Arizona Virtual Jeep Club web page
http://www.azvjc.org/
The information below came from the site above.
Where: Various Times and Locations These are work shops you will need
to attend both dates at a location to complete the workshop
Wickenburg Monday March 3 and Monday March 31
Wickenberg Community Center 6 - 9 p.m. 6 - 9 p.m.
120 N. Valentine Street
Black Canyon City Wed. March 5 and Wed. April 2
Black Canyon Community Center 6 - 9 p.m. 6 - 9 p.m.
Albins Civic Center
19055 South K-Mine Road
Phoenix Thu. March 6 and Thu April 3
Deer Valley Community Center 6 - 9 p.m. 6 - 9 p.m.
2001 West Wahalla Lane, Phoenix
1 block S of Beardsley, S of 101 and 19th Ave
Dewey-Humbolt-Spring Valley Sat. March 8 and Sat. April 5
Bradshaw Mountain Middle School 10a.m. to 1 p.m.
12255 Turquoise Circle, Dewey
Prescott-Prescott Valley-Chino Valley Sat. March 22 and April 12
Shalot Hall Museum Granite Creek Center
115 S. McCormick (across street from Museum) 10 a.m to 1
Here is what was reported by two members of the
Arizona Virtual Jeep Club:
(1) I would say there were 50 to 60 people at the meeting. Over half
were in
RED and by a show of hands about 80% were OHV. As we had a large group
we
split up to every group to get as much info as possible. Stu and Scott
M.
went to Recreation, Rick N., and Nichole went to roads and trails, Russ
G.,
Rico G. and Bruce M. went to Land issues, Randy D. and myself went to
Resources.
Randy and I seemed to be in the largest group of anti-recreationists.
One
guy wanted to know what could be done to eliminate noise from I-10
effecting
the Big Horn Sheep in the area west of White Tanks. I suggested ear
plugs.
The anti- recreationists are trying to get as much Wilderness area as
they
can. I had a note installed in the record to the effect no new
Wilderness
areas. They are trying to do this by dividing up and each area suggest a
different area. The BLM stated that they can not make a Wilderness area
but
can make a Wilderness Study area. I asked how a study area would be
managed
until Congress makes the decision. It will be managed as a Wilderness
area!
I pointed out that this basically made it an illegal Wilderness area
the BLM
agreed. We have no real threaten species in this area so this should not
effect our trails.
I heard Stu getting loud a couple times and will leave it to him to
tell
everyone what he learned in the Recreation group.
The Trails group was surprised to only have maps available that did not
show any of the Enterprise team trails. I was promised by the BLM that
at
the next meeting they will have the complete set of maps. They will also
have several meetings to go over trails exclusively.
Russ and Bruce made the point in the Land meeting that we wanted all
areas
taken off the table for trade. One of them will need to add what info
they
feel is needed.
Overall we had a strong showing and the BLM reps noted several times
that
this was the best meeting to date.
Last note we all need to be involved in this process. Overwhelm them
with
numbers and Red Shirts. Jim F.
(2)
The Recreation work group was pretty well behaved and I was pleased with
the variety of issues that were brought to the table. From what I could
see, none were aimed at reducing our preferred method of recreating
(Scott, feel free to chime in and give your opinion here if you so
desire). If Jim perceived me as getting loud a few times, it was due to
my passion for the topic being discussed. ;>)
We had a dispersed group in that we had quad/bike users,
Jeepers/wheelers, RVers that like to do light Jeepin' when camping, one
guy who flies his light aircraft into old air strips to camp and explore
(now that is a different approach to getting to a camp spot), and a
Jeeper who's main interest is in Geocaching. Our moderators were pretty
much on the ball and one of the two BLM employees was a good
acquaintance from last years OHV Conference.
We touched on issues (and even some potential solutions) ranging from
weekend "junk" shooters to homeless people to camping access to
geocaching and quite a variety of ways in which these things and many
others could impact our use of BLM going into the future. We tried, as
best we could, to suggest items that could be included in the resource
management plan that would allow for the handling of possible issues
well into the future, should the need arise.....we did this in hopes
that the plan would not need to be heavily revised but that a part of
the plan, which had not yet been implemented, so to speak, could be
brought into action. I guess you could say that we were working to make
sure that the plan had enough flexibility built into it that we could
continue to manage the resources without the need to have a new plan
developed.
I too was happy with the turn out but I got the impression that many of
the folks were not OHVers from the valley but rather folks from the
Prescott/Dewey area. While they certainly have a vested interest in the
management plan, it is just as much YOUR plan as it is theirs....and you
need to be involved in its development. This single point can not be
emphasized enough!
I also want to personally thank Bruce and Nichole for
coming to the meeting. They were "BLM first timers" and I think I can
safely say they walked away with a new awareness of the issues that are
eroding away at our ability to simply go Jeepin'. I enjoyed the
conversation during the drive up and back and look forward to our next
meeting.
====================================================================
The BLM plan that is being worked will be around for a long time (10 -
15+ years).
Some Geocachers may want to attend and have input on some of the
meetings that are left?
Ken Henson (aka - Lincoln)
(text/plain)