The full US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural resources will be conducting a hearing to receive testimony regarding off-highway vehicle management on public lands.

You can view the hearing via webcast when it takes place on Thursday, June 5 at 6:30 AM Eastern Time via this link.

From the Hi-Desert Star, Friday April 11, 2007:

A public forum was held in Joshua Tree April 5 to explore strategies for protecting public lands and private property from off-road vehicle abuse.

The Desert Protection Summit was organized by the Community ORV Watch. The group is an assemblage of self-described “reluctant activists” who feel compelled to voice their opposition about what they see as a growing public menace.

Victoria Fuller, a longtime Joshua Tree resident, said the organization was formed by people who wanted to help make their areas more livable.

Read the whole article.

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 Sheriff's Department just received a $133,000 grant from the state of California Off-Highway Vehicle Commission to be used exclusively to address ORV abuse. The grant will pay for additional deputy hours, a truck to haul enforcement motorcycles to remote areas of the Morongo Basin, a message board to direct riders to Johnson Valley, the printing of more ORV brochures, and public education.

COW has been actively supporting the Sheriff's department efforts for the last three years which has brought over $250,000 in grant funds to the department. Our work now is to make sure that these funds are spent in the most effective way possible.

San Bernardino County officials keep law restricting off-roading

By DUANE W. GANG - 8/22/07
The Press-Enterprise

Link

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to keep a year-old law restricting the use of motorcycles and other off-road vehicles intact.

From the LA Times 8/22/07

Strict off-road rules are upheld

By Sara Lin August 22, 2007

Link

Spurred by desert homeowners tired of noise and dust, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to uphold an ordinance that clamps down on off-road riders gathering in groups or trespassing on private land.

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.

We have learned that the ORV ordinance will not be considered by the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors on July 24th. The new date is now August 21st.

Please continue your efforts to write your supervisors and gather signatures on petitions. There is great work being done in the community to save the ordinance and it must continue even though the date of the BOS hearing has changed.

We will keep you posted of new information as it becomes available.

From the Hi-Desert Star

By Mark Wheeler / Hi-Desert Star
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 10:53 PM PST

MORONGO BASIN - The Presidents' Day weekend was, by law-enforcement accounts, reasonably uneventful on the off-road vehicle front this year. Historically, the occasion has ranked second only to Thanksgiving weekend for citizen complaints about ORV activity in the Basin, but a pre-planned increase in enforcement presence this year seems to have had results.

Welcome Dr. Bob Karman and Linda Rallo to the COW Steering Committee.
We are growing with representation throughout the Morongo Basin.