Anti OHV story on News 8 about Ocotillo Wells?

[zancat 0]

I am hearing that News 8 will air an anti OHV story about OWSVRA tonight at 11. True?

If so, watch and let them know how you feel!

WHAT would the CA park system (and the general fund) do without green sticker $???

Zancat

[zancat 0]

Just saw the trailer. Want to bet they won't even mention AB right next door?

[Desertrunner 0]

I'll be watching and shall gladly voice my opinion. I'm so tired of the bias in the media. These stories are always one sided.

Here's the link to the preview:

http://www.cbs8.com/story/22283143/protecting-the-park

[CalNub 0]

Crazy. Afterall, off-roaders are the primary patrons of "the park."

[Dan Diego 40]

Well I think the guy has a point. He clearly said, "This park belongs to you."

And it does.

[baldbeemer 0]

Watched it from the news 8 website. Typical enviro-nazi that doesn't understand how anyone can have fun riding a motorized vehicle in the desert. At least they allowed a response from the SDORC prez. I wonder how much of that interview was edited out?

[zancat 0]

Watched it from the news 8 website. Typical enviro-nazi that doesn't understand how anyone can have fun riding a motorized vehicle in the desert. At least they allowed a response from the SDORC prez. I wonder how much of that interview was edited out?

On the SDORC Facebook site he says that is what they used form a 15 min interview....

And they say they want diversity...

Zancat

[bikeslut 1]

Well I think the guy has a point. He clearly said, "This park belongs to you."

And it does.

It's an OHV park... paid for with OHV funds, right? ( I may be wrong)

If so, the park is paid for, used by, and belonging to OHV users... If you don't have an OHV, I'm sure you can still visit, and have a great time, but it's kind of like me visiting Dog Park without a dog, or even liking dogs... kind of defeats the purpose.

ABDSP is one of the largest parks in the US, and a very small section of it is set aside for OHV use... anti OHV bias indeed

Thank goodness for dual sport bikes, so that we can enjoy ourselves in the OHV section, or visit the rest of the park with some more stringent rules to follow...

[Goofy Footer 539]

LINK to the CBS Channel 8 Full Video

[paulmbowers 236]

Interesting- it's a suit filed under a whistleblower statute.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding of whistleblower statutes are they are financially incentivized. So this guy stands to make big bucks if he can prove that his issue-raising went unheeded.

He's not trying to make the earth a better place- just to show that damage has occurred (duh) and they ignored his pleas to make changes.

[Spaugh 1]

i wonder if he realizes where his pay check comes from.

[Slaugo 35]

Interesting- it's a suit filed under a whistleblower statute.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding of whistleblower statutes are they are financially incentivized. So this guy stands to make big bucks if he can prove that his issue-raising went unheeded.

He's not trying to make the earth a better place- just to show that damage has occurred (duh) and they ignored his pleas to make changes.

Maybe for the protection offered to the whistleblower? I dunno. I thought the main whistleblower goal was for compliance?

Unfortunately there is damage being done. We do damage to the environment. But it’s designated for such damage. Some people don’t get it. Many visitors do get it. It’s a never ending battle. But in a large society with so many people you have to let everyone speak their mind.

I’m glad no damage was done putting in that windmill farm for a more environment friendly creation of energy. LOL

Unlike forest and grasslands, OcWells impact form ORV’s has got to be one of the lowest from the entire off road use nationwide. An active volcano does more damage to the atmosphere in one day than we do all year. We’re not eroding the soil out there. Water ways aren’t being polluted. Sure we transfer some fungus/species of plants on a small percentage. Prolly too small to be recorded.

Users leave nails, oil changes and lots of trash. Which we need to educate people on.

But as for the designated trails…..one good wind storm and or a flash flood in the washes and you’ll never even know we were there.

State has its duty to protect the land for future use. So it’ll be interesting to see the angle presented.

Gotta give kudos to SDAR members for being so responsible and active in keeping with the rules. A great example of how an organization/club can enjoy the parks responsibly.

I think the Rangers in charge of keeping the park safe and usable do a great job. We’ve lost a lot of trails there in the last 30 years. Trail blazing is one of the best ways to connect to the sites out there. I don’t see how making more designated trails would help the desert. But there is plenty of open land now for use.

Glamis and other parks have had the same issues and are still open. With the recreational riders becoming one of the fastest growing groups to use such lands, we’re bound to see more of this in the future.

But with a bike being so nimble and able to access more unusable ground and cover so much of it than any other vehicle, it’s hard to go unnoticed these days.

This too shall pass……I hope…I really enjoy that peace of earth out there.

[paulmbowers 236]

Interesting- it's a suit filed under a whistleblower statute.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding of whistleblower statutes are they are financially incentivized. So this guy stands to make big bucks if he can prove that his issue-raising went unheeded.

He's not trying to make the earth a better place- just to show that damage has occurred (duh) and they ignored his pleas to make changes.

Maybe for the protection offered to the whistleblower? I dunno. I thought the main whistleblower goal was for compliance?

Ah- The whistleblower statutes give a financial award to those who blow the whistle- it's a percentage of the judgement as well as protection from any sort of retribution. This can be BIG BIG money. They were written to give employees of government vendors a way to report the companies for whom they work to the government about malfeasance. Not a bad law, but certainly promotes goldigging.

I don't have details about this case, but whistleblower was mentioned in the news report, and it is likely whoever is representing him pitched media for coverage. Once it's in the media, the pressure to settle is fierce- without trial- and the whistleblower gets a piece of that action.

[amgems 79]

More on this:

Somewhat unbiased news report:

http://www.cbs8.com/story/22379894/lawsuit-aims-to-shut-down-open-riding-at-ocotillo-wells-off-road-park

Very biased news report:

http://yubanet.com/california/Suit-to-End-Era-of-Ruinous-ORV-Open-Riding-at-Ocotillo-Wells.php

The enemy:

http://dpcinc.org/

http://www.peer.org/

[zancat 0]

SDORC Meeting to begin opposition to OW suit

Here we go.......

Zancat

[Bubbagums 42]

Those numerous trails and tracks are not damage but improvement, in my eyes. The housing development the plaintiff lives in, caused more "damage" to the environment then 10 Ocotillo Wells combined. Heck, storms cause damage to the environment. Big time.

[Bubbagums 42]

Has anybody thought about suing these individual planitiffs/eco Nazis? I'm sure a creative attorney could tie them up in court for extended and costly periods of time.

[Steve_k 0]

Keep Ocotillo Wells beautiful, burn a Prius! Before its hippie owners can get to the park to whine like a little bitch.

Eeh, hope that didn't go overboard, but I just can't stand the types that want to shut everything down.