----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 31, 2004
Law Enforcement Component
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Law enforcement is mentioned only 19 times in the 307 pages of the DEIS, sometimes twice in the same sentence and apparently the BLM did not consider it important enough to include the Law Enforcement Ranger amongst the preparers (page 307). There is no law enforcement component to the DEIS other than planning to "Increase Law Enforcement patrols and use of Law Enforcement response teams to monitor and enforce compliance with designations."
Wow, wonder how much time and thought went into this aspect of the plan? Seemingly not much!
Day 33, waiting for a copy of the BLM's scoping document.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 30, 2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has now been over one month since I requested a copy of the scoping document that the BLM is suppose to have created as a step in crafting the Draft EIS. I was told I would get it in early August and then in mid-August I was told it was still in "draft" form and would be available by the 23rd . Checked with the NEPA coordinator again on the 26th and he still did not have a copy. Geez Louise, it sure is taking a long time to write the thing, isn't it George. Maybe you could ask Bob to help, if you could find him. It would be nice to have it before the Record of Decision is signed.
Day 32, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 29, 2004
Still Ain't Got Their Shit Together
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because the Ramblers have their own campgrounds, I don't go into Clear Creek much. I was in Oak Flat maybe four times in the past 10 months - on a BLM tour in Nov., on a search/rescue in Jan, at the RUTS event in April and then yesterday to meet with the new Clear Creek Coordinator. Right now I have a 1.000 batting average with the toilets. On two of the four visits I went into the toilets and came away disgusted. While the November experience was by far the most disgusting, yesterday was almost as bad.
The new and improved "sweet smelling" toilets were anything but and the condition was worse than the worse gas station I have ever had to use. Has the BLM management led by Bob Beehler and George Hill learned nothing since last November. Apparently not!
So, if you go to Clear creek, bring your toilet paper and bring a wet rag to clean the toilet seat because the BLM doesn't seem to care to maintain facilities for OHV users. I am wondering if maybe it is a fiscal year thing and the first of October they will have a new budget for toilet paper and cleaning supplies??? I doubt it.
Day 31, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 25, 2004
Death by Chocolate Cookie
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Got the plumbing fixed last night with the help of Allen Lee, the club plumber. Allen would probably take issue with this statement and say the he got the pipes fixed despite my help. Hey, I think I did a good job of holding the flash light! And I can go to the hardware store good too!
I'm getting too old to be crawling around under the house. In fact I felt sore this morning. Guess it is because I just turned 648. Months, that is. Of course my Mom called, wished me a happy birthday and again asked when I was going to grow up and stop riding dirt bikes. She is still mad because I bought a Yamaha 180cc twin back in 1971 and established a precedence in the family. While my collection of bike has dwindled in recent years since I sold off some of my old Can-Ams, my two younger brothers have both bought a ton (literally) of bikes, and maybe two. One had to build a separate "barn" for his. Of course she blames me for being a bad influence, being the oldest as I was and still am.
For my birthday this year my daughter Kelly baked up a batch of Death by Chocolate Cookies instead of the traditional cake from Albertsons. When I get done with this I intend to use one of the cookies as the basis of a Black and White Surprise. This was an ice cream dish prepared by a restaurant on Cannery Row by the name of Oscar Hossenfelder's. Oscar's has passed from the scene but the memory of this treat lives on. Essentially it was a sundae with a brownie at the bottom, vanilla ice cream, covered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream. I would always order with chocolate ice cream. Which brings us to tonight's "funny" sent in by Carl.
Day 27, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 23, 2004
Mundane Monday
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spent the time after work dealing with a broken drain pipe under the house. Had intended to walk and think of new topics but when the sink and bathtub would not empty that was out of the question. Fortunately a fellow club member who is a plumber lives close by so I stopped over to solicit his help.
Carl sent another good joke that I have added to the joke page so I hope this will suffice for tonight.
