I was there! It was raining, and the 'creek' was still dry, although everything else was wet. Lots of famous people, reporters from kntv & channel 2... Lots of fun. Apparently a judge is supposed to be reviewing the case asap and there was hope that good things may happen. I really don't know what is going to happen.
Apparently the lack of sea lions on pier 39 was more important than Carnegie so it was not shown again on Ch 2 However it appears Carnegie will not be closing in the immediate future - at least for the next 2 weeks. If you click on the link you would need to scan that page well to see this information, but it is there: http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=26096 On Monday, December 28th, the First District Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, issued a “temporary stay”, as requested by the Attorney General’s office on behalf of California State Parks. The order from the Appellate Court prevents enforcement of the lower court ruling that would have closed the park on December 29th. Plaintiffs in the case now have until January 6th to respond to the petition filed by the Attorney General and demonstrate why there would be irreparable harm, if any, from permitting or prohibiting off-highway vehicle activity in the park, until the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board takes action on the ROWD filed by State Parks. State Parks has until January 11th to respond to the plaintiff’s brief. The park remains open until the Court of Appeals renders its final decision.
Coffee, Thats excellent news for now, was out there yesterday and it was great seeing big OHV support in Northern Ca. Also the courts need to take note and recognize that when a hell bent environmentalist lays down a law suit it's going to cost some $ and time to get the facts straight. These costs should be passed on to the suer (sewer) then they might think twice and get a life.
If you think this is over I would say guess again. There are several groups trying to get the park closed and I think all are watching this close. As posted on TT, read all that is on this site "http://www.teslapark.org/" and you'll see. There is an agenda to all of this
Oh, good grief... It never ends, does it? Thanks for the heads-up, CKPC. I'd never heard of this effort. WoodsChick
From the site posted above... I'd have to say, yes, this is a good use for family fun. With billions of acres of unused land for hiking use (that never gets used) why not allocate some of it to off road rec. it is already there. We are using economic impact studies up here to try and keep ride land open. Small communities never realized how much money ORV'ers spend in the local community (grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants etc.) until a local ride area gets closed. Go talk to those local people directly and get them on board. We are trying to establish some evidence of this to point at for future argument. It seems to be peaking some interest in a area up here call Reiter pit, they closed / limited use of it and local businesses are seeing a big impact in local revenue. Have to fight it from all angles if you have any chance of winning or at least holding your ground, literally. When a local restaurant sees a 70% reduction in customers over the weekend because a local ride area gets closed they are all about helping you fight that fight. Find them and get them on TV.
If you are not familiar with the Bay Area looking at pictures of Carnegie would make you believe, if your a none rider, that yes the bikes make trails and can and do cause erosion. The park is run by the State and makes changes all the time to trails and such as well as the creek to keep things in check. The fact is this area is in a remote(for the Bay Area) canyon and is bordered by a Fedral firearm range/explosive test site, that is listed on the Fed. Super Fund clean up list. Only one road goes through the area and besides Carnegie users and the range users, it is used by thousands daily trying to aviod a mess of a commute on the main interstate 580. Most of the Bay Area has open space laws so we have thousands of acres that are untouched, as well as parks. Carnegie has been used for OHV since the 50's and then became a State run OHV area. We as residents that own bikes,quads, 4x4's cover the cost of this park and all the other State OHV areas with our license fees plus the entry fees to use tha park. Carnegie does not effect any views of home owners and most in the Bay Area have no idea where it is. This is nothing more then an attempt to ban OHV plain and simple.. Even if the park is causing some enviormental issues it pales in comparison to at least a hundred if not more sites in the Bay Area that really need attention. Why not file a suit against the range across the road? Why Carnegie, because the Bay Area is full of the wanna be enviormentalists and the group doing this knows it can drum up more support here then the rural areas of the State. The people behind this are anti OHV and that seems to be there #1 focus.
Calif is a bastion of hypocritical uber-libs foaming at the mouth with their latest arm-chair-warrior-of-hate inspired agenda's waiving over thier pointy little uniformed and overly book-smart heads. I've been down this road so many times it aint even funny. Many of you have too. 90% of all these 'studies' and such are ploys. The State makes little or nothing off OHV parks or State Parks in general and, it takes eons for them to generate revenue. They do, however, make a killing off devolopement and bidding wars. I've seen literally hundred's of thousands of acres 'studied' then closed then go off the radar....then only to be devoloped. Then, those same hater's that spurred these movements move into these areas and claim it. I see it all the time where I pedal and twist a grip. All the time. PV, The Dez, the Santa Monica Mountains, Angeles Forest, San Bernadino Forest...the list goes on. Now hear this- Calif. will not rest untill it is fully paved over. Grass-roots movements make a huge diff. A couple couldn't care less about OHV and only care about racing. I won't mention names. But prior points were well made in keeping pencils sharp and voices tuned up. Donate what you can. Money Talks. This is about money, not principal in a State with a bazillion dollar deficit. The Other Side has very deep pockets and little substance. The only thing We need to do for Evil to triumph is Nothing. And that Sea Lion missing thing on the news was rediculous. Prime example of our state controled media at work. Yeh- nothing else worth mentioining going on around there, nah...
Found the link! http://www.ktvu.com/video/22076779/index.html And this 'new' site seems to have been started. This has been a long time coming, the .com version of the url was once purchased then let expire, that was initially purchased 5 years ago. Someone posted on another forum that it is owned by Celeste Garamendi, the brother of the former insurance commissioner (high ranking official). http://www.teslapark.org/ There is a pdf news article attached indicating she and her husband own land near Carnegie, my understanding is quite close, ergo financial in addition to personal reasons for campaigning to have the place shut down - even though it has been open for decades. It seems, as always, to find out what is really going on, all people need to do is follow the trail of money. Here is another article http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061126/A_NEWS/611260323/0/A_NEWS01 Ah the fun never ends... My understanding is another court date is tomorrow. If anyone wants to ride there I would recommend sooner, rather than later. Link to information on John Garamendi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Garamendi
And I blatently stole this from another forum (south bay riders), that forum will probably have the most up to date information regarding this issue: http://www.southbayriders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89639 Contact City Editor Eric Firpo at 830-4223 or efirpo@tracypress.com The owner of a large family ranch that borders the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area has a hand in an environmental lawsuit that aims to limit pollution in the off-road park that flows into Corral Hollow Creek. Mark Connolly of the Connolly Ranch is a member of California Sportfishing Alliance and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, court records show, the two groups that filed a lawsuit Sept. 17 against the state parks department. Attorneys for the groups convinced Alameda County Judge Frank Roesch to order the park closed until parks officials produce a plan to limit how much silt and other pollution streams into Corral Hollow Creek, which has shown high amounts of copper, zinc, aluminum and other metals in tests. The state attorney general’s office appealed the ruling, however, and now the state’s First District Court of Appeal will take up the case. The court also postponed the park’s scheduled closure Tuesday. The environmental groups have until Jan. 6 to argue that the park would be badly damaged if left open during the time it takes to get a permit from the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Though parks officials point to industrial uses by neighbors that surround the park, the lawsuit says water samples taken from creeks outside the park have little heavy metal contamination, yet samples inside the park show high levels of heavy metals. The attorney general has until Jan. 11 to respond to the environmental groups’ arguments, and if the parks service prevails, the park will remain open indefinitely. If the environmental groups emerge on top, the park will likely close until officials from the parks department receive a water board permit. Connolly was part of the original lawsuit filed Sept. 17 through a declaration attached to the lawsuit, and on Dec. 18, he submitted papers opposing the postponement of Carnegie’s closure and said he could act as a witness, to testify about erosion he personally has seen. Connolly said in court papers that he routinely drives through the off-road park to get to his home on the 130-year-old ranch, which is several thousand acres in size. Connolly said in his filing that Dec. 14, for the first time, he saw signs at the park that designated one area as a creek crossing, though he said motorcycle riders continue to plow through the creek bottom. Connolly submitted photographs and argued throughout the seven-page document that use of the motorcycle trails and work by state heavy-equipment operators cause silt to pour into the creek. Though Connolly is a lawyer, court records show other lawyers are working on the case. Connolly has known Bill Jennings, the head of the Sportfishing Alliance, for more than 20 years, the two said, and Jennings said he’s been a regular at Connolly’s annual picnic. Jennings said Connolly has in the past suggested that the alliance look into pollution problems at Carnegie, but when asked if Connolly asked him to sue the park, Jennings said, “No.” The Sportfishing Alliance is interested in water pollution wherever it occurs, Jennings said, even in a seasonal creek that dries up in farm fields most winters before it connects to the San Joaquin Delta. The Sportfishing Alliance also fights to protect vernal pools and other waterways, and Jennings said he’s worked on the off-road Rubicon Trail in Lake Tahoe with the Public