SUPPORTING
CORVA has been working for our California off-road interest in all matter since 1970 and we strongly support and encourage that if you live in California that you support them for our future of off-road recreation.
CORVA's main purpose is to work with the land managers for responsible off-highway vehicular access and recreation opportunities. Secondarily, they educate our membership on the constantly changing rules and regulations and promote clean-up and trail maintenance projects.They are very active in the political arena with federal and state land management agencies. Working closely with the State Department of Parks and Recreation, providing input to the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Program from the user's standpoint. They provide a valuable resource to land managers in the form of dedicated OHV enthusiasts who believe in responsible vehicular access.
A portion of the budgets for California's national forests and the public lands administered by the BLM is funded by grants from the Green Sticker Program. they work with land managers to formulate the grants and give our input about the grants to the OHMVR Program which administers them. They also review how effectively our Green Sticker money was used in each program.
We encourage you to visit the link and sign up to be an annual member - https://www.corva.org/donate
Stewards of the Sequoia are people who enjoy all types of recreation including. Off-roading, mountain bikes, horse riding, hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, boating, rock climbing and much more.The Stewards are the largest on the ground volunteer organization in the Sequoia National Forest helping to keep trails open to everyone. They provide a majority of the assistance in trail clearing and maintenance with communication and planning with local rangers.
However as of recently this contract has been recently revoked by Sequoia / Kern River District Ranger Al Watson with the Stewards of the Sequoia volunteer trail maintenance agreement which has been in place for the last 15 years.
Per his termination letter Ranger Watson has no issue with any of Stewards trail work, but he feels we are not good partners because Stewards object to the PCT Corridor and question the validity of the 2010 Piute Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). These are freedom of speech issues, totally unrelated to volunteer trail maintenance. Per The Stewards "The Forest Service should not terminate our volunteer trail maintenance program based on anything other than our trail work. Stewards have not violated any law or regulation, we just do tons of hard trail work".
As a Forest partner, Stewards of the Sequoia volunteers have performed so much valuable work to prevent erosion and keep trails enjoyable for everyone including clearing over 10,000 downed trees, maintaining over 5000 water bars and brushing hundreds of miles of trails. Without Stewards work, many trails would be impassable which would harm tourism and concentrate use. The Forest Service needs to renew the partnership to allow Stewards to continue maintaining Sequoia trails.
The real losers here are the trails and the public. If you are interested in learning more about The Stewards fight to maintain its contract with the National Forest Service Click the following link ~ https://www.opencampaign.com/petition/forest-service-terminates-award-winning-volunteers/8183
One other major issues along the Southern Part of the Sierras is the PCT LAND GRAB
PACIFIC COAST TRAIL PROPOSED LAND GRAB
There is a Pacific Crest Trail Association proposal which seeks to create an up to one mile wide Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) corridor in order to provide "more of a Wilderness experience". Yet the PCT is not supposed to be a Wilderness Trail. The PCT is supposed to be a multiple use experience per their own PCT Management Plan. Currently the PCT runs right through multiple use designated motorized recreation areas. The one mile wide PCT Corridor would cut a non motorized restrictive swath right through these areas. The PCT Corridor will restrict all forms of recreation and land management in three National Forests including the Sequoia National Forest.
- Close 30 miles of existing motorized trails which are under consideration for designation in Sequoia National Forest alone
- Decimate a world class motorized trail system in Sequoia
- Remove 21 square miles of lands form multiple use in Sequoia
- Lead to the closure of 20-30% of the existing multiple use trails in the PCT area of Sequoia alone
- Prevent fire breaks which have been needed in the past to stop the burning of private homes
- Prevent fuel reduction needed to prevent future catastrophic wildfires
- Restrict use on private property, even dictating what color cabins must be painted and prohibiting fuel reduction on private property within the one mile corridor or on property that can be seen from the PCT. This has happened to ranchers in other view shed areas.
The mission of the FRIENDS OF OCEANO DUNES is to unite the many people who enjoy the Oceano Dunes in a cohesive organization that can promote and reinforce responsible recreation. This will be accomplished by developing a large network of FRIENDS and collecting donations to accomplish their objective. They support ALL forms of responsible recreation and we will work to ensure continued access to the ODSVRA.
To donate click the link ~ https://www.oceanodunes.org/