clear creek

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 01:48:00 GMT, "ewa" <tierod DeleteThis @verizon.net> wrote:

 >someone told me the blm closed clear creek ..
 >is that right????
 >

Find out all you want here.
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.salinasramblersmc.org/clearcreek.htm" target="_blank">http://www.salinasramblersmc.org/clearcreek.htm</a>

It sucks. Here is a copy of one of the letters sent in by one of my
club members.

Mike Baxter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Director Clarke,

I am a member of the Timekeepers Motorcycle Club of Los Gatos
California. We are a non-profit club who organize and run three events
a year. One of the events is held at Metcalf County Park in San Jose
and the other two at the Clear Creek Management Area

I am writing you because I am having difficulty understanding the
decisions your Hollister California Field Office is making in regards
to the Clear Creek Management area. In their May 2005 Newsletter they
invited and encourage the community to be a part of the Clear Creek
grant process workshop on 05-17-2005. They also indicated they were
seeking public input regarding a dry season use restriction, the Jade
Mill development project and other restoration projects during the
workshop. The BLM office also scheduled a work day on June 3, 2005 at
the Clear Creek Management Area seeking public help to repair various
areas and become better acquainted with the BLM employees. We as an
OHV group queried our ideas and sent them to the Hollister Office
thinking they really wanted our input. Within eight days of the
workshop the Hollister BLM office issued a press release ordering the
closure of The Clear Creek Management Area on June 4, 2005 through
October 15, 2005 due to high asbestos levels. The Hollister Field
Office led us to believe they wanted our input in a dry season
closure. I realize now they misled us. There were many people who
took time off from work and drove an average of 50 miles one way to
attend the workshop. They later got together on their own time to make
some sound suggestions as the Hollister BLM Office requested in
regards to the seasonal closure. We as an OHV community feel we were
not informed of the Hollister Offices real intent to close The Clear
Creek Management Area. This kind decision making is misleading and
unacceptable.

I understand the BLM is being sued by special interest groups over the
mismanagement of the Clear Creek Management Area

I would like to bring the following issues to your attention:

For the past 19 years the Timekeepers Motorcycle Club was required by
the BLM to send the property owner’s who’s land we crossed a letter of
notification. If the affected land owner did not want us to cross
their property they were to return a self addressed (by TMC) post card
denying access to their property to the BLM. This year the Hollister
Field Office required us to obtain written permission from each land
owner. The Hollister Field Office has knowledge of all the land parcel
numbers and owner contact information. Instead of providing a list of
land owners that would be affected by our event course like they have
in years past, the Hollister Field Office only provided us with a list
of County parcel numbers for land owners within the Clear Creek
Management Area. The net result of this action was that TMC members
had to take time from work to travel 50 miles (one way) to the San
Benito County Assessors Office and collect the owner information. We
then had to contact each owner and ask them where their property was
located and permission to cross it. Many of the land owners inherited
their property and did not know where it was located within the Clear
Creek Management Area.

It seems to me that the Hollister BLM Office is going out of their way
to make the permit process much more difficult than it needs to be.
TMC has supported the Hollister BLM Office for the past 20 years by
volunteer work, attendance of TRT meetings, attended grant meetings,
provided membership at public hearing meetings and voted in support of
green sticker funding. In return, we feel that the Hollister BLM
Office has unilaterally made decisions with proper due process which
have made the permit process not only more difficult than it needs to
be, but are not listening to the majority user groups that recreate in
the CCMA.

Is it the BLM’s practice to mislead and not to work with non-profit
groups as the Hollister Field Office is demonstrating? I hope you or
someone appointed by you looks into the Hollister California Field
Office’s operations before the civil suits filed by anti access
group’s begin.


Sincerely,<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->