The Shasta-Trinity National Forest, near Redding, offers some fine rally roads. The Bureau of Land Management, under the Secretary of the Interior, and the U.S. Forest Service, under the Secretary of Agriculture, control different areas of the forest. BLM is receptive to performance rallies, but the Forest Service is not.
There are two bills in congress that would transfer jurisdiction of the Forest Service areas to the BLM. The house bill is H.R. 689 sponsored by Representative Wally Herger and the senate bill is S.1328 sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein and cosponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer. Go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ and search for H.R.689 and S.1328 for the full text.
I urge you to contact your Congressional Representative and Senators and express your support for H.R. 689 and S.1328.
I am leaving from WI today for a road trip to Northern California and the Shasta-trinity. Interesting information on a random place I have never thought about before in my life but came up twice today.
The FS is not receptive? LSPR has used some of the Ottawa NF roads and has for years, so I dont know that there is any specific legislation preventing the NF road use. I also could be wrong. I would be interested to see what happens here.
Oh yes there is...look what happen to Rim of the World. National Forest will allow motorsports IF the roads are county roads. Rim was forestry roads and they found a way to finally not renew the permit back in 2005...if the NF in other areas/regions still allows speed events then it will not be too long there will be changes... slowly but surely the legislation is changing thoughout USA.
If you get permitted county or BLM roads and those federal/county agencies are receptive to allow events. These agencies must do road surveys and must consult with a biologist. SHIPO reports also have to be done. If all comes back positive then you will not have problems with permits and it will get easier not unless the D.C. guys come up with another new set of rules. But not all agencies want to be so receptive. It is easier to say no then have to go out and do reports, etc when these agencies are down to 4 days a week or budget strapped and enough paper load on them now.
STPR has had problems with State Forest roads and they had to make changes and re-route that event. That organization found a way to work with Waste Management to use other type of roads which that company was a God-Send to STPR. They had to work hard on keeping certain outside roads besides Waste Management roads. Kudos to the organizers.
Liability is the big concern amongst the agencies as well these days; along with environmental reasons. Which means reports have to be conducted these days in order for permits to be handed out...I know I have to have a SHIPO report conducted each year and have a Biologist to review our roads on the Arizona side and BLM permits if all of the conditions are correct on their portion and on the federal land (military) portion for Desert Storm.
But it all depends on the state, counties, etc...but like Jim said..there is a new directive going on coming down from Washington D.C. Which means national forest and public lands need to give up some land and roads to renewable energy and to protect Species Act.
In Clark County, Nevada which has pratically the most permitted road use motorsport events in one particular area in the country. The new directive is no events for three months out of a year to make sure the desert tortose when very active is not bothered by any high speed events. So all of the events have to re-schedule for 2011 on how they want their events to run and the BLM is asking they have their events run at night. Which Seed 9 rally is already running at nights and complying to the new rules.
This meeting happen about a month ago in Clark County which State agencies, Nevada Tourism, etc were at this meeting with every series organization was at this meeting that uses the BLM land in the area were learning the new procedures to get permited in the future. This meeting went on for over three hours and quite a few organizers from different series disciplines were not too happy and expressed their concern.
So you might appreciate what you see now on all of the events and support them as much as you can...because new legislation is going to put some headaches to organizers (if not already) down the road if they use any federal agency roads/land for high speed events....there will be new rules to play by in the future.
RallyHippy: Check out trails, 1, 2, 3 and 27, and let us know what you think. I see national potential there.
Denise: Excellent comments. Thank you for your input. How do you find time for this stuff while putting the finishing touches on Desert Storm?
I have formal “no thanks” letters from the U.S. Forest Service (Mendocino Forest) the U.S. Army (Fort Hunter Liggett) and private industry (Humboldt Redwood Company). The only folks I have found in Northern California that will consider a performance rally are the people at the Bureau of Land Management.
An off-road motorcycle group in Redding got tired of having to deal with both the BLM, which usually said “yes” and the FS, which usually said “no” to their motocross events. The group contacted Representative Herger and requested he sponsor a bill transferring administrative jurisdiction of the FS sections of the Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway-Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Area to the BLM. The result is H.R. 689. The two California Senators, Feinstein and Boxer, are behind the Senate version, S.1328.
