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I was out there last weekend and saw several canopies setup with friendly ranger types giving out lots of information and answering questions. One guy out at shell reef asked me if I would volunteer to let him do a sound check on my bike. Of course I obliged. He said not to worry, he isnt handing out tickets and I asked him "why not?" Loud bikes are annoying. Here is a pretty cool site where they are asking for FEEDBACK. Check it out and share your thoughts.

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I was out there last weekend and saw several canopies setup with friendly ranger types giving out lots of information and answering questions. One guy out at shell reef asked me if I would volunteer to let him do a sound check on my bike. Of course I obliged. He said not to worry, he isnt handing out tickets and I asked him "why not?" Loud bikes are annoying. Here is a pretty cool site where they are asking for FEEDBACK. Check it out and share your thoughts.

I filled out their questionnaire. What were the results of the sound check on your bike?

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I was out there last weekend and saw several canopies setup with friendly ranger types giving out lots of information and answering questions. One guy out at shell reef asked me if I would volunteer to let him do a sound check on my bike. Of course I obliged. He said not to worry, he isnt handing out tickets and I asked him "why not?" Loud bikes are annoying. Here is a pretty cool site where they are asking for FEEDBACK. Check it out and share your thoughts.

I filled out their questionnaire. What were the results of the sound check on your bike?

Oddly enough they were only interested in idle. I keep my idle a little high on my KTM so it was giving him problems. At my idle it was 84db which is way below their spec (I don't remember what they were calling a limit)

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Cute personalities always beat out grumpy ones when it comes to public servants. :clapping:

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They were out at the Gas Domes on the Sunday of MLK holiday weekend. Nice to see them out there talking to people about these natural areas.

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I don't want to sound like 'Chicken Little', but any general plan revision and resulting EIR will most likely result in a reduction of our riding area. Enjoy it while you can.

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OK, I just read through the web site and state parks department is holding a public information meeting regarding the general plan update for Ocotillo Wells in El Cajon on Feb. 11 at the Ronald Regan Center at 6 pm. I would urge whoever can attend to do so and make their voice heard for maintaining Ocotillo Wells SVRA as an open riding area. I have a bad feeling about where this general plan update will lead ---- Travel management and limited use areas.

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Cute personalities always beat out grumpy ones when it comes to public servants. :lol:

Which reminds me, it's my understanding that the "grumpy" ranger at Blair Valley has now retired..........

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Speaking of O.W. some friends of mine (including the owner of North County Yamaha) started and organization to liason with Rangers etc....

www.Friendsofocotillowells.com

check it out.

Thats pretty cool! They started up a facebook page and I joined up the other day. Its good to see all the positive PR!

Christi, you going to the Dash?

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Just think how much more effective "The Final Solution" would have been if the SS had gotten some cute and friendly stormtroopers to get the Jews on board for Auschwitz.

How much of the green sticker funds are being used for this PR opportunity?

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Just think how much more effective "The Final Solution" would have been if the SS had gotten some cute and friendly stormtroopers to get the Jews on board for Auschwitz.

Humor has limits.

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I didn't mean to offend...

I meant to stimulate thought about what the ultimate objective of the Park Administration is. The State Park Dept will be using ORV funds to hire, allocate man hours, or contract a private firm to conduct EIR, use studies, surveys of wildlife and vegetation, place barriers to isolate potentially sensitive areas for further study, and/or increase staff hours for interpretive or enforcement activity. By spending a larger percentage of the OHV fund on these corollary actions (instead of adding to or improving existing areas) they will be able to control monies that the Legislature and the Governor would rather transfer (STEAL!) into the general fund rathole.

I'm with Badfish on this one!

*CAUTION, non PC nazi reference in 3...2...1

We should just put yellow 6 point star stickers next to the red or green stickers on our bikes.

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I want to bump this thread. Does everyone have their heads in the sand? No one is concerned about this general plan revision besides me and lemieuxmc? Unbelievable.

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Umm- no, we're not all as foolish as you imagine.

One of the ways to change opinions about off-roading is to place positive media stories, and I'm currently working on that with a local TV station. Nothing solid yet, and it's a bit of a longshot, but I'm trying.

I'll let everyone know if it comes through.

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My thoughts are like this...

The "Administration/Government" have been borrowing, raiding and stealing $$ from the Green/Red sticker funds for a long time. I see the "friends" as another way to help educate both sides of the use / non use community. At least the park is getting/spending some money to make it a nicer place to play.

And yes I am worried about the General Plan but I also know that there are a lot of people involved with the "Friends" that are in the motorcycle industry and have a vested interest in seeing places like OW stay open.

Just my 2cents..

