The Endangered Off Roader

This month we will be talking about several topics including trouble on Otay Mountain, our bill being signed into law, the 50 year anniversary of OHV Parks, the Superstition bombing range fence, the Rebelle Rally, as well as some events we attended and the Lost Lizard Fun Run. It's a busy month for information

Otay Mountain

Otay Mountain is a huge mountain in south San Diego County right by the border. There are a couple of green sticker routes over the mountain that are regularly used and the view from the top is spectacular. Last spring one of our members (Nicole) drove over Otay Mountain and noticed there was a lot of trash along the trail. We decided to organize a cleanup on the mountain and work with the BLM. We had the cleanup a few weeks ago and filled about two full size truck beds with trash.

We put on cleanups not only to make the areas cleaner, but also to let the agencies know that we care about the areas. A couple days after the cleanup, our contact from the BLM called and told us he heard the Border Patrol wants to close the west side of Otay Mountain Truck Trail, from Pio Pico Campground to the top, for six months. This is still being proposed, but a problem we are very concerned about and are working on. This was talked about at the recent BLM Desert Advisory Council meeting, so it is a real threat.

Members of the club Creeps and eeps help clean up Otay Mountain

Our Bill AB232

SDORC has a state lobbyist we share with the ASA and CORVA. This past year our Coalition sponsored a bill we called Reciprocity, AB232. This bill has to do with California recognizing out of state vehicle registrations. If you drive your car to Arizona, they will respect your California road registration. Same if an Arizona resident drives here. Both states recognize each other's registration. I believe all 50 states have that.

However, if you take your off road vehicle to Arizona, they require you to get an out of state registration. Until this bill, California recognized Arizona, Utah and Idaho off road registrations. Every other state has what is called Reciprocity with California for both on and off road. Now with this bill, we are on even terms with Arizona, Utah and Idaho. These states will let you ride there, you just have to get their $30 out of state registration. We hope this new law will make these states reconsider their position with off-road registrations and remove their restrictions to California residents. On the very last day of the legislative session, Governor Newsom signed our bill into law.

Carnegie SVRA

We have talked about Carnegie SVRA and the property next door that the state purchased 23 years ago, specifically to expand Carnegie. For years a nasty neighbor has been working behind the scenes to have the land "preserved" with no off-road vehicle use. Every year since 2017 he has gotten bills introduced and every year we have helped beat them back. This year was harder than any other and we could see we were in trouble. Our lobbyist worked with State Parks and Amy Granat to try to improve the situation. What they did is get language added to the last bill of the session, the Budget Trailer bill. In that bill they got the State to pay the Off Highway part of State Parks almost $30 million dollars. The prior bill to force the State to sell the land had $9 million. The bill also directed the State to find another area to open a new State Vehicular Recreation Area. While many people in the know say it is highly unlikely that this will happen, there is a chance and we will be doing our best to Members of the club Creeps and Jeeps help clean up Otay make it happen.

Speaking about our lobbyist, Kathy Lynch, she has been nominated for an award from the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame called the Impact Award for advocacy. I am planning to go to Las Vegas for the ORMHOF induction ceremony and introduce Kathy to people there. It is a great event, where you can rub elbows with off-road racing stars and other famous industry folks.

OHV Division Celebrates 50 Years

California State Parks Off Highway Vehicle Division turned 50 years old and they put on a big shindig at Hungry Valley SVRA. I attended and got to talk shop with a lot of OHV advocates and agency staff. It was a lot of fun and I got to ride some trails after as well. If you have never been, Hungry Valley is worth a trip. Parks is also working on a new General Plan for Hungry Valley. I looked over the preferred alternative and I don't see anything toxic to us.

The Rebelle Rally

The Rebelle Rally is under way as I type. Our own Audrey and Nicole are slugging it out with the other competitors. This is an all female competition where competitors have to find checkpoints with only paper maps and compasses. Watch for a report on their adventure in an upcoming issue of S&S Off Road Magazine. Lost Lizard Fun Run

Desert Advisory Council

I mentioned the Desert Advisory Council meeting we had recently. I'd like to go over some of the topics discussed.

First, each of the five field office managers gave an update on activities going on in their area. After, there were some presentations and other discussions.

There was a presentation on big horn sheep. When you drive to Las Vegas and see mountains along the way, most have sheep wandering around. There are 104 of the sheep with radio tags that tell where they are. Populations are holding steady now.

The El Mirage open area is getting about 1500 acres added. Some are inholdings (land inside the official perimeter) and the fence is pushed out some in a spot.

A windmill near Ocotillo has collapsed and as a result, all the windmills have been shut down until the cause is identified.

Devils Canyon runs directly under Highway 8 going into the desert. It has been adopted by the Tierra Del Sol club and the BLM allow one run per month for seven months of the year. TDS has three or four of those run days. Devil's Canyon is a very difficult trail and only the most experienced drivers with highly capable vehicles should join in.

There are plans being formulated for a solar project between El Centro and Glamis.

The BLM has hired two additional advanced EMT’s to provide medical services to ISDRA visitors.

Road repairs are taking place at Lower and Upper Lark Canyon, Grey’s Well, Wash Road, San Sebastian, Gecko Road, and Roadrunner Campground. Subgroups are being formed for ISDRA, Dumont and Mojave Trails NM. I plan on attending Mojave Trails meetings.

The BLM planned a wild horse round-up for October 2021 to remove up to 250 horses from the Centennial Herd management Area on the Navy Air Weapons Station – China Lake. Management level is 168 horses and it is estimated that there are 750 horses currently out there.

The BLM continues to implement the 2015 West Mojave Route Network Project. The Center for Biological Diversity's lawsuit against the routes was not discussed.

Mary Dreusike, from the Navy in El Centro came to our last meeting to talk about the new fence between the Superstition open area and the bombing range to the northeast. The smooth wire fence is in place, but reflectors still need to be installed. We told Mary that if the fence turns out to be not visible enough, we would like to work with her to make it so.

The 16th Annual Lost Lizard Fun Run is fast approaching on November 13th. This event is very important to our organization, so please come join us for the fun. We hear there will be Nerf Guns at one of the checkpoints. Pre entry will likely be closed when you read this, but please come out and sign up at the event. There will be food, ice cream, event shirts, a huge raffle and a fun route. You can make it a day trip, as signup goes until 11:00 am.

Governor Outlaws Small Gas Engines

The governor of California recently signed a bill outlawing small gas operated off road engines. This refers to lawn mowers, leaf blowers and similar landscaping equipment starting in 2024. The term "off road" does not refer to vehicles. The state refers to our favorite vehicles as "off highway vehicles".

Join SDORC

SDORC is a membership organization. You can go to sdorc. org and become a member for just $25/year and help us to protect our right to off-road.