If you live in the San Jose area and are interested in finding the cheapest gas, check out http://www.sanjosegasprices.com/
Day 25, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 22, 2004
Use Spectrum
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This topic is a continuation of an earlier editorial titled "Diversity". If you look through the first pages of Appendix A you will see all of the excuses that the BLM are using to close our trails. Some are legitimate and were identified in the Record of Decision. These include riparian areas, protected plants species habitat, vernal pools, and mines. However, some are new ones that the BLM inserted so that, when all the legitimate reasons failed, they would still have an excuse to close a route. More...
Day 24, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 21, 2004
Customer Service
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can you imagine Bob Beehler or George Hill driving down to Clear Creek on a Saturday evening to hang out by the camp fire and solicit recommendation on how to make Clear Creek a better place to ride? In your dreams! But this is exactly what another manager of another OHV use area did recently. Bill Dart related an experience he had this summer up in Idaho.
Seems that each summer he gets together with his former club members from northern CA for a trip to the forests of Idaho for a week of riding. These guys don't fool around - they bring a caterer who prepares their food each day so all they have to think about is riding. Anyway, the local forest manager and his recreation planner made a point of driving 60 miles to visit with their guests one evening to discuss the trail network and to ask how they could improve it. Yes, they were actually talking about building new trails.
What a novel concept. Government employees who actually care about our recreation experience!
Day 22, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 19, 2004 Hollister Freelance on Sam Farrr's Town Hall Meeting
Poker
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The current EIS process is like playing a game of poker with a dishonest dealer who changes the rules during the game. The National Environmental Policy Act lays out the rules to be followed in preparing an EIS. When the BLM decided that the issues were so controversial that they had to do an EIS, they should have immediately started a new scoping period, created alternatives, shared them with the public and solicited public input. The BLM did not do this. Instead, they created a draft EIS without going through a formal scoping process. As a result, they do not have a scoping document that supports the draft EIS. As I mentioned on Tuesday, they are now busily working to write one.
I wonder what other cards they have up their sleeves?
Day 21, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 18, 2004
Town Hall Meeting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another night, another meeting. Tonight's stop was Sam Farr's town hall meeting in Hollister. Thanks to Peter from Trails and Wheels, Mike from Ghostriders, John for Los Altos DB, Teresa, Danita, Steve, Eric, Craig, and Steve for showing up, speaking and putting this issue on Sam's radar screen. I am hopeful that we can recruit Sam and other Congress people to help straighten out this mess that the BLM has created with Clear Creek. Write-up from the Hollister Freelance.
I will prepare a briefing document on behalf of the group and submit to Sam's staff early next week. Again, thanks for showing up and "squeaking."
Day 20, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 17, 2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back on July 29th I requested a copy of the BLM's scoping document that they have to prepare as part of an EIS process. Sky Murphy, the new NEPA coordinator in the Hollister office, wrote to me on August 5: "Finally, I intend to send you a hardcopy of the CCMA DEIS Final Scoping Report, as soon as I can obtain one myself, which I expect to be able to put in the mail on Monday (8/9) when George Hill returns from vacation."
Well, the 9th came and went and no scoping document. Last night I asked again about this document and George Hill told me that it was in "draft" form and should be available in a week. I take that to mean we haven't done one yet and I will work on it this week. Excuse me, but the scoping document is suppose to have been completed before a draft EIS is ever developed, more less released. Once again the Hollister has failed to follow the NEPA process and it appears that the State Office oversight was blind.
The fact of the matter is that the BLM has failed the public by not conducting a proper scoping period and left themselves open for a lawsuit over the process. IMO, they should retract the Draft EIS and convert the September public meetings into scoping meetings and allow the public an opportunity to submit ideas and alternatives that the BLM may not have considered.
I expect the BLM will argue that they did conduct a scoping period during the EA. However, once they "determined" that the issues were significant enough to warrant an EIS, they should have immediately started a formal EIS process with a scoping period. The EA scoping period was a joke. They held no public meetings, had no documents pertinent to the route designation process available to the public and presented no alternatives for the public to consider.
