OHV meeting 04/26/05

[indianjoe]

Lisa is right if we don't keep fighting for our rights we will loose more area. Environmentalist are very vocal and very involved..Why do you think they are so succesful?

TRX350- I agree St. Lucie Co. is growing..But the property this project is being proposed on is 750 acres next tot he airport which is already owned by the county. It is slated to be and industrial park in 10+ years. It has been a cattle lease for roughly 20 years. As far as mudders it was already discussed int he initial plans that it was permissible to dig mud bogs for the mudders. I just hope enough of the St. Lucie Co. riders start getting involved to let there voice be heard. i know the riders from out of the county will be vocal..But the commissioners need to see the amount of residents invovled in this sport.

[CAOSPOP]

Hi Lisa

[HondaBeaterSFL]

I told 2 of my friends in PSL to get involed and gave them this site

[lisa]

Hi CAOSPOP!   I am jazzed! It is good to see groups standing up for their individual rights!  [smiley=Clap.gif]

[CAOSPOP]

Yes Maaaaaaam we are all here to help welcome to the site. We are riding at the holley lands it at the palm beach/broward county line on us 27. were riding on sunday at  7am. lets go ride.

[sk8r_dude]

For the people who did not attend the OHV meeting this week. A lot of good points were brought up. A few important ones that I wanted to pass along:

1) FWC clearly said that although Holylands in Palm Beach allows ATV riding depending on season. They said that 3 things will most likely get this place shut down if they do not stop. Drinking while riding, speeding on the levy (25 MPH limit) and trash being left behind. They were very clear about this.

2) The the OHC council needs local municipalities to bring ideas to them. It is these communities that have the land to contribute. The council can help fund the project.

3) A Dade county representatives came to the meeting with a proposal to use the area around the old Thomson Park as a ATV park. This area is around the Macks Fish camp area where a lot of us in South Florida used to ride. Like Grizz said, everyone who lives in Dade County needs to call or write their commisioner and voice support for this project.

The council said that the ATV community as a whole is poorly organized and that in part is where some of our problems are coming from.

These representatives do read our posts and are aware of the websites although they get them mixed up which is a problem. Another reason that posting pictures of inappropriate activities on any website hurts us.  

They spoke a lot about Ocala National Forest. To make a long story short, ONF is going to a designated trail system that will be a small fraction of the area we ride in now. Not very good news, but not a suprise either.

There was a lot more but these were the high points I remember. Thanks to everyone who took the time to be at this meeting.

[lisa]

 I am SOO glad ONF came up. ONF is a big problem here in the SW end of the forest. Many, many, many ATV riders are going where it is clearly posted not to ride. This gives the rest of you a bad name. I see families riding and doing it right when I ride our trails (yes I live in the SW part of the forest, next time ya'll see a Cow-Jeep, wave, its me! If you don't know what a cow-jeep is, you haven't seen me yet.)  

There are a few of us working to keep the Volunteer Ranger Program alive. I am hoping this will keep the trails open. I would love to see a number of you in this area volunteer to be rangers. The Volunteer Rangers will be expected to pass on information on trail safety and etiquette, along with helping repair and put up fences.

Some of you might have run into the few folks who were actively involved with the program. Please, if you had a bad experience, don't let that stop you from volunteering. We need folks to step up to the plate and let the forestry folks know you care and are willing to be there for the forest and to help educate and protect our resources.

One thing that led me to realize we can potentially lose our trails (I am a jeeper) is the last time I went out with the group. Two guys had buzzed down a large tree that had been placed on the Boundery Markers out at Blue Sink and drove their 4X4 pick-up truck back in past the Boundery Markers. There is no way these guys missed those markers even if the fresh chippings and the chain saw in the back didn't give them away!

This kind of nonsense will get us all thrown out! We can stop the limiting if we work together and stand en force. I am hoping to get a group together to gather at the Ranger's station and tell them, "here we are, now put us to work as volunteers!"

Please PM me if you are interested.