Save the Hammers

Welcome to SavetheHammers.com, your one stop spot to get involved to keep Johnson Valley and Stoddard Valley (Johnson Valley is mostly known for the famous "Hammers") open to motorized recreation.

Sorry for the delay.

I tried to pick a spot somewhat central to SoCal. I settled on Graziano's Pizza in Colton, CA at 7:00 PM on Wednesday 5/21.

If you don't like the spot, show up and you can pick the next spot

I will be posting up topics in the next few days... but they will include the next meeting with the Marines and a growing working relationship with the BLM.

You can reach me (Dave Cole) here or on my cell

714 615 8507

Bottom line: the Marines want to expand their training areas and military holdings to include those lands we hold dear to motorized recreation. We SUPPORT THE MILITARY and will help them find SOME PLACE ELSE to use for training our troops -- but not at the Hammers!

Dave Cole, noted Tin Bender and comp racer/user of the Hammers has volunteered to help lead this charge and keep us all on track. Please support Dave in this effort. Get on board by visiting the Johnson Valley forum on www.pirate4x4.com (bulletin board).

For immediate release
March 17, 2008

As we know, Johnson and Stoddard Valleys are among our premier
racing and desert Off Highway Vehicle recreation destinations.

It is common knowledge our open areas are currently under a
serious threat by military encroachment and renewable energy
interests. Until recently we were under the impression that our
open riding areas were safe from the threats of land grabs and closures.

There is no time like the present to unite and take a stand
against these threats.

It looks like a go for Thursday night, March 20, 2008 at the Holiday Inn 7pm
for the first official meeting of “Friends of Stoddard Valley”

We are seeking pubic involvement with this new venture
regarding issues at Stoddard Valley and Johnson Valley

Check out the following http://www.fosvohv.com/
Dave Cheney and his crew drummed up an impressive list of supporters

So far we have confirmed leadership or representation from the following groups

And here's the Press Release about the virtual online rally to support our efforts to Save the Hammers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kurt Schneider
Tel. 925-596-0432
E-mail: kurt@kurtuleas.com

VIRTUAL ONLINE RALLY FOR JOHNSON VALLEY A SUCCESS
First-ever Virtual Rally drew support and earnest testimonials from over 1,500 people

On Wednesday, March 12, the world-wide off-highway community joined in a first-ever "Virtual Rally" to show opposition to a proposed expansion of the U.S. Marine Corps Twenty Nine Palms military training base.

The proposed expansion has worried recreationists that they will lose access to a prized section of barren desert rock known as an Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Mecca for its rock-crawling, rock-racing, and desert-racing opportunities. In a massive display of well-organized opposition, grassroots recreationists organized a "Virtual Rally" in less than a week, to draw attention to the potential loss of a prized recreation destination. Though the focus of the "Virtual Rally" was from OHV users, the varied postings and testimonials proved that Johnson Valley is also a popular location for ATV and MX enthusiasts, Rally racers, rock-hounds, hikers, and campers.

During the 4-hour Virtual Rally, almost 1,500 participants voiced their opinion while over 27,000 views were registered. In the first hour of the rally, traffic on the website was so heavy that many rally participants could not log onto the website to voice their concerns.

Rally-goers included many people from out of state and overseas, even concerned recreationists from as far away as Australia. Also voicing concern were people from a broad range of motor-sports and hobbies including 4x4s; motorcycle, motocross, and trials; ATVs and quads; sand-buggies; rally cars; hikers; campers; rock-hounds; and RV-ers. Many rally-goers had never been to Johnson Valley, but expressed their plans and dreams of one day being able to visit the Hammers and described how the area was so important to their sports and recreation.

Rally attendees not only posted their opposition to the proposed expansion, but included pictures and stories of their many different ways of responsible recreation in Johnson Valley with families and friends. Many rally participants showed strong, patriotic support for the armed forces, yet pleaded to the Marine Corps not to take away a “Mecca” for the OHV community. Offers were also extended to the Marine Corps to work together with the OHV community to find land that would not impact such a uniquely vibrant, vital center of OHV use.

Many rally participants have become so fed up with the loss so many OHV areas across the United States, that this current proposal to close such an important area to them has them motivated more than ever to fight for it. Kevin Carey, a member of the Pirates of the Rubicon 4x4 club stated, “This is our first event addressing this issue, but it’s definitely not the last. We will be talking with politicians, the OHV community and many government agencies in order to keep our public lands open to the public.”

One rally post put it in perspective for people outside their sport, “For us to lose such an important area as the Hammers to our sport would be like Baseball losing Wrigley field or Golf losing Augusta.”

If you would like more information on this topic, or to schedule an interview with Kurt Schneider, Please call 925-596-0432 or e-mail Kurt at kurt@kurtuleas.com

OHV ACCESS AND POTENTIAL LOSS OF OPPORTUNITY ARE THEMES AT CONGRESSIONAL TOWN HALL MEETING

Contacts:

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Members of San Diego Adventure Riders Attend OHV town hall Meeting
Click image to enlarge.

SAN DIEGO, CA (March 24) — Loss of off-highway vehicle access to popular federal recreation sites in Southern California was the main theme at a town hall meeting hosted by Congressman Duncan Hunter at Cuyamaca College on the outskirts of San Diego. Mike Pool, the director for the California Office of the Bureau of Land Management, also shared the podium at the March 22 meeting.

Over 200 off-roaders attended the event and many expressed concerns about the various competing interests that are impacting recreational opportunities in the California Desert region. The proposed expansion of the Marine Corps base into the Johnson Valley OHV Area, renewable energy construction projects, the endless parade of eco-lawsuits filed by anti-access groups against federal land agencies, and new Wilderness plans were the main points of contention.

Don Amador, Western Representative for the BlueRibbon Coalition, states, "I think this meeting was a true 'grassroots' success. It was not just representatives from organized groups that spoke, but many individuals took time out of the holiday weekend to make their voices heard."

"Both Congressman Hunter and Director Pool assured the crowd that the military was now acutely aware that Johnson Valley is an internationally recognized and world-class OHV recreation area. Hunter also made a promise to the group that he would meet with the Marine Corps in the next two weeks to discuss this issue and see if a solution can be found," Amador said.

"The event hosts urged OHVers to stay engaged in the political and land-use planning processes. The group was also reminded about shrinking federal recreation budgets and that supporting trail volunteer efforts and user-fee programs at selected sites will be key factors in the public land-use equation," Amador concludes.

The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national recreation group that champions responsible use of public and private lands, and encourages individual environmental stewardship. It represents over 10,000 individual members and 1,200 organization and business members, for a combined total of over 600,000 recreationists nationwide. 1-800-258-3742.
http://www.sharetrails.org

for more info on how to help Save the Hammers, email Del Albright, mailto:jeepndel@goldrush.com