtBike School Classroom Instruction

The event kicked off with MSF’s  DirtBike School.  Paul Hart, a certified DirtBike School coach and OHV program manager for the Shasta Trinity National Forest, taught this one-day hands-on training session to agency students from the Forest Service, BLM, California Conservation Corps, and the California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division (OHMVRD).  Students learned basic riding skills, trail ethics, and environmental responsibility.

DirtBike School Students Prep for Post-Graduation Trail Ride

After graduation from the course, students took part in several days of trail riding where they could polish up on their newly acquired skills.

Tahoe NF's Trail Lead, Joe Chavez, on 80 Mile Trail Ride/Review 

of OHV Management on Grindstone and Upper Lake Ranger Districts

A foundational component of these Ranger Rides is the fostering of discussion and debate related to management of OHV recreation on public lands.  Trail rides, resource tours, and campfire chats are designed to highlight important current and/or evolving management concepts. 

Mendocino NF's Forest Supervisor, Sherry Tune, Takes 1st Ever OHV Ride

Review Includes Post-Mill Fire Trail Rehab

Topics covered at this event included construction of companion trails, the value of green-sticker connector trails or mixed-use routes/corridors, new streamlined NEPA process for OHV-related watershed-based restoration projects, traditional rolling dips vs. new “tabletop” erosion control structures, hand maintained single-track trails vs. machine groomed routes,  the need to train dozer operators in the proper construction of rolling dips, creation/management of SxS-oriented routes, collaboration between stakeholders, volunteer programs, post-fire road and trail repairs/management, and many other subjects.

California Conservation Corps Review of Trail Management Structures

QWR wants to commend Region 5 for sending their trails coordinator out to the event to show support for these types of field workshops.   The Forest Supervisor for the Mendocino National Forest also attended and took her 1^st ride in an OHV.  Leadership and key personnel from other units including the Shasta Trinity National Forest, California Conservation Corps, Tahoe National Forest, BLM’s Redding Field Office, and OHMVRD were there as well.  

QWR and our Sound Trails Initiative want to thank our partners and sponsors for their ongoing generous support of our efforts to champion responsible OHV recreation on public lands.  We could not do this without your help.  QWR also wants to thank RK/Excel for their support at this event for the public land volunteers who donate their personal time to help maintain our trail systems.

Stay tuned for updates as plans are already in the works for the 2014 Ranger Ride and OHV Campout.