Saturday, April 5th from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the Joshua Tree Community Center. Joshua Tree Community Center located at 6171 Sunburst Road in Joshua Tree.

In 2005, COW and ARR organized a conference on ORV abuse attended by residents by many different desert communities. The event was a great success and helped to launch many successful initiatives to obtain law enforcement and to protect our precious desert lands and our quality of life.

Community ORV Watch (COW), the California Wilderness Coalition (CWC), the Morongo Basin Conservation Association (MBCA), the Desert Protective Council (DPC), The Mojave Land Trust and the Alliance for Responsible Recreation (ARR) (partial list) is organizing another conference for updates, information and the development of effective strategies.

Dr. Howard Wilshire, respected desert advocate and author of The Environmental Effects of Off-Road Vehicles, will be our keynote speaker. The conference will feature reports from grass-roots
activists and presentations on a number of relevant topics including: impacts on cultural resources, private property and protected areas; instruction on how to use the law; conservation efforts; addressing harassment and intimidation; challenges with law enforcement; and, grant funding.

We have invited representatives from local, county and federal law enforcement agencies, county supervisors and local elected officials who will be asked about their efforts to address ORV abuse.

There is no cost to attend the conference but donations are welcome.

SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE CONFERENCE. CONTACT US FOR POSTERS AND FLIERS TO DISTRIBUTE IN YOUR AREA.

The Yucca Valley Sheriffs Department has applied for a grant to obtain funds from the
California Department of Parks & Recreation, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division,
(OHMVR) to be used for the enforcement of laws related to the illegal use of Off-Highway Vehicles, rider education, and the purchase of support equipment.

Read the grant application (PDF or Word Document) and a press release (PDF or Word Document) from the Sheriff's Department.

Download, fill out and send in this comment form and support their efforts to protect our lands from ORV abuse.

A public meeting was held on Wednesday, August 8 at 6:00pm at the Yucca Valley Community Center.

Support Your Local Sheriff ORV Enforcement Team.

ORV Ordinance (3973) FAQ

• What is County Ordinance 3973 – the “ORV Ordinance”?
• Why do we need an ORV ordinance?
  

The ORV Ordinance Review Meeting before the Board of Supervisors will be scheduled for June 2007 – the exact date has not been set yet.

Off-roaders are sending hundreds of letters (many of which are fabricated) to the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors advocating for the repeal and undermine the ORV ordinance. They want free reign to ride wherever they want whenever they want.

The Supervisors have responded by recommending changes to the ordinance that will allow for more ORVs per staging event and make it easier to get special use permits with less opportunity for residents to protest.

WE MUST ACT NOW TO SAVE THE ORDINANCE!

Write to your county supervisor and demand that they renew the ordinance WITHOUT CHANGES that will weaken it!

You can send a message supporting the as-is renewal of the ordinance to Supervisors Mitzelfelt and Hansberger by clicking here, or downloading and mailing this letter to each Supervisor.

REMEMBER a letter that you write yourself and mail to the supervisor of your district carries much more weight and will get a mailed response.

We will present the following resolution to the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors at the hearing where they will consider renewal of the ORV ordinance passed last year:

Whereas the sales of off-road vehicles have increased dramatically over the last few years …

ACT TODAY --

Last year, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors unanimously
passed a balanced and fair ORV ordinance. The ordinance is up for
review and vote before the board before July 1, 2007. Extreme ORV

Please help Community ORV Watch with its fight against illegal ORV abuse by making a donation to our organization. Any amount will help and is truly appreciated.

COW needs your financial support and any amount will help. We are fighting against big business interests and their paid lobbyists.

Help the Student Conservation Association Wilderness Restoration Crew in partnership with the BLM in an effort to clean up, restore and continue to protect this wilderness area, March 24 & 25, 2007.

For your information and distribution in the fight against ORV abuse, we are providing access to the following fact sheets about how Unmanaged Off-Roading Threatens California's Natural Heritage and Rural Communities, how California's OHV Program Promotes Mainly ATVs, Dirt Bikes and Repairing California’s Public Lands for Future Generations. (Adobe Reader or other PDF program required to view.)

From an editorial letter published on 12/13/06 on the Hi-Desert Star website:

By Phillip Klasky / Wonder Valley