FEDS in Calif: Plan2 Camo Wldrns ROADS, COMMENT PERIOD UNDERWAY {RS2477 too} Options

[gold_tutor]

Comment on plan to camouflage wilderness roads

        Jan. 21, 2004
            By LEE CHOQUETTE News West

        NEEDLES CA - The Needles Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management has invited public comment on its plan to camouflage the first 300 feet of closed roads leading into wilderness areas. Prior to 1994 these old vehicle tracks were used legally, but the California Desert Protection Act that designated these areas as wilderness placed them off-limits to motorized vehicles.

        The BLM has so far tried to prevent illegal use of these old roads by posting signs, but the signs are often ignored or destroyed.  Therefore the agency proposes to restore the natural surface to the first 100 meters of these roads to discourage their use. Hand tools would be used to break up the surface and lay seeds and desert vegetation on it. Signs would be moved farther down the roads so as not to call attention to them. The proposal applies only to roads where motorized access is already illegal, and would not affect authorized use such as that by the Department of Fish and Game.

        Some of the 12 wilderness areas managed by the Needles Field Office have only a handful of closed roads while others have as many as 50-60.  Areas where mining took place tend to have more roads while rocky areas tend to have fewer. Maps are available in the Needles Field Office.  Among the roads targeted are over 20 vehicle ways leading into the Dead Mountains Wilderness west of Needles Highway, and over 20 ways leading into the Chemehuevi Mountains Wilderness south of Needles.

        The issue of wilderness roads is a touchy one. San Bernardino County placed itself at the center of controversy in 1998 by filing claims to thousands of miles of old rights-of-way under Revised Statute 2477.   This  law, passed in 1866 and repealed in 1976, allows the federal government to turn over to local governments, highways that were used prior to 1976 and that now cross wilderness areas.

        The California Wilderness Coalition has charged that the RS 2477 process is outmoded and may allow old mule trails and dry stream beds to be
developed into highways, undermining the conservation of public land.  The coalition contends that legitimate transportation needs can be satisfied by a modern permit process that provides for public comment and environmental review.

        San Bernardino Cty Supervisor Bill Postmus' chief of staff Bill Mitzelfelt responded that the county is merely affirming its right to proceed under RS 2477. The only claim the county is actually pressing at this time covers the Camp Rock Road between Barstow and Lucerne. Because an RS 2477 claimant must bear all costs of processing the claim, Mitzelfelt said that the county would pursue other claims only if the Board of Supervisors was convinced that there was a clear need for the claimed road. Private individuals, however, can and have filed their own claims. According to Mitzelfelt, the county has not yet decided whether to respond to the BLM's present proposal.

[DISGUSTING CIRCUMVENTING PLAN REVEALED HERE]
        The BLM does not expect RS 2477 claims to interfere with its proposal.  Christi Oliver of the Needles Field Office said that once these claims have been processed in another BLM office, which is expected to take some time, any roads that have been camouflaged and later found subject to a valid claim can be easily re-established.

        Normally the agency allows 30 days for comments, but because of the holidays it is allowing 60 days from the Dec. 23 proposal.  COMMENT PERIOD=60 DAYS from DEC 23, 2003!!!  A decision will be signed in the spring 2004, and if the proposal is funded, work would begin in the fall or next winter. Send BLM DIRECTED comments to:
Needles Field Office
101 W Spikes Road
Needles, CA 92363-4228
or
coliver@ca.blm.gov

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One Note: This Alert I received in my private email just a few minutes ago, UNDERSTATES what RS2477 permits. This article infers that only roads that cross wilderness areas are RS2477 roads. I know for a FACT, that is not true. We in Eastern OREGON have successfully won RS2477 road claims and are pursuing more RS2477 designation. In the test case, there was NO "wilderness crossing" in sight!!!

Furthermore, the reason mining areas "tend to have more RS2477 roads" is simple:
One of the basic criteria questions is, "Did the RS2477 claimed road(s) have any prior mapped evidence of being in existence PRIOR TO 1905?"

BLM kinda left that out, too. So, please do some research and submit informed comment, and it probably wouldn't hurt to indicate what the commentators' "relationship" is to this region in California. (Shouldn't be a problem...there's gold in that area, right B) and we're all prospectors, right? )

One final comment at this time:
It probably wouldn't hurt to send "letters of support to the Savvy and Courageous San Bernadino County Officials who did the great "land grab" mentioned above.

It's not just the BLM who needs their ears pinned, but bouquets of verbal roses need to be liberally distributed to on the stick County Officials who step up and do their job!!! Too darned few of those folk in my opinion!!!

SBCty Supervisor pictured here San Bernardino Cty Supervisor Bill Postmus' is one courageous bureaucrat than needs applause from national, regional, and California miners in particular.
His current email addy is: SupervisorPostmus@sbcounty.gov
COMMENT PERIOD=60 DAYS from DEC 23, 2003!!!
REMEMBER: THE GREEENIES WILL BE WRITING
Don't just email, send hard copies...emails can be "deleted/blocked/overlooked/lost/misdirected" HARD COPIES have a tougher time disappearing, especially with copies sent to Postmus?????......!!!!!!

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[Redpaw]

Great Post Megan
I clearly see what you are saying in this post, and I see what the intentions are of this Agency.

As I read this I was thinking the whole time The roads are there for a reason, what if something tragic happened like a plane crash? How would the Rescuers get to the area? Wait for a Bulldozer?

I just have to respond to this one, they make it so easy for us not to fight this camo closure....I wonder how they will get all the permits to move all that dirt around and introducing species ( Plants ) to an area that may not harbor such species?....sounds like a Beach Grass Issue for the Sage Grouse.

While they are at it, why don't they just camo all the freeway on ramps also?, It is not like you can drive any faster than 25 in So Cal anyway....ROFLMAO

RP