Of course, I guess I should not complain too much because at least they are preparing NEPA documents. I hope that Sky can get a handle on things because the management of the Hollister certainly doesn't seem to be able to.
Day 19, waiting for George Hill to finish the BLM's scoping document. (another example of government inaction)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 16 2004
Scoping Meetings
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonight I went to a scoping meeting for the Resource Management Plan that the BLM is now working to update. This is the long term plan or vision for all of the lands managed by the Hollister office. I missed the meetings last week in Coalinga and Hollister because of other obligations but Ron Cash from the Santa Cruz Ridgerunners made them all. Thanks, Ron! Also thanks to Eric, Carl, Lowell, Kenny, and others for showing up in San Jose. Otherwise, there would have only been one other member of the public at the San Jose meeting, I believe.
I understand that a number of OHVers turned out in Hollister along with a bunch (or is it herd) of cattle people. I also understand that there was a Bob Beehler sighting at the Hollister meeting. Apparently Bob made a cameo appearance but unfortunately didn't know the purpose of the meeting. According to Ron, he arrive a little late and immediately started talking about the Clear Creek DEIS. His staff in the back of the room had to wave at him to get his attention and inform him that the meeting was about the RMP.
I had an e-mail from a person who attended the meeting that caused me to break out laughing when I read it. They wrote about the question/answer period at the end of the meeting: "There was a person that brought up Clear Creek, and spoke about the signing of everything being closed unless signed open. Beehler talked a little about Clear Creek when this person was asking questions about it, and he did answer a question about why motorcycling wasn’t allowed in the other BLM areas like Fort Ord. He also talked about something, but I have no idea what he said. I have never encountered a person that could talk about nothing before, that took up another 10 minutes. Sounds like Bob!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 14, 2004
Experts
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Went out to Hollister Hills today with the neighbor kids. I haven't been to HH in about 9 years and it will probably be that long before I go again.
Back in January I was invited to the Dirt Rider 24 hour off-road test at Hungry Valley SVRA, complements of the Blue Ribbon Coalition. I got to ride a couple of the test bikes around the "torture test" course that Dirt Rider had laid out. Unfortunately the only torture the course inflicted was of the mental nature. I could have driven a jeep around most of the trails in Hungry Valley and a quad on the "expert" trails. What I saw at Hungry Valley and again today at HH were roads masquerading as trails. I think it is a real shame that this is what young riders are being taught are trails.
I realize that HH provides a wonderful environment for new riders to hone their skills on relatively easy terrain and I am thankful that the State has provided this type of recreation opportunity. We need more SVRAs to accommodate our increasingly popular sport. I was both surprised and pleased to see how many young kids on mini-bikes there were riding around the camping areas and mini-bike tracks.
Interestingly, the "trails" were relatively empty. We took the kids, who were riding a 50 and 70, around a blue square loop to the top of the park. Later Dwight and I ventured out on the road network and eventually found Peat's trail. It is shown on the HH map as a black diamond route. It was built with a trail machine and was wide enough that quads could traverse it. As I was riding it I started to write today blog entry. Usually it is not good to try to think and ride at the same time but this trail was so easy that I found myself catching up to and eating the dust of my riding partner.
Where is all this leading? As I was riding Peats I reflected on all of the HH "experts" I have ridden with at Clear Creek. They are easy to identify - no hand guard or skid plates but a lot of mouth and pretty looking bikes. I remember one HH expert who threw in the towel before we even left the Club property - said that we were crazy to ride in all those rocks.. Another got so frustrated from crashing that he started to throw large rocks at his Honda.
CC can be very humbling to some people, especially HH experts. Thus we should encourage the BLM to rethink their naming system. I propose that all SVRA type trails start with an R and that Improved roads have a green circle, the 4WD roads have a blue square and Jeep roads have a black diamond. That way HH experts will feel right at home in Clear Creek. Of course we will have to warn them to avoid any route starting with a 'T'.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 13, 2004
Clueless?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Monday, Aug. 9, I went over to the BLM office with Club President Billy Tidwell and Trail Boss Billy Waltrip to discuss routes for next years Quicksilver. Terry from Timekeepers joined us. During the discussion, the question of routes through the Futures Foundation property came up because they did not appear on the map that the BLM originally provided. George Hill stated that the routes were closed because the County of San Benito controlled the property and he doubted that the County would allow use.
