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Who is Community ORV Watch?

Community ORV Watch (COW) was formed in early 2004 as a response to increasing illegal off-road vehicle use in the Morongo Basin in the Southern California desert. The time was ripe for residents and property-owners to start turning the tide on the destruction of public and private lands and a presumed "right to ride" that is trampling over the real rights---and property!---of desert residents. Since then, we've helped ignite the fuse that has brought the issue front and center in the desert and redrawn the lines of the debate. Our members are residents, property owners, and supporters in the Morongo Basin---and you!

On September 19th, COW members Carol Metzger, Mark Hueston, Eve Vykydal and Phil Klasky joined 25 activists from around the state to educate our elected representatives on ORV issues. We worked with the California Wilderness Coalition, Trust for Public Lands, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Desert Protective Council, Alliance for Responsible Recreation, plus other groups and just plain folks who have to face the crisis of ORV abuse in almost every corner of California.

Message to COW members:

COW has two digital cameras and a decibel meter available to members for the purpose of documentation of ORV abuses for law enforcement and code enforcement. Since San Bernardino County passed an ORV ordinance effective July 1, 2006, residents can seek relief from nuisance (noise, dust, harassment, trespass, etc.) by documenting abuses and making this documentation available to San Bernardino County Code Enforcement. Members can take digital still pictures and short videos with the cameras and use the decibel meters to estimate noise violations.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a far-reaching ordinance to control the crisis of ORV abuse in the state's largest county. Residents from all over San Bernardino representing dozens of community groups were virtually unopposed as they testified about the need to stop the epidemic of illegal and irresponsible activity such as trespass, harassment, property destruction, noise, dust and the damage to public lands/wilderness. Some of the supervisors, while expressing support for the measure, inquired into other provisions that would require visible license plates and other forms of identification and the confiscation of vehicles involved in repeated violations. ORVs involved in an alarming number of accidents involving children.

After three years of advocacy on the part of Morongo Basin residents, the Bureau of Land Management announced that it has hired a resident ranger for the Morongo Basin to be based in Twentynine Palms.

On Saturday, June 3, over 40 volunteers gathered to clean-up and protect a historic stage stop and homestead site in Wonder Valley. The area is also home to rare species and magnificent displays of spring wildflowers.

The California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission provides crucial policy guidance for the management of off-road vehicles (ORVs) on public lands in California. It also provides an important forum for public input on the state's ORV Program. As ORV abuse has exploded in recent years, the Commission has worked tirelessly to provide essential funds for law enforcement and restoration grants. These grants have helped to restore damaged areas, to protect pristine places from being harmed and to confine ORV use to the most appropriate locations.

When you encounter and can photograph offenders, you can create a "wanted" poster and distribute it throughout town -- auto mechanics, bars, gas stations, hardware stores, taxi services, ORV venders and repair shops.