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2007 Moose Anderson Days! April 28-29, 2007 Flyer (.pdf) Flyer (.doc)
2005 Photos 4/30-5/1/05 |
Friends Of Jawbone Meeting Minutes Friends of Jawbone meeting 2/18/04 9 a.m. The
meeting was called to order at 9:04 A. M. by vice-president Paul Kober. All present introduced themselves. Those present were: Brette
Soucie, Michelle Naujeck, Kristen Spoales, Ted Emery, Annie Rueb, Kevin
O’Brien, Massey Burke, Kristin Sprenkle, Gretchen Schlump, Ghassan Hamra,
Peter Wawryniak, Kerry Neijstrom, Kristen Carter, and Rebecca Perry (all from
Student Conservation Asociation); Anita Sudge and Chris Horgan (interested
parties); Stasi Vaillancourt, Fred Watkins, Erika and Bob Sosenik and Paul Kober
(Friends of Jawbone); Francis Moore, Lee Walters, Jeff Dumas (Kern County
Sheriff Department/OHV); Bob and
Phil Rudnick )part owners of Onyx Ranch); Jack Craig (California City Police
Department); Joe, Jason, and Charlie (California City Fire Department Air 19
Crew); Hector Villalobos, Craig Beck, Marty Dickes and Ron Lewis (BLM
Ridgecrest); Ed Lucio and Sue Bouche (Kern County Sheriff Department Search and
Rescue); Stan and Jeanie Haye (Ridgecrest Steering Committee); Keith Axelson (Sageland
Ranch); James Welling (Supervisor Maben’s Office); Marcia Omo (Honda R &
D); Robin Mallow and Margaret Harris (Jawbone Station staff).
An
explanation of the SCA (Student Conservation Association) was given.
Currently there are 14 interns in the Rands and Jawbone area doing
restoration work. Next week there
are more coming. There will be a
total of 20-24 people working on 3 different crews.
They camp out in the Rands and do the work that needs to be done.
Hector expressed his appreciation for all the hard work these crews have
done. The
minutes of the previous meeting were approved as printed and sent out.
No
treasurer’s report was available. CORRESPONDENCE:
Paul reported on letters from Chris Horgan concerning the trails in the
Isabella Lake area and from Bill Bishop concerning the MOU.
He also showed some graphics concerning the attendance and demographics
for the Off Road Expo. It was also
reported that the wind energy project is on hold for 45 days-anything over 200
feet high needs to be approved with Edwards Air Force Base.
COUNTY
REPORTS-Francis Moore reported that they were deployed over President’s Day
weekend and that there was a large number of off trail violations handed out in
the Jawbone-Dove Springs area and in the Rand area.
There was a general consensus that there was a need to define the
boundaries of the open areas. Various
solutions were offered and discussed. Different
types of signs and methods of signing were discussed. It was also thought that
people need to learn where the boundaries are through the use of maps.
A suggestion was made to add the phrase “patrolled by helicopter” to
the signs. Fines were discussed. The
problem of cattle in the open area was brought up.
Deputies herded the cattle back to higher country this past weekend.
Grazing in open range areas will always produce a conflict that needs to
be dealt with. The
California City Fire Helicopter crew spoke about their job.
They aided in 5 separate rescues this past weekend in the area.
They work with search and rescue, EMS, life support.
They are equipped with a searchlight for night work and soon they will
have night vision goggles. They are
only 5 minutes away. California
City gathered GPS coordinates for the popular campsites for easy access.
They estimated they made about 3,000 contacts over the President’s Day
Holiday. They have noticed an
increase in visitor numbers lately. The
suggestion was made to put GPS coordinates on the FOJ map.
It was mentioned that some GPS coordinates are already on the map and
more are planned for the next map. Kern
County Sheriff stated that they and the BLM Rangers are targeting drugs and
alcohol violations. California
City Police noted that they have seen a lot more shooting in the area lately and
they expect that activity to increase as the weather warms up. The
question was asked if any agencies were enforcing the unlicensed bikes and
riders on county roads. The answer
was a definite yes. The problem is
that law enforcement can’t be everywhere all the time.
