What's
New in the ASA
June, 2008
In this Issue:
ASA
May 2008 Newsletter
Click here
to view the online edition of the ASA May newsletter.
ASA
BLM ISDRA RAMP Scoping Document Delivered
The BLM is in the process of writing a new Recreation Area management
Plan (RAMP) for the ISDRA and has asked for comments on what should be
contained in the new RAMP. The ASA has provided comments to the BLM on
this process. Those comments can be viewed at: http://files.ASA
Ramp Scoping Document
Additionally EcoLogic Partners, Inc. have submitted the following scoping comments that can be viewed here: EcoLogic Comments
ASA
California OPEN BOARD MEETING AT EXTREME PERFORMANCE
NEW LOCATION! Help us get the word out. This is an opportunity
for you and your duning friends to learn what's legal and what's not directly
from the officers involved.
Dune Info Meeting
"Dune Talk, Everything You Need to Know"
August 9th 2008
10:00 am 'til 3:00 pm
Extreme Performance
5486 Industrial Pkwy San Bernardino, Ca, 92407
909 887-8000
Click
Here for Directions
Speakers on hand from BLM, U.S. Border Patrol, Imperial County Sheriff,
CA State Parks Dept. and Dune Safe
Q & A session: "What's Legal --What's Not"
SHOW AND SHINE EVENT
BRING YOUR COOLEST OFF-ROAD TOYS
WIN SOME COOL PRIZES
This event brought to you by the ASA and Extreme Performance
Supported by GlamisDunes.com
and DuneSafe.com
Yamaha
Grant Supports UDG BLM Partnership
Yamaha has approved a $5,000 grant to the United Desert Gateway. This
grant along with $2,500 from ASA and $5,000 from BLM will pay for the
reprinting of the "Take It Outside" youth education cards that
were initiated last season. The US Border Patrol, the US Fish and
Wildlife Service and the California Native Plant Society have recently
joined the ISDRA partnership by providing outreach messages relating to
the Mexican border and environmental awareness.
Get your new card set at the SSSS in Sept. The 20 plus cards will provide excellent campfire conversation. Be sure youngsters in your group can answer the questions before they ride.
Submit
Your Nominations for the 2008 JRS Award
The ASA Board of Directors established the JRS Award in 2004 to recognize
those Sand Sport volunteers that give freely of their time and talent
in the interest of Protecting their Right to Ride. Anyone can nominate
an ASA member who they believe to qualify. Nomination and Entry Forms
are available on the the ASA web site. CLICK
HERE to download the forms. Nominations will be accepted for the 2008
candidates through July 15, 2008.
ASA
Giveaway Raffle Car on Display in So Cal
Mid-Cities Honda is helping the ASA with the Extreme Performance Giveaway
car by displaying it in their showroom located at :
15725 Lakewood Blvd. Paramount, CA 90723(near the corner of Alondra Blvd.)
So go see this beautiful car up close, and get yourself
a ticket.
Mid Cities Honda are one of our "Premium Sponsors" that offer
a Discount for ASA Supporting Members, a 10% Discount on Parts.
Please visit their web site: Mid-Cities
Honda
Mid-Cities Honda has been our most valued Business Sponsor in signing
up new members. To date they have signed up over 500 members at
their store! Those efforts are what it takes to help keep our sport alive
by gaining membership to help us maintain access to our sand and desert
areas.
ASA
Giveaway Raffle Car
This year, the ASA Giveaway buggy is a custom built Extreme Performance
Eco II. This is the second car that Extreme Performance has built
for the ASA Giveaway Raffle. Tickets are $20 each and the winner
will be drawn at the 2008 Sand Sports Super Show, September 21, 2008.
You do NOT have to be present to win.
If you would like to help sell tickets for our annual fundraiser please send an email to:volunteers@americansandassociation.org
NEW
FEE STRUCTURE BEGINNING OCTOBER 2008
Effective October 2008, permits purchased at the dunes will cost $120.00
for a season and $40.00 for a week. Save yourself time and money by purchasing
your permit before arriving. Pre-purchased permit fees remain unchanged,
$90.00 for a season and $25.00 for a week. Permits can be purchased online,
by phone, from a vendor on the way to the dunes or best of all, through
the ASA!
ASA
2009 Calendar Photos
The ASA calendar committee is hard at work on the 2009 ASA Calendar. They
try to include as many ASA members’ pictures as possible in the
calendar. It's fun to see the photos of your family or dune trip in the
calendar. If you have some pictures that you would like to see in the
new calendar please send them to Debbie DeRenard at NSDuner@aol.com.
Mark
Your Calendars! Volunteer for the Sand Sports Super Show in September
Start making your plans now to volunteer for the Sand Sports Super Show
at the Orange County fairgrounds. This is the show where the ASA gives
away our raffle car and it is one of the main sources of support for the
ASA both financially and in signing up new members. It is a good place
to get aquatinted with other ASA members and is a fun experience.
This year's show will be September 19–21 and volunteers are needed
for all days.
We will be sending out a request for volunteers as the time draws closer
so just mark your calendars to help the ASA at this event.
EcoLogic
Partners, Inc Raffle
EcoLogic Partners fund legal counsel to protect the rights of OHV recreationists.
They are raffling off a 2008 KTM 50 SX Mini. Tickets are $5 each.
If you would like to buy tickets please call or e-mail Meg Grossglass
951-415-1869 / meg@orba.biz or
Jerry Grabow 714-747-1211 / plumrdy@aol.com
The motorcycle will be given away at the Sand Sports Super Show on Sunday September 21, 2008 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA. Winner need not be present to win. Winner pays all taxes and registration fees.
The bike was donated in part by Z Racing of Orange. Z Racing has been a KTM Dealer in Orange County for over 25 years. They are a full service, parts and accessory dealer. They are located at 608 W. Katella Ave. Orange, CA 92867, phone 714-633-3115.
EcoLogic
Partners was formed to advance land use policies that conserve natural
resources while providing responsible outdoor recreation for American
families. Currently ASA, AMA D37, SDORC and ORBA are the organizations
supporting EcoLogic Partners, Inc.
We are currently involved in the following issues:
-
Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area Management Plan
-
Delisting of the Peirson's Milk Vetch
-
Critical Habitat Designation for the Peirson's Milk Vetch
-
Western Mojave Management Plan Litigation
-
Renewable Energy Projects proposed on BLM lands in the California Desert District
-
Truckhaven & Ocotillo Wells SVRA Management Plans
-
U.S. Forest Service Travel Management Plan
New
ASA Address
The ASA has relocated its main mailing address due to the closure of the
original mailbox location.
The new mailing address for the ASA is:
American Sand Association
P.O. Box 1872
Canyon Country, CA 91386-1872
If you need to talk to someone about an ASA issue you can call our toll free telephone number at 888-540- SAND or 888-540-7263. If no one is available please leave a message and someone will get back to you.
Proposed
Legislation to Mandate Safety and Size Restrictions for All-Terrain Vehicles
– SB 1228
By Vicki Cossey, Legislative Affairs
Currently in Sacramento, the legislature is hearing a bill known as SB
1228. This bill has three elements and only affects ATV riders at
this time. The first is to increase the age from children under
14 to children under 16 in which they would have to be under direct supervision
of their parent or an adult. Second, mandate children to have in
their possession a safety certificate proving they have taken a safety
training course. Third, it would impose specified size restrictions
on ATVs operated by persons under 16 years. These restrictions follow
the manufacturer’s recommendations on youth ATVs.
The
ASA, along with it’s partners in the California OHV Coalition continues
to work diligently with all the interested parties to craft a piece of
legislation that brings balance between the sponsor’s of the bill,
the Senator that authored the bill, the OHMVR Division and the OHV Community.
Continue to watch for monthly updates in the ASA newsletters. For
any further information, please contact legislativeaffairs@americansandassociation.org.
Sometime during the day on April 26th, 2008 the server that runs the ASA Web site had a catastrophic hardware crash. Once the problem was investigated it was found that the existing server hardware was approaching 5 years old, and needed to be replaced as fixing the server would, alas, only provide us with repaired 5 year old computer technology.
For the replacement, we chose to go with Dell server hardware, specifically a Dell 2950/III 2U server, with Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon 2.33ghz processors,8GB Ram, 460GB of SATA Raid hot swap disks, and dual redundant power supplies. We also chose to upgrade our underlying Operating System. The server came back online on May 13 with only a few modules such as the forums/BBS coming back online a few days later.
The team involved, Scott Swenka, Jason Hitesman, and Greg Gorman, all played a valuable and tireless roll in bringing the server back up and online. Their volunteer efforts are greatly appreciated.
United
States Border Fence Construction
Approximately 6.3 miles of fence will be constructed on the US and Mexico
International border south of Interstate 8 within the US Border Patrol
Yuma Sector Area of Operations. This 6.3 miles is in the dunes: another
4 miles lies outside the dune field for a total of 10.3 miles of fence.
The Yuma Sector anticipates fence construction to commence in June of 2008 and be completed by December 31, 2008. An additional 4 miles of Pedestrian Fence will be built from the Andrade Port of Entry west to the Imperial Sand Dunes. The USBP has requested the "Duning Community" observe a voluntary enforcement zone 100 feet north of the new fence. The fence poses no negative impact to the recreational community since there is more than 11 square miles of off-road recreation area south of Interstate 8. This will enable the USBP to provide better border security and a safer Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.
Acronyms
ADSB - Andrews Dune Scarab Beetle
AMA - Adaptive Management Area
ARA = Arizona Public Records Act
ASMAP - Peirson's Milk Vetch (technical)
BLM - Bureau of Land Management
BLM ECFO - BLM El Centro Field Office
BO - Biological Opinion
BOD - Board of Directors
CA PRA = California Public Records Act
CBD - Center for Biological Diversity
CCC - California Coastal Commission
CDCA - California Desert Conservation Area
CDPA - California Desert Protection Act
CEQA = California Environmental Quality Act
CNPS - California Native Plant Society
CORVA - California Off Road Vehicle Association
CVC - California Vehicle Code
DOJ - Department of Justice
DOI - Department of the Interior
EIR - Environmental Impact Report
EIS - Environmental Impact Study
ECFO - BLM El Centro Field Office
ESA - Endangered Species Act
FLPMA - Federal Land Policy & Management Act
FOIA - Freedom of Information Act
FoOD - Friends of Oceano Dunes (Pismo)
FoDD - Friends of Dumont Dunes
ICBoS - Imperial County Board of Supervisors
SDCSO - San Diego County Sheriff's Office
FTHL - Flat Tail Horned Lizard
FWS - See USFWS
GOL - GlamisOnLine.org
IC - Incident Command
ICSO - Imperial County Sheriff Office
ISDRA - Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area
LEO - Law Enforcement Officer
MA - Management Area
NECO - North Eastern Colorado Desert Plan
NEPA - National Environmental Policy Act
NEQA = National Environmental Quality Act
ODSVRA - Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area
OHMVR - Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation
OHV - Off Highway Vehicle
OHVEST - Off Highway Vehicle Enforcement Safety Team
ORBA - Off Road Business Association
ORV = Off Road Vehicle
PA - Planning Area
PH SO - Sand food
PMV - Peirson's Milk Vetch
RAMP - Recreation Area Management Plan
ROD - Record of Decision
SDORC - San Diego Off-Road Coalition
SSSS - Sand Sports Super Show
SVRA - State Vehicle Recreation Area
TRT - Technical Review Team
UA - Unlawful Assembly
UDG - United Desert Gateway Communities (local to ISDRA)
USFWS - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
WECO - Western Colorado Desert Plan
WSA - Wilderness Study Area