Media Contact Amy Granat, Managing Director California Off-Road Vehicle Association Amy.Granat@CORVA.com (916) 710-1950 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2017
California Off-Road Vehicle Association Receives Donation from Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame
$2,500 Presented at Induction and Awards Ceremony
Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Board Member Bob Ham (center), also a CORVA board member, presents checks to former CORVA president Ed Waldheim (far left) and San Diego Off-Road Coalition President and CORVA Board Member Ed Stovin (right). Also included in photo are event hosts and off-road racers Ricky Johnson (left) and Sara Price (far right).
Sacramento, Calif. – The 2017 Induction and Awards Ceremony hosted by the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame took place Oct. 30 in Las Vegas. Four individuals, who each have at least 15 years involvement in off-road motorsports, were inducted into the Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees included Dave Ekins, Cliff Flannery, Bob Gordon and Bill Savage.
In addition to the yearly induction ceremony, the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame contributes to an activist organization to maintain continued protection of off-road access on public lands.
This year, the Hall of Fame made a $2,500 donation to the California Off-Road Vehicle Association and a $2,500 donation to the San Diego Off-Road Coalition.
“CORVA appreciates this generous donation that will support efforts to preserve the future of off-roading on our public lands,” said CORVA Managing Director Amy Granat. “We will continue to advocate for off-road interests at all levels of government, as we have since 1970.”
Granat said the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame’s main role is to honor the icons and organizations who have paved the way for the off-road industry, but they are also dedicated to preserving the sport's future.
“That’s something to be admired,” Granat said. “Not only is the Hall of Fame recognizing significant achievements made by individuals in the industry, the organization is passionate about ensuring that off-roading can be enjoyed for generations to come.”
About CORVA
Working for off-road interests at all levels of government since 1970, the California Off-Road Vehicle Association is based in Sacramento, Calif. CORVA is solely supported by members, donations and sponsors. The organization’s primary focus includes working with federal and state agencies to promote off-road recreation and prevent trail closures, while protecting motorized access in California for the people, not from the people. CORVA ensures that the voices of off-road recreationaists are heard and that off-road trail users retain the right to enjoy public land. For more information, visit CORVA.org.
Here are the notice and agenda for the Public Works Plan Listening Session for Oceano Dunes SVRA and Pismo State Beach. This is an opportunity for people to listen, comment and/or ask questions regarding a new public works plan being considered for Oceano Dunes SVRA. The plan itself will not be discussed, because it has not yet been developed.
The Air Pollution Control District for the county has determined that changes need to be made to traffic patterns in the park to minimize the release of particulate matter into the air. It has not yet been determined whether the public works plan would reduce access to the dunes, but it is a fair assumption. The one thing we do know is that something will change to motorized access, but we will still be able to keep Oceano Dunes SVRA open.
It is critical that off-roaders who know the park best attend and ask pertinent questions.
The public can email pwpinfo@parks.ca.gov for questions and comments about the meeting.
Please send a letter encouraging your Senators to support H.R. 1913.
Mitch and company are working on making 600 burritos to take up to the shelter early next week. Please donate burrito fixings. The idea is that these can be wrapped-up and are easy to transport.
The fires are still burning so things will be changing quickly, this will be an ongoing effort. Please stay tuned for further details as they develop.
The Off Road Vehicle Legislative Coalition (Coalition) is proud to announce that we have engaged the services of Kathy Lynch of Lynch and Associates to provide legislative advocacy services for the Coalition. The Coalition member organizations were impressed with the way Ms. Lynch worked tirelessly this year in efforts towards passage of the bill to make PERMANENT the Off-Highway Motorized Vehicle Recreation Division (OHMVR). Kathy Lynch was initially engaged by the San Diego Off Road Coalition to represent their interests in conjunction with allied off road groups during the extensive legislative negotiation process as the bill to renew the California OHMVR program worked its way through the legislature.
Ms Lynch worked in close coordination with other lobbyists who represent off road enthusiast and business organizations, as well as the unified off road vehicle community in California. Having a permanent OHMVR program within the California Department of Parks and Recreation will ensure that OHV recreation will always have a place in the state. OHMVR is responsible for managing nine State Vehicular Recreation Areas that offer motorized recreation for children and families, and is also tasked with working with federal and local agencies to provide quality off-road experiences throughout California. Ms. Lynch will now represent the Coalition when the legislature reconvenes for the second year of the current session.
The Off-Road Vehicle Legislative Coalition is comprised of the American Sand Association, California Off-Road Vehicle Association and San Diego Off Road Coalition. Each of these organizations has an impressive history of successfully engaging with government agencies at all levels to promote and defend the rights of off-road recreationists. The goals of the organizations include adequate access to areas that are capable of sustaining use by off road vehicles and educating these agencies on the important economic contributions that OHV enthusiasts add to communities that support off-highway opportunities, especially in rural areas throughout the state. With the very experienced and capable help of Kathy Lynch, the Off Road Vehicle Legislative Coalition looks forward to continuing strong representation in Sacramento protecting motorized vehicle access to our public lands.
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Update on SB 249: Just a few short months ago, we never would have believed we could take out 90% of the objectionable components of SB 249, and rewrite the bill using current law as the basis for moving forward. Because of your calls and communications to legislators and justified anger at the original language in SB 249, the OHV community was able to convince the author and legislative leaders to work collaboratively on this bill and it's companion bill SB 159. SB 249 removed the sunset for the California OHV recreation program, giving us a permanent program and grants program protected by statute!
