A Small win for Johnson Valley, can we make it a BIG win?

CC | April 18, 2011

By Mike Lasher of OffRoad Press

Last night we had the pleasure of attending the Johnson Valley/ 29 Palms Marine Base Expansion meeting in 29 Palms. I’ll have to be honest my perception walking into this meeting was completely different than when I walked out of the meeting. First of all I was worried that I was late to the meeting because of traffic, but to my luck there was no official presentation but just a Gym full of marines and poster boards with information about the expansion and the options available.

Wile the schedule said the meeting was from 5-9 it is not necessary to be there for the full time frame. If you get out of work late or want to have dinner with the family first you are more than welcome to and come by afterwords. The best way I can describe the event is that it’s similar to an open house and you can come at any time and stay as long as you’d like. The best part of this format is the one on one attention you can get with the Marines about the project. They have people dedicated to each of the stations to answer your questions and explain the different proposals and what it means to the different groups. The good news is that if you take the time to visit the meeting get your questions answered and provide a written statement you will be heard. The Marines have introduced a 6th proposal to taking the land in Johnson Valley based on what they had heard at similar meetings that took place approximately two years ago.

Right now is our opportunity to review the new plan the Marines are presenting along with their additional existing plans over the remaining two meetings that are scheduled and make our recommendations on how they can improve it again before the comment period ends May 26th, 2011.

Plan 6, the newest plan which calls for expansion west into a smaller area of Johnson Valley (146,667 acres) will permanently close a large section (108,530 acres) of the area and also seasonally close a second section (38,137 acres) that encompasses the “hammers.” This section is stated to be only closed two months out of the year for large scale training exercises. What was also interesting to me in this proposal was the way that they were running their training routines. I’m no expert but it seems to me that there is opportunity for them to better utilize the land they already have on the base. The reasoning behind the expansion is so they can complete large multi day training sessions in terrain that best represents that of Afghanistan.

The reasoning in my opinion for moving west into the Johnson Valley area as opposed to other directions is it’s the path of least resistance. The government already owns the land and all they would have to do is transfer it to the marines if they were to go west. However if they were to go east and expand which is option 3 that they outline it would cost considerably more money. The Government would be required to buy private and commercial pieces of property and make additional accommodations for the railroad and major roads through the area. This costing more money. Which brings me to another questions all together, with the state of the economy and inability to balance the budget is the base expansion something that should even be considered at all?

Once you have gathered your thoughts and are ready to make your voice heard there are a few things that you should remember. When writing your responses it is important to remember that it’s not the quality of responses that we send but the quality of the response that we send. The goal here is to alert the Marines as to the questions and concerns that we have by them taking our area and the impact it will have to recreation, local business, and businesses within the industry. The common answer I seemed to get last night in 29 Palms was that they didn’t have all the answers yet. I don’t see how you can lay out a plan and not have all the answers on what will happen when it’s implemented. For example, if plan 6 were to be put in place it would open the “Hammers” area up 10 months out of the year. What they don’t tell you is what 10 months and what you need to do to use it. They say a special recreation permit will be needed but can’t tell you the process to obtain it. Also, they don’t have any procedures set into place on how they will notify users on when the areas will be closed and for how long they will be closed. Also, it seems to me that they don’t work that far in advance so trying to get a schedule years in advance to ensure the longevity of events in the area will be next to impossible.

At the end of the day we need to hold them accountable for their actions and show that the OHV community is not going to give up easy. As a friend of mine recently said, these are Marines we are fighting for our land and the noble thing to do is give them a strong opponent to fight during this battle and for that they will respect us!

On a positive note, Dave Cole from the Ultra 4 Racing Association offered an incentive to get companies and clubs to attend the meetings. He will donate $100 to the charity of choice of the group or club that shows up with the most people. On the first night in 29 palms GenRight Off-Road was out in full force having 8 people from their office in attendance. Impressive considering they drove from Simi Valley to attend. Their 8 made them the largest individual group and they got to pick the charity of their choice for the donation. GenRight gave the money right back to where it matters most and gave it to Cal4 Wheel. On top of that to make the pot better they matched the donation making it $200.00 that was raised for Cal 4 Wheel on Tuesday night! Way to go guys!!!

If you would like to get involved and fight to keep Johnson Valley open to OHV use you can do so very easily. There are two meetings left that you can still attend.

April 13, 2011
Ontario High School Gym
901 W. Francis St.
Ontario, Calif.

April 14, 2011
Hilton Garden Inn
Mirage/Sahara Conference Center
12603 Mariposa Road
Victorville, Calif.

If these two dates don’t work for you, you can visit http://www.marines.mil/unit/29palms/las and fill out a comment form before May 26, 2011.

Thank you for your Support!