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Four Cornersl...Save Choke Cherry...

4K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  07jkjeeper 
#1 · (Edited)
I am posting this thread to try to get some support from other wheelers. Please read..... I live in Farmington New Mexico. I have been blessed to grow up with Choke Cherry Canyon in my backyard. For those of you who have not wheeled here you may never get the chance. This is top notch wheeling. Our local jeep club had a meeting tonight with a very serious tone. The BLM is very actively trying to close a large section of the land that these established trails are on. We can document that these trails have been established for years. Our club has marked these trails with funds from out club. The signs are being removed from the BLM. Families come from all over the place to four wheel here. We were told that we only have until next Tuesday to try to get this stopped. For us here and those that have been fortunate enough to wheel here it is a huge deal. Thank You for looking and please take the time to help us out here....
Please send your disaproval to Janelle-Alleman@blm.gov.

I ask that you please be respectful to this person in simply letting her know we wish to keep established Choke Cherry Trails open...
 
#2 ·
I posted in the other thread too, but I did this...:beer:
 
#4 ·
meeting

As of 3:15 this afternoon I can tell you this about the meeting for Tomorrow night. Phil Collard spoke with Dale Worth a few minutes ago and the meeting for tomorrow night is for the user group representatives only. There is rumor that a big group of cyclists from the area including Durango are going to be there to try to get it shut down to motorized vehicles. They are already expecting problems with people and are prepared to stop the meeting if anyone tries to crowd the room or if it gets out of hand. We have been told that after this meeting there will be a public meeting at which time we will all be allowed to attend. This is not the meeting we need to get people to go to. If anyone other than a user group representative is planing on going please hold off until the public meeting. They are looking for a reason to not work with us and if we show up at this meeting it could work against us. We need to keep the emails going to that email adress and then get as many people to attend the public meeting as possible. I am a cyclist myself I just happen to enjoy wheeling more. I know that it is a small group of cyclist that have a problem. I know for a fact that Phil Collard will be at the meeting tomorow and he will represent us well. We need to let them go to this meeting and then get a mass of people to the public meeting. Thanks for all of the support.
 
#5 ·
too bad...recreational users need to work together, not against one another...hope this trail stays open...good luck!:beer:
 
#7 ·
I also found this BLM site for comments.
http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/rec...nt_public.html
click on "online comment form" near the end and it will take you to the BLM form. At the end it asks for Name, address, and email (YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FILL THIS INFO IN) and the for will still send. But it is better if you put your info in here (at least a name and maybe email) something that will say you are not the same person doing it a hundred times.
Also PLEASE BE NICE, this is to help us. Any negative will make it worse. THANK YOU

This is a simple easy form that doesnt take very long to complete.
PS I did both just to make sure.
 
#8 ·
that linky no worky....
 
#9 ·
Dear %%%, Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding Chokecherry Canyon, which isalso known as the Glade Run Recreation Area. There is a lot of concern andconfusion about the current status of recreation in the Glade. The BLM iscurrently in the process of re-evaluating the management plan for theGlade, in order to provide an optimal experience for ALL user groups whocurrently enjoy the Glade. I have forwarded your comments to JanelleAlleman, who is keeping track of public input to the process. We are currently in the early stages of a long process--we have beenmeeting with representatives of each of the user groups (ATV users,motorbike riders, jeepers and rock crawlers, mountain bikers andequestrians) to find out what their major concerns are with regard to theuse of the Glade. We had a meeting last night in which we summarized whatseemed to have been the major common threads in the concerns of the usergroups. Now we are all going to work together to try to find some ways toaddress those concerns. If you would like to keep up to date on the statusof the process, you can go to our webpage at:http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/re..._Recreation_Area/grra_improvement_public.html There is some further confusion regarding closures in the Glade because wehave been marking some boundaries that have been in effect for many years,but have never been clearly signed. From the standpoint of motorizedusers, the Glade has long been divided into two parts--in the southwesternportion there are 3800 acres of "Open OHV Area." This means that ATVs,dirtbikes, jeeps, and rock crawlers can go anywhere in the area, withoutrestriction (just please don't fall off a cliff!) The remainder of theGlade is "Limited OHV Area." This means that ATVS, dirtbikes, etc., arerequired to stay on existing roads and trails. Our law enforcement rangerand maintenance staff have been busy installing signs along the boundarybetween the "Open OHV Area" and the "Limited OHV Area," so that users cantell when they cross from one area to another. I understand that there isa rumor going around that these signs say that the Glade is "Closed," and Ihave received several phone calls asking about that. The rumour isincorrect. They simply say, "Cross-country travel prohibited." I grantthat they could be clearer in defining what "cross-country travel" reallymeans, but it just refers to travel OFF designated roads and trails. Thatway folks know that they have left the "Open OHV Area," where they cantravel cross-country, however they want (though preferably not over theedges of cliffs.) I appreciate your concern about the availability of the Glade to all typesof users, and your taking the time to express that concern. On a personalnote, my 78-year-old mother has very limited mobility, and when they cometo visit, the only way that she can enjoy the gorgeous New Mexico sceneryis from a vehicle. I myself have had serious health concerns in the past,and have at times only been able to enjoy the desert with a motorizedvehicle to get me there. By no means do I consider those who have suchlimitations to be second-class citizens, and it is our intention tocontinue to provide a safe, enjoyable recreation experience in the Gladefor ALL types of users, for many years to come. Leslie-lynne SinkeyPublic Information ClerkBureau of Land Management Farmington District Office
 
#10 · (Edited)
ChokeCherry Proposals ........

ChokeCherry Proposal Plans... Please Read..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who have followed this there was a meeting with user reps and BLM reps last night. The new proposals for the Glade Run were released. Starting yesterday there will be a 20 day (working days) comment period. The BLM did do a good job at putting together some good plans. A few of the people in the office really have taken some heat over the last few months with this. Part of the problem was that the origional RMP was never put into action and really wasnt done correctly. The only thing that we really dont know for sure is what will actually happen with the city of Farmington. The border for the boundries of the glade didnt change in the maps provided last night. What we do know is that the City of Farmington has a proposal into the BLM office here that would acquire several sections that actually have a few trails. I have sat in several meetings with the city and while some of the meetings have been very informative on the other side the director actually told myself and another rep that they have no concern for the offroad recreational area. " That it had no importance to him or the city." We do know that there are several section in a proposal to the BLM that would take parts of section 12,13 and 24. While this area is not in the main area of the more popular trails there are a few trail within those sections that should be kept if at all possible. The biggest one being Coyotte Cat Canyon which is located in the lower center section of section 13. There will be a public meeting on March 16th at San Juan College. In this meeting you can expect to hear what the propasals are and hear future plans that the BLM has for the area. Some of the things that I heard last night were actually very good. Here is the link for your comments.

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/re..._Recreation_Area/grra_improvement_public.html


It is very important that we keep our comments and ideas positive. In the future it is very important that we can work together with our local office. There has been a lot of work done to come up with a good plan and I do think we are moving in the right direction. If you have any questions please let me know. The final day for public comment will be March 31st. Please take a good look at plan b and Plan C. Ideally plan B would be best for the Rock Crawling group. Plan C would probably help the Mountain bike group a bit more and could ultimatly lead to less disputes in the long run. They would ideally like to have an area set aside from the motorized group. I am a fan of Plan B personally but all need to be looked at.

Thank You :beer:
 
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