California Association of 4WD Clubs, Inc. (CA4WDC)
Written by [email protected] (Amy Granat) on Apr 07, 2011 09:53 pm
Clear Creek EPA Asbestos Risk Study comes under fire at OHMVR Commission meeting:
On April 5, 2011 the OHMVR Commission met in Hollister, California and convened a panel consisting of representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, and authors of the new study commissioned by the State, Dr. Robert Nolan, and Richard Wilson of the International Environmental Research Foundation.
After presentations, members of the public and members of the commission asked pointed questions about the risk of recreating in Clear Creek Management Area as portrayed by the EPA. As uncomfortable as it was at times for Rick Cooper, Hollister Field Office Manager for the BLM, and Jere Johnson representative of the EPA, inconsistencies in the EPA study and the alleged danger were uncovered. The differences between the results of EPA study and the IERF study were laid bare, and the summary of the IERF study was clear for all to see; there is no extraordinary risk to recreating in the Clear Creek Management during moist conditions, using prudent riding practices, up to five days a year.
The meeting was very well attended by member of the concerned public, member of the San Benito County Board of Supervisors, representatives from numerous elected officials and local business owners whose incomes have been severely impacted. The OHMVR Commission voted to express their concerns about the EPA study to numerous House and Senate sub-committees, BLM Director Bob Abbey, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Governor Brown, and other government representatives.
The next day a Field Tour for OHMVR Commission members and the public was held, traveling around Clear Creek on the county roads. Central District Vice President Steve Egbert and Central District Secretary/Treasurer Alan Spires participated in the tour, and gave first hand reports about the OHV staging areas that had been demolished in the recreation area, and campgrounds and picnic tables erected using government money in areas that are not open to the public.
It is clear that should Clear Creek be reopened shortly, the facilities previously enjoyed for years by recreation enthusiasts have all been removed, and the BLM has worked hard to obliterate all signs of motorized activity.
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Written by Don Amador, Western Representative of the BlueRibbon Coalition
"Based on feedback from riders and club representatives who attended the OHMVR Commission meeting in Hollister yesterday, the BLM and EPA were weighed in the scales and found wanting. Very disappointing when riders showed up to view federal integrity and accountability and found none of those virtues on display.
HQ commends all those who showed up and continued to challenge the faulty science (even the BLM/EPA have said there were uncertainties from the beginning) used by the BLM as a poor excuse to effect the largest landscape level closure of its kind in U.S history.
HQ also commends the OHMVR Commission for voting (and showing accountability and integrity) to send a strong letter to Congress, elected officials, and government agencies. Among a number of questions, they will ask about the BLM/EPA’s continued determination to base the ongoing closure on flawed science and how that unexplainable stubbornness -- in the face of new science -- complies with the March 9, 2009 Presidential Memo on Scientific Integrity."
Read much more than your average "barf-o-meter" can handle here . . .
Link: The General's Recreation HQ
Written by [email protected] (Amy Granat) on Apr 07, 2011 09:53 pm
Clear Creek EPA Asbestos Risk Study comes under fire at OHMVR Commission meeting:
On April 5, 2011 the OHMVR Commission met in Hollister, California and convened a panel consisting of representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, and authors of the new study commissioned by the State, Dr. Robert Nolan, and Richard Wilson of the International Environmental Research Foundation.
After presentations, members of the public and members of the commission asked pointed questions about the risk of recreating in Clear Creek Management Area as portrayed by the EPA. As uncomfortable as it was at times for Rick Cooper, Hollister Field Office Manager for the BLM, and Jere Johnson representative of the EPA, inconsistencies in the EPA study and the alleged danger were uncovered. The differences between the results of EPA study and the IERF study were laid bare, and the summary of the IERF study was clear for all to see; there is no extraordinary risk to recreating in the Clear Creek Management during moist conditions, using prudent riding practices, up to five days a year.
The meeting was very well attended by member of the concerned public, member of the San Benito County Board of Supervisors, representatives from numerous elected officials and local business owners whose incomes have been severely impacted. The OHMVR Commission voted to express their concerns about the EPA study to numerous House and Senate sub-committees, BLM Director Bob Abbey, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Governor Brown, and other government representatives.
The next day a Field Tour for OHMVR Commission members and the public was held, traveling around Clear Creek on the county roads. Central District Vice President Steve Egbert and Central District Secretary/Treasurer Alan Spires participated in the tour, and gave first hand reports about the OHV staging areas that had been demolished in the recreation area, and campgrounds and picnic tables erected using government money in areas that are not open to the public.
It is clear that should Clear Creek be reopened shortly, the facilities previously enjoyed for years by recreation enthusiasts have all been removed, and the BLM has worked hard to obliterate all signs of motorized activity.
*****************************************************************
Written by Don Amador, Western Representative of the BlueRibbon Coalition
"Based on feedback from riders and club representatives who attended the OHMVR Commission meeting in Hollister yesterday, the BLM and EPA were weighed in the scales and found wanting. Very disappointing when riders showed up to view federal integrity and accountability and found none of those virtues on display.
HQ commends all those who showed up and continued to challenge the faulty science (even the BLM/EPA have said there were uncertainties from the beginning) used by the BLM as a poor excuse to effect the largest landscape level closure of its kind in U.S history.
HQ also commends the OHMVR Commission for voting (and showing accountability and integrity) to send a strong letter to Congress, elected officials, and government agencies. Among a number of questions, they will ask about the BLM/EPA’s continued determination to base the ongoing closure on flawed science and how that unexplainable stubbornness -- in the face of new science -- complies with the March 9, 2009 Presidential Memo on Scientific Integrity."
Read much more than your average "barf-o-meter" can handle here . . .
Link: The General's Recreation HQ