This took me surprise. I could not believe that the owner of FF would give up the property as he believes that it is worth a million dollars or more. George then said he thought it was taken over because taxes were not paid. I asked for the names of the County contacts and a short while later the BLM produced a list of people involved in the clean-up. Right at the top of the list was the owner's name, identified as property owner. One of the BLM people suggested it was an old list. It wasn't. I called the owner the next morning and he was unaware that he no longer owned the property and once again gave the Ramblers permission to cross the property for our enduro.
I don't know if they are clueless, incompetent, don't care or what, but IMO the management of the Hollister office should not be managing Clear Creek. It is time for a change.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 12, 2004
Velcro Dirt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I posted a page on the Rambler's web site recently containing a flyer sent to the Club by the EPA concerning air sampling. Today I contacted them to find out exactly when they would be down to Clear Creek in their space suits trying to scare people. The project manager was on vacation so I called the PR person. She didn't know but said she would check. She called back a while later to tell me that the date had been postponed from August to September 15.
I said "good, maybe it will rain by then!" There was just a sigh at the other end of the line. Guess we need to pray for a Sept. hurricane from Mexico. It has been a while since we have had a good rain in Sept. I think the best dirt day I have ever had at the Creek was after a good September rain some years back. Went riding with my brother-in-law Brian. No mud, no dust, just velcro dirt. Kind of day when you could climb anything and do no wrong. If we ever get another September rain I strongly suggest you make it down to the creek the day after, even if you have to take a day off from work!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 11, 2004
Timekeepers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Journeyed up to Los Gatos to have pizza with the Timekeepers and spread the word about the battle for Clear Creek. Not losing any weight this week! Got to see some old friends (old being the operative word here) - Don Matheson and Grant Gustafson. Don might read this and take offense but Grant doesn't have web access so unless someone tells him what I said....
It's a little known fact (until now) that I was elected VP of the Timekeepers when they first organized back when I was a teenager. ( I only look and feel 20 years older than I am) I was a D36 enduro committeeman at the time and was asked to help the club get organized. So I went to the first meeting, was nominated over my objection and elected VP. Of course I had to decline as I was already a Rambler and up to my eyeballs organizing the Quicksilver. The point is that I helped orgasm a great club.
The Timekeepers are going to donate a portion of each entry from their Prime Time Hare Scrambles to the Blue Ribbon Coalition in the name of the Clear Creek Legal Defense Fund so I encourage everyone to participate in early October. I will post a link to their flyer as soon as it is available.
Here is another good one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 10, 2004
SCRU
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stopped by a Santa Clara Rider Unlimited meeting this evening in Gilroy to update them on what is going on at Clear Creek. These guys know how to live! The meeting started with a Tri-tip dinner prepared by one of the members and a refrigerator of cold beer in their club house. Anyway, I gave them my little talk about Clear Creek and asked for their help in getting the word out. They, in turned, asked me if I could pass out some race flyers in Salinas for their TT in Hollister this coming Sunday. They are having a BRC benefit race and donating all the proceeds to Blue Ribbon (from this one race), a clubs grudge match. They challenge all local clubs to send a team to compete against other clubs.
If anyone is interested in an open traction scrambles, here is their race flyer.
Tomorrow I head to Los Gatos for a Timekeepers meeting. This is a tough week for the blog but here are some funny things that came in the e-mail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 8, 2004
Here we go again
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow evening some members of the Ramblers will be meeting with the BLM in Hollister to review routes for next year's national enduro. As happened last Fall, the BLM recently sent us a map of routes to select from. And like last fall, the map would be adequate for a family enduro or dual sport ride, but not a national caliber enduro. Seems they just don't get it.
After we rejected the first map last year they gave us a second map that we also rejected and marked up with the course we intended to use. We had to draw in numerous routes as the BLM apparently did not have them in their database. Initially they told us to forget it; they were not going to do any more route GPSing. But they finally relented and scheduled a weekend in December for both the Ramblers and Timekeepers to GPS routes missing from the database. Even though those routes were added to the database I guess the BLM could not find time from then to July to include them in their analysis (see maps) They must really be busy!?
We have told the BLM repeatedly that we need to have a wide selection of routes to select from, not only for rest and rotation but also because there are some routes that are suitable for travel in one direction but would not work if used in the opposite. Hopefully the new eyes in the Hollister office will "get it". I'll let you know.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 7, 2004
Chronology
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since the BLM was so kind as to provide the public with a chronology of events and plans affecting Clear Creek, I thought it might be helpful to add some things they left out or glossed over.
1986: The Clear Creek Management Plan calls for the Clear Creek to be managed as Open unless posted Closed. A quarter mile limited use buffer was designated around Clear Creek and the San Benito River. Areas outside the hazardous asbestos zone were designated Limited but in the rest of the area, 30,000 acres, OPEN use was permitted. More...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 6, 2004
New Maps On-line
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BLM posted new high definition maps on their web site today that make it easier to distinguish the shorter routes and their numbers. These are large files, 3-5 megabyte each, so be forewarned if you have a slow speed connection. Now that they have done this, I have asked Eric, their GIS specialist, to produce the same maps with the trails color-coded to show their "Route Type", e.g. Jeep, 4WD, STT, ATV. I believe that he will be out of the office for a week so it will take a while. What I believe this map will show is that there is little route duplication by Route Type. It should also help identify the routes that are mislabeled.
Many of the short routes occur in clusters, like above Jade Mill and the BLM has proposed to close all of them. I don't camp in Clear Creek but it seems to me that those of you who do should demand that a motocross track be developed in this area. Just an idea.
Don't forget the BLM meetings next week in Hollister and San Jose.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 3, 2004
New Maps, New Traffic Counters
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric, the BLM's GIS specialist in Hollister, e-mailed me today to say that they would have new and better maps available on the web late this week for the public to review. The original map provided with the draft for alternative 4 could not show all of the routes in the inventory because of its size. Anyone familiar with Clear Creek who can read maps should review the BLM's "route type" assigned to each route. IMO, there are many mislabeled. This in turn distorts the miles of recreation opportunity by route type. It is a shame that the BLM squandered an opportunity to use the Technical Review Team to help them sort out the database, but that what you get with "government inaction".
The BLM has also installed new traffic counters. I understand that they can sense the direction of travel and that they can be set for large vehicles or quad size vehicles. The question is whether the BLM will do a test to verify the validity of numbers that these new counters record. Last week Lesly Smith, the recreation planner was unable to tell me how or what the old counters counted and was suppose to defer my question to another person on the Hollister staff. We'll see.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 1, 2004
How do you spell RELIEF?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This ROLAIDS advertising campaign was probably one of the most successful ever launched. It is hard to find someone who has not been exposed to it.
The question I have for you today is "How do you spell CONTROVERSY?" I spell it B-L-M. If the BLM had implemented the ROD on the time schedule called for, would we be faced with the controversy now swirling around Clear Creek? If the BLM had worked with the OHV community to protect the primrose in Larious canyon in 1998 when they first discovered it would they have had to issue an emergency closure last December and repeated warnings about trespass? If the BLM had followed the legal, NEPA process before building fences and putting up signs, would the OHV community be up in arms? If the BLM published factual numbers on visitor use rather than the gross exaggerations that they included in their grant request and DEIS, would the California Native Plant Society have grounds to complain that "ORV use is steadily increasing in manner not contemplated and in certain cases contradictory to that considered in the original EIS?
The BLM has stated that the issues surrounding Clear Creek are so controversial that they must do a new EIS. I contend that if they had done their jobs, there would be no controversy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archives - More good stuff!
September August July June Home
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------