Some roadways are being re-designated to allow for family riding if all
family members are behaving. Problem
riders (hot doggers, etc.) will be ticketed. The
question was asked about people using private lands as though it were public
land. The response was that private
lands need to be posted or the sheriff cannot do anything about it. California
City Police Department is going to hold a motorcycle class targeting 12-16 year
olds. Phil Rudnick, spokesman for the Rudnick Family gave the following overview (in italics) of the Onyx Ranch that covers much of the area from Lake Isabella to south of Jawbone Canyon and is over 100 sections of land area. The land has been in the family for many generations and there has been a land use agreement between the family and BLM for public use of the land. Lately there has been an effort made to allow the purchase of the Onyx Ranch. Phil reported that this effort is now stalled. Some land would be set aside for conservation. Of the approximately 20,000 acres in the Jawbone Canyon area, 10,000 would be offered to the OHV Commission for an open area to be managed by the BLM. Another 5,000 acres would be offered for exchange for an open area figuring that is a better use for that acreage. The remaining 5,000 acres would be held back by the Rudnick Trust for land use development consistent with the area. Historically,
the area was a cattle grazing area that supported 25,000 AUMs. Now it only supports 7,000 AUMs.
They are recognizing the best use for the land is recreational use.
Phil stated that he hoped the OHV recreation users would form a steering
committee designed for the development of the land.
He also asked for people who were interested in being involved with this
project to sign up. Comments,
either for or against the purchase/exchange, were also invited.
Paul Kober committed FOJ to work on this land purchase/exchange plan.
The
question was asked about whether or not the Rudnick Trust was going to hold back
things like mineral or grazing rights. The
answer from Phil was that it is still being looked at. Due to time constraints, Phil’s request for comments was
put on hold. Hector
answered Phil’s question about the land use exchange program and the problems
involved with it. Checkerboard and
split estate land patterns cause land and mineral management problems. Phil wants to decide which lands are sold or exchanged after
he meets with the officials and discusses the best use for the land. BLM
REPORT: Question-why are there hay
bales in place on SC 5? Answer, the
area in question has been extensively “hammered” and the hay bales are there
to lessen the impact on that area, block off illegal routes, and begin natural
restoration in the area. An
MOU for the management of the Josie Bishop site has been sent to Bill Bishop and
Ed Waldheim and it is still out for review. Craig
passed around maps showing the trails that have been maintained. OHV
grant season is approaching very fast. The
plan is to continue projects and grant requests from previous years such as
restoration, law enforcement, etc.. Red
Mountain, Johannesburg and Randsburg areas are becoming more and more popular.
Noise and use of private property are becoming more of a problem.
People are migrating from California City and the Spangler Hills into the
Red Mountain, Johannesburg, and Randsburg areas. The need to educate the public
to teach them to be more responsible was expressed.
Marty
Dickes described a problem she has with the invasion of people into the Golden
Valley Wilderness Area from the Spangler Hills Open Area.
Savoy Road is the boundary into the wilderness.
Some suggestions she had were to fence the boundary line, identify the
end of the open area with signs, conduct volunteer patrols and educate the
public. She asked for help in
contacting District 37 and she was given some contact names.
Marty also said she might like to hold a field trip and verbalize the
issues. Chris
Horgan introduced himself as a volunteer on the trails in the Isabella Lake
area. He is drafting a letter in
support of restoration of some of the McNalley Burn area.
He is asking for support from Friends of Jawbone. JAWBONE
STATION REPORT-January saw 1,583 visitors.
Sales for both PLIA and FOJ are strong. MOOSE
ANDERSON DAYS-Plans are pretty much in place and being fine tuned.
The registration process was explained and some of the planned activities
were described. The cleanup and
restoration projects include the Burro Schmidt Tunnel site and the Pacific Crest
Trail. Raffle tickets still need to
be sold for the Honda Generator. There
was some discussion about cleaning up old mine sites and removing the junk in
those areas. WEMO
comments to Kern County are due to close on March 8. Ron
Lewis reported on an incident in which a man and his son rode their motorcycles
in a closed area, were caught and cited. The
father ran from the officers. He
was fined $1,000.00 and put on 90 days probation during which he cannot ride on
any public lands and the son, who did not run, was fined $150.00. The magistrate is starting to crack down on violators. Marcia
Omo announced that Honda is holding a mini-marathon on May 8.
It is open to the public and we are welcome to put up an information
booth. The
meeting was adjourned at 11:41 A.M.. Margaret
E. Harris Secretary Pro tem
The next meeting will be March 17, 2004 - Click through for the agenda. Old Minutes 2/18/04 Minutes |
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