Re: Improving Off-road Compliance

mojavegreen wrote:

> Hi Al,
>
> While bad feelings are understandable, we have an opportunity
> to set them aside and cooperate in dealing with this issue.
>
> I was going to respond to your earlier postings, but Wizard did
> such an excellent job, I will cut to the chase. How about this
> for a starting point:
>
> In this region, non-compliant riders have been willfully
> trespassing and evading prosecution under Section 602 PC by
> destroying private property postings (and fences). The burden
> of attempting to meet the requirements of this ineffective law
> was on the property owners.
>
> The new county ordinance puts responsibility on the rider by
> requiring written permission to ride on private property.
>
> Speaking as both fellow OHV enthusiast and property owner,
> would you agree that carrying written permission is a sensible
> requirement, and, if not, what do you propose as an
> alternative?
>
> Mojave
>

Thanks for the birthday wish Mojave. Funny thing is that until I played a 36 hole golf tournament today, I didn't feel any older than I did yesterday. It's nice to win a tournament once in a while, although the $100 I won today, pales in comparison to Tiger Woods winnings. LOL! My back has a tendency to remind me of my college football injuries from time to time, so I'm paying now.

My riding is nearly always in the open OHV areas in Johnson Valley, Red Mt. and up in the designated USFS riding areas in Mammoth Lakes and Kennedy Meadows,which is up on the Kern Plateau west of Hwy 395 and north of Ridgecrest. When I ride locally in the Cajon OHV area, I usually drive down to the staging area off of Interstate 15. I for one, would welcome the ability to contact the private property owners that lie between my home and that OHV area, so I could obtain written permission to traverse their properties. I have no desire to do anything but traverse their properties for the sake of getting to the staging area. It would be much easier if I could just ride there rather than load it all up and drive my truck down there. I see the biggest hindrance to this as being able to determine who the property owners are along the chosen route and how best to contact them. If the county could provide assistance in doing that, I think it would contribute significantly towards reducing the type of problems that many property owners experience. Perhaps another option would be to have a blanket approval signed by the affected property owners, giving permission for anybody that wishes to traverse only, across their properties. This could be administered by the county and users could then apply to the county for a daily, weekly or yearly permit. These are just a couple of suggestions off the top of my head. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of the procedures to follow to determine ownership, nor would I even know the boundaries of the properties, since many of the lots are unfenced and unmarked. It seems to me that the county could be more helpful with this and reduce the incursions onto property with minimal effort by them. These permits could even carry a small administration charge that would allow them to recoup their expenses. Much like the Forest Adventure Pass program we have in our local mountains. Taking it even a step further, there could be designated businesses near these areas, that could sell the permits.

Again, thank you for the birthday wish and for making me think of solutions rather than being on the defense all the time.