Working with the OHMVR Division, State Parks and a coalition representing the united OHV community, we developed common sense approaches to improve upon and replace many of the environmental community's outrageous and unwarranted requests in the original language of SB 249 for more strenuous reporting and monitoring of SVRA's that in many cases would result in spending millions of dollars on plans and reports with no corresponding improvement in environmental protection or improvement in recreational opportunity. We were able to drastically reduce these requirements, but as off-roaders we understood that retaining and refocusing some these analyses will also help defend our parks from frivolous lawsuits in the future.
With the recognition that no piece of legislation is perfect, we've evaluated the final language after all the amendments to these bills to make sure there is no hidden language that could hurt our parks, our access, or grant funding.
We ask all OHV enthusiasts to remain engaged with your parks and CORVA. There will always be entities that oppose off-road recreation, and will try to limit our opportunities and hurt our program, so staying involved is important. A united OHV community with the help of off-roaders around the state worked together to protect the OHMVR Division and our SVRA's this year. With your support, we've accomplished something very important for the future of OHV recreation in California.
CORVA and all of our allied groups that support off-road recreation in California are now united in asking Governor Brown to sign SB 159 and SB 249 which are now on his desk awaiting his signature.
AMA District 37 Dual-Sport is composed of local clubs and promoters that are involved in organizing American Motorcyclist Association sanctioned rides in Southern California. Our goal is to organize and provide enjoyable dual-sport adventures for the on/off-road enthusiast. District 37 Dual-Sport has succeeded in making LA-B-to-V the most famous and longest two-day Dual Sport ride in the world. 2017 will mark the 34th year for the best 400 mile-plus dual-sport ride of the year. The tour starts the day after Thanksgiving, using creative routes chosen to Barstow and Las Vegas. Gear bags are transported from point-to-point each day. Large Adventure bikes, vintage bikes, side-hacks and small displacement bikes are encouraged to join the fun with the regular dual-sport bikes as long as they are street legal.
The ride leaves from a Los Angeles county location early on Friday morning. After an overnight stop in Barstow, the route continues to The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for the exciting Saturday night Awards Ceremony with a raffle and lots of prizes.
Visit the dual-sport message board here: www.district37ama.org List of Clubs & Promoters:
For over 15 years, AMA District 37 Dual Sport has been a large supporter of CORVA, providing donations and listing the CORVA website directly on their web-site. District 37 has won multiple CORVA awards for their donations to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTFUS) charity. Each year, District 37 sponsors the PBTFUS Ride For Kids Dual Sport ride from San Bernardino. The one-day event of several hundred dual sport riders usually raises over $45,000.00. More information about AMA District 37 Dual Sport events, including the Ride for Kids dual sport ride and the LA-B2-V ride can be found on the District web-site.
Visit us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AMADistrict37/ https://www.facebook.com/LAB2V/
Instagram:
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Sponsored by Honda, the NYPUM program National Youth Project Using Motorbikes; http://www.nypum.org targets youth in difficult circumstances. Their goal is to encourage at-risk youth to greater achievement by using motorbikes as a motivational tool. This program is an excellent example of how motorized recreation serves all communities and enables children to learn and appreciate the outdoors.
Patricia Ureña has been responsible for the very successful NYPUM for the City of El Centro as Recreation Supervisor for over 35 years. She brought two children from the program to speak to the Off Highway Motorized Vehicle Recreation Commission and talk about how they have benefited from the program. Chair of the Commission, Ted Cabral, went one step further and invited the two young men to sit at the Commissioner's table and encouraged them to keep riding and get involved with the issues facing off-road recreation as they get older. These children are the future of OHV advocacy in California!
At the latest Off Highway Motorized Vehicle Recreation Commission meeting held at the Honda Museum in Torrance, Neil Hamada of the BLM was presented with the CORVA Off-Roader of the Year Award for 2016!
Here's Neil's response: I'd like to post a thank you to CORVA for selecting me for this prestigious award. I am very proud and humbled to receive the Off-Roader of the Year Award, especially as an agency person. There are so many others who deserve recognition, volunteer countless hours, and sacrifice their time and money to ensure off-road recreation opportunities are protected for future generations (like Ed, Ed, and Jim next to me in the picture). The work that I was recognized for would not be possible without the support of all the folks behind the scenes, working in 110 degree heat all summer to get ready for the next season, responding to 911 calls during the season, taking care of the governmental business that keep the OHV areas operational, and cleaning 70 toilets 7 days a week for a million visitors in the dunes. Thanks again, I'll continue to do my best to help serve my OHV community. Sincerely, Neil Hamada
At the OHMVR Commission meeting on Friday, August 18th, a report from the Department of Parks and Recreation was given by a Parks Representative. In that report, it was clearly stated that Parks, working with Governor Brown's office, have determined that many of the environmental components currently in SB249 are redundant, unnecessary and costly, and are not supported by the administration as written. They have also determined that these onerous and duplicative components of the bill would not improve environmental conditions on the ground.
This is very good news, but a good part of the battle still lies ahead. The united OHV Community had already submitted a comprehensive letter to Parks representatives and the Governor's office stating the same conclusions. It seems that we have been heard, and some components of the bill may change and improve. It's a step in the right direction, but only a step. Keep the pressure on your local representatives. This is how we got to this far - because of the hard work of all your OHV advocates in conjunction with the great grassroots advocacy from the entire OHV community.
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