Juniper in TCH

[Grumpy]

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2013/04/2 ... dunes.html


This is good as far as it goes to cure the problem. The root of the issue never seems to be mentioned however. That would be the abject failure on the part of BLM and Congress, which has the final say on establishment of wilderness, to address access when Juniper was first lined out. It was said by a BLM staffer at the time, "Oh well". Great attitude on the part of a public employee.

Given the above scenario, it is my opinion that BLM should be held solely responsible for remediation of the problem. It was their lack of proper procedure that caused this, and they should be the lead in curing it. What little I've seen of their Resource Management Plan doesn't address this as it should, and I believe their feet should be held to the fire until it is. (Are you listening Doc?)

Dave Walters
Tri Cities Peak Putters
Land Use Coordinator

[OldGreen]

I would like to point out, to any visitor of this site and others that may be confused: Mr. Folsom, the writer of the above article, stated that the Peak Putters, ". . . takes four wheel drive vehicles into Juniper Dunes Wilderness." While it is true that we recreate in the Juniper Dunes area, we do so completely legally and ONLY outside of the Wilderness area in designated OHV areas.

Over the years, our organization has been, and continues to be, a steward of this area by leaving it better than we found it, fighting fires, and advocating for responsible use and access of our local public lands. This activity benefits not only our club, but the Juniper Dunes area itself and our local community.

Mr. Retterer did a fine job of articulating our position in the article, but Mr. Folsom simply made a contextual error that, while it may seem harmless to most, implies that we are willfully breaking the law. This is not the case and I'm sure that the Harold will be informed and issue a correction.

[Grumpy]

E-mail being composed, and I will add your concern. Thanks Jimmy!

[Grumpy]

Dave Walters <grumpyscoutii>

11:16 AM (0 minutes ago)

to gfolsom
Glad to see something getting in the paper about this, but, boy, did you stick our foot in it! We DO NOT drive in the wilderness! It may be a good thing if you could clarify that the dunes are split into two areas, wilderness and OHV. We are, in fact, one of the prime stewards of this area, and take that obligation very seriously!

I have posted my comments on line, and feel very strongly about them. I would like to take the opportunity to invite you to meet with those of us working on the Juniper access, and maybe get more feel than what a short phone conversation may glean for you. Seems the anti OHV crew is getting the bulk of the publicity, and I think it's time for that to change. You interested in helping balance the scales a little?


Dave Walters
Tri Cities Peak Putters
Land Use Coordinator
509-528-9492

[iaccocca]

Thank you Geoff Folsom for contacting our club for comment about accessing Juniper Dunes. I enjoyed our conversation and am glad The Tri-City herald is continuing to cover access issues to the dunes. I would like to make two clarifications. Primarily, the article says Peak Putters take "four-wheel drive vehicles into Juniper Dunes Wilderness." We never do, never have and never will. The wilderness area of Juniper is closed to all mechanical vehicles, even down to pull-carts. If you want to enjoy the wilderness area you have to do it with muscle power alone; on foot or on a horse. And access issues are important to the folks that enjoy that aspect of Juniper also. A smaller area of Juniper is open to all uses and that is where we recreate, along with other OHV users.
Secondly, the article states that we pass a "no trespassing sign", all users that access Juniper do. That is true and the article shares my concern that we are uneasy about that. What I would like to also share is that we did not take that lightly and we have contacted both BLM and the Sheriff's department to make sure that we are not in the wrong.
For years the Peak Putters have been stewards of Juniper, always leaving the area better than we found it. We have gone as far as offering to maintain some of the roads out there in conversations with BLM. When we took two of your reporters on a 'run' out there, much of the article turned to the fact we took time to clean up after others. http://www.peakputters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1961
Thank you again for contacting me. Please accept an open invitation to come to one of our monthly meetings if you would like more information about our concerns. Also, accept an invitation to come along on a run with us to Juniper, we always have an open seat and like to share our passion.

Lee Retterer
TriCities Peak Putters

[Grumpy]

[Grumpy]

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2013/04/2 ... ni_popular#wgt=pop


There are two comments on the piece, neither what I'd call friendly! I think the time has come, finally, to ramp up our involvement, and get pretty noisy in the process...I would really like to see some serious counters to the opinions in those two comments, and pressure put on the grant agency from the users... I know a few of you think I'm a bit of a nut case on some of this, but we're really in danger of becoming persona non grata in any land use decisions on public lands! This is home, and we need to put the pressure on!

[Grumpy]

The pot stirring has begun

[Grumpy]

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2013/08/1 ... plans.html

[TJDave]

'bout time.

[Grumpy]

Still got that 2016 thing to deal with. I find that out of line, but then I've been accused of being a mite radical...

[TJDave]

Well, the article did say they were going ahead and will look to get reimbursed. Maybe they will do the whole job?
I can dream.

[Grumpy]

Not sure. This sounds like R-O-W acquisition and design more than anything...

[pascoscout]

Grumpy is correct. Right of way and design first. Should start next year on that. We (Franklin County) meet with FHWA towards the end of this year to iron out the details and final schedule.

Construction will occur in 2016 if congress continues funding this program. The transportation program is MAP-21 (Moving ahead for progress in the 21st Century), the specific division thats funding the project is the Western Federal Lands Highway Division. Contact your local congressman and let him know you want this funded through 2016.

Still a ways to go an alot of hurdles to get over but we're working hard on it.