What a strange sport this is. All I wanted to do was play in the dirt, and now I find myself promoting special interest causes to members of congress.
RallyHippy: Check out trails, 1, 2, 3 and 27, and let us know what you think. I see national potential there.
Denise: Excellent comments. Thank you for your input. How do you find time for this stuff while putting the finishing touches on Desert Storm?
I have formal “no thanks” letters from the U.S. Forest Service (Mendocino Forest) the U.S. Army (Fort Hunter Liggett) and private industry (Humboldt Redwood Company). The only folks I have found in Northern California that will consider a performance rally are the people at the Bureau of Land Management.
An off-road motorcycle group in Redding got tired of having to deal with both the BLM, which usually said “yes” and the FS, which usually said “no” to their motocross events. The group contacted Representative Herger and requested he sponsor a bill transferring administrative jurisdiction of the FS sections of the Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway-Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Area to the BLM. The result is H.R. 689. The two California Senators, Feinstein and Boxer, are behind the Senate version, S.1328.
What a strange sport this is. All I wanted to do was play in the dirt, and now I find myself promoting special interest causes to members of congress.
I multi-task while washing the dishes at home and make up maps for the event while making dinner for Pat and oh I do go to work early in the morning and then come home to my load fill house of paperwork and equipment ready for Desert Storm..hahahahaha
Yes....there is a off-road forum that I am a member of and they are really up in arms and are VERY political. I just got a letter from one of the off-road series directors to ask ALL motorsport enthusiasts to write letters to state government concerning taking away ALL OHV land in a certain area in Barstow, Ca. area for loads of windmill farms and another solar panel farm.
I would pursue what you do have at the moment and see what happens. The only thing that can hurt is the answer "no."
Do we have a canned letter of support for these bills?
Turns out my representative sits on the House subcomittee on the management of national parks, forests, and public lands. Plus, I'd like to get something brewing in the national forest that's VERY close to my house here in Charleston, SC.
Any canned letter would be appreciated. I'd be glad to deliver it to my rep's office here in Charleston and discuss with him if there is time on his part.
I am leaving from WI today for a road trip to Northern California and the Shasta-trinity. Interesting information on a random place I have never thought about before in my life but came up twice today.
Hey Paul,
When exactly are you going to be out here? We have regular rallyista meets in the Bay Area. Beers'n'babble. The next one's not scheduled for awhile but if you're going to be in town we could probably put something together.
I have formal “no thanks” letters from the U.S. Forest Service (Mendocino Forest) the U.S. Army (Fort Hunter Liggett) and private industry (Humboldt Redwood Company). The only folks I have found in Northern California that will consider a performance rally are the people at the Bureau of Land Management.
I was talking to the Mendocino Forest a couple of years ago about trying to revive the Mendocino Forest Rally, and I got kind of a strange response. They weren't precisely against it, just that they already had several events going on and they didn't have enough manpower to do them all. It wasn't until awhile later that I got a definitive "No" from them, and I got the distinct impression that it wasn't from them, it was from someone higher up. I'm still not sure who exactly issued it.
Anyway, the BLM people we work with at NNR have been pretty helpful. The one (big) issue we had last year came as much a surprise to them as it did to us.
Do we have a canned letter of support for these bills?
-E
The text below could be quoted or paraphrased. I’m guessing letters that look original receive more attention than obvious canned letters, but I may be overestimating the system here.
Subject: Support of H.R. 689 and S. 1328.
Organizations of off-road enthusiasts are encountering difficulty conducting events in areas designated for off highway vehicle (OHV) use in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The problem is that jurisdiction of the Chappie-Shasta OHV area is divided, in almost a checkerboard pattern, between the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Events that comply with the regulations of one agency may not meet the requirements of the other.
Legislation has been proposed to resolve this problem by transferring administrative jurisdiction of specific parcels of land from the Forest Service to the Bureau of Land Management and other parcels of land from the Bureau of Land Management to the Forest Service.
As a former legislative aide for a congresswoman on Capitol Hill in DC, please let me assure you that personally penned letters, even if only slightly different, as opposed to canned ones, get much more attention. When you get hundreds or thousands of letters on an issue, you recognize the ones that are verbatim copies very easily and typically you can tell from which organization they originate as well.
Northern California Rally Venue
Linear Mode