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I don't think ANY of us thinks the government at large wants to do what is our best interests... I went and filled out the questionaire

I stop in the rangers office... I write letters to the Sacramento Wackos... I try to keep up on what happens in other riding areas (Utah, Colorado and Northern California in particular) and watch trends.

We need to fight for MORE at every turn... more places to ride... more amenities

NOT more enforcement.... but, Rangers interacting with responsible conscientious riders can NOT be bad for us

By all means we should get involved, but making a bunch of comments here (preaching to the choir) does not necessarily mean much

yes; we know every revision tends to reduce riding areas... we know greenies ONLY agenda is to ban ORV activity... they do it a little at a time, and our legislative branch keeps putting the pressure on us. Once an area is closed, it will NOT open again... they will start with banning quads, then move on to dirt bikes, then jeeps, then plated bikes, then mountain bikes, then horses, then hikers.... oh except for the few "responsible hikers" that are policing the area

They won't be happy until nature is unvisited, and unenjoyed... THEN they will be happy, and go after surfers pollutting the water with wax and zinc oxide. I joined Sierra Club for a while (know your enemy) and they are truly a bunch of wack jobs of the highest order. I believe they start with the best of intentions, then are brainwashed in to thinking bizarre thoughts.

Senegalese poet and naturalist Baba Dioum

'In the end, we will protect only what we love.

We will love only what we understand.

We will understand only what we are taught.'

We need to get the ORV community together, and educate them that nature CAN be enjoyed AND protected at the same time- I have seen TOO much wildlife at Corral Canyon (a designated ORV area) to believe that we can't co-exist

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Nice post senior slut!

I for one enjoyed interacting with the rangers out there. I invited them back to our camp where we were putting on a huge Carne Asada dinner and several of them showed up. During dinner they shared there passion with several of us about the turn that they see taking place and how their leadership is now promoting education and awareness. The thought is that when they do decide to fence off an area out there that if the public understands why, then there will be less pushback but they all understand the need to open more areas and that is their goal as well. I don't have a problem with them putting up a couple hundred feet of fence around a sensitive area and putting up signs explaining what they are doing and why. Personally, I'd much rather see my green sticker money going toward this, then where it has been going.

I totally understand the "leading the lambs to slaughter" fear that we all have. We've sorta earned that unfortunately. That is why I posted this in the first place. It's not often that we are given an open forum to interact. My fear is that the few that use it to vent will ruin it for those that want to be constructive.

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Agreed.

I'm already running into resistance from media as we are perceived as militants. It's hard enough to pitch a story these days, but if we're seen as nut-jobs, we'll never get positive press.

I think the question here is how can we contribute to the positive perception of off-roading? Maybe there's a way to contribute to the shared appreciation of these areas? If I were in a Jeep club, I'd organize a Jeep run for at-risk youth. Or for handicapped kids and adults. Something that can use our resources for those that cannot do what we do.

How about a search-and rescue team on bikes?

The more we reach out to the community, the less militant and selfish we'll be perceived. The more we fight and throw rocks, the more we'll be perceived as fighters and rock-throwers.

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By all means we should get involved, but making a bunch of comments here (preaching to the choir) does not necessarily mean much

I agree that posting here doesn't mean much or anything for that matter, but the interest shown in this thread about the "friendly" ranger types concerns me. The "friendly" rangers are only interacting with users to pacify them so that when they pull the rug out from under us we won't feel like we just got totally hosed. Believe it or not when Tlking6 allowed the ranger to sound check his bike, though seemingly innocent, that data gathered will most likely be used in any EIR and I'm sure it won't be used in favor of ORV users (even though it was an idle check it may be used to compare to ambient background sound levels).

Look, I'm not expecting a bunch of reply's on this forum saying "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore" but I just want to bring to everyone's attention that this PR campaign by the State is not an attempt to embrace the offroad culture. I hope I'm just being paranoid and none of my instincts come to fruition but in my twenty-five years of riding I have NEVER seen riding areas expand or even remain the same as a result of an EIR and general plan revision. I hope some riders come to the information meeting tonight.

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Badfish- I'm not saying you're wrong

I'm saying Rangers will be out there... I'd rather them be WITH us than AGAINST us

I would rather that every voter knows that we are not a bunch of dirtbag bikers... we are nature lovers... we are doctors and lawyers... we are you rclergy... we are your CPA... we run you rrestaurants... we take your pictures... we are in the military... we are 1 out of every 4 households in CA (ok- I made that number up)

We need positive press... positive relationships with the government and LEOs... and everybody else out there... we need to educate those around us, so when it comes time to vote, they actually CONSIDER the options.

Greenie wack jobs want everybody to think it's EITHER nature OR dirt bikers tearing up the desert... we ALL know that is not the case, but the majority of people probably see it that way. We lose... there is a middle ground, and I hope the Rangers help their bosses see the middle ground

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