The meeting began at 1:27. Members in attendence were Wizard, Ron, Paul, AZ Mike, Laughing Bear and Sycamore Laughing. Visiting our meeting were Mrs. Bear, Prema Subadra, Carol, Jenny, and Tom.

Group membership: 23 members at present.

Item #1) BLM/WEMO plan, presented by Laughing Bear:
The BLM is currently under court order to come up with a vehicle route designation plan for the entire Mojave Desert. They did a rush job in the Juniper Flats region. The BLM vehicle coordinator was a former lobbiest for the OHV Association. The good news is that route J1299, the single-track route through the Juniper Flats Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), has been designated as closed. Our efforts on this were successful. This route had been closed, then declared open, and is now closed again. Some of the trails in the area were created by the BLM volunteer "patrol."

MEETING INTERRUPTED by illegal OHV activity nearby. Members and guests tried to determine who the riders were, but they were too far away.

Meeting resumes, more on item #1): Letters are still being written to the BLM about route designations. Concerned parties are documenting use and monitoring the situation. The BLM has acknowledged that they cannot enforce any laws on single-track routes, yet they have legalized a number of such trails. Fortunately, a number of such trails bordering on USFS lands have been closed. Many people, including residents, members of groups, and area users are opposed to single-track trails for motorized use. All members present agree that DCV should continue to follow this issue and to report violations. Suggestions are to involve the press, have more outreach to other organizations, and also to contact the sheriffs in addition to the BLM to report illegal activity. Ty Davis is the name of the leader of an OHV "patrol" in this area.

Item #2) DCHS closure:
DCV sent a letter to Gina Hoffman of the USFS with a carbon copy to Brad Burns. We informed them of the recent vandalism to the Anniversary pool and DCV's situation of it being impossible to monitor or to clean the area during the closure. If the closure is not lifted, we should conduct a more full-scale letter-writing campaign. Brad Burns endorses our position. We expect, and hope, that DCHS will be reopened soon.

Bowen Ranch: There is a sign posted at Bowen Ranch stating that the forest area is closed. People are still accessing through Bowen Ranch, but Mike Castro is not obligated to prevent that.

The damage to the Anniversary pool was repaired by a local resident...Many Thanks!

Item #3) Jan. 25th DCV meeting and plan to celebrate Claudia Kellersh's birthday with visiting members of the Camping Bares:
If DCHS is still closed by this date, or near this date, we will work on other arrangements. Being optimistic, we will at this point continue with the plan to have our January meeting at DCHS. Since we are a small group, we decided to do some coordinating of the food and beverage items to be brought. This will ensure a variety of items for a balanced meal, and avoid everyone bringing the same thing. Members planning to attend are encouraged to contact DCV to coordinate items to be brought. So far we have committments on five items, strawberry cheesecake, beer, corn on the cob, a salty snack item, and one unspecified meat dish.

Minutes continued in next post