Why Now? - In a
nutshell, in 2007 the USFS received less than 10%
of the grant funds from theCalifornia state
parks commission that it has historically received
to maintain the trails.If it had
stopped there, the trails would have been closed
until such time the Forest Service could find the
funding to clear, clean and maintain the trails
and staging areas. On a normal year, the Forest
Service would have six employees working to
maintain the trails YEAR ROUND, this year they
have one person for a only a few weeks. That’s how
Friends of Foresthill OHV Trails Volunteer group
was formed.
I know you are wondering,
“Where are my Federal taxes and OHV fee’s going?”
Since we appear to be in a constant federal
deficit, federal funds available to the Forest
Service have just plan vanished, with all the
recent changes in the logging fees, the money
collected (25%) no longer goes to the local
community and Forest Service Ranger Districts but
rather a big pot for distribution to all.To top it
off we seem to have issues with our green sticker
dollars (OHV Fees of $25.00 on top of
registration). Some people say it’s the recent
changes to the estimated taxes collected for our
gas. Some say
it’s the commission and that there are a bunch of
environmentalists who hate the OHV sport. Whatever
the issue is, it is causing MAJOR problems with
the way our taxpayer, and OHV rider funded OHV
parks are being funded, and is thus is starting to
close our beloved OHV parks left and right…
Why Us? – Well,
we aren’t just going to sit around and let our
trails go to Heck, closed every spring because
someone was driving legally on a designated route
and OHV trail. We, the varied group of volunteers,
stepped up this spring and spent a thousand hours
cutting trees, fixing ruts, filling puddles,
picking up trash, and even are paying to have the
toilets pumped and cleaned.This is
just at Foresthill. This all takes
TIME and MONEY, of which most of us have already
tapped the bank (and our spouses are completely
fed up).
So the Forest Service is
always saying there is the constant threat of our
OHV trails being closed, whether it be from water
quality, illegal usage, dumping, maintenance, or
just plain lack money. The system for distribution
of the Federal and OHV funds is broken and the
lawmakers need to fix it. But changes in
legislation is still is years in the making and
doesn’t solve our current issues at the moment.
Now what? -
What we need is for you to help. Now. Donate your
time. Donate your materials. Donate your services.
Donate your money. Most people think that just
because you send out a letter everything will be
OK, but what is needed is YOU. If YOU are part
of FOFOT or another volunteer group, what matters
is that you are contributing to keeping the trails
open and support OHV recreation and our legal
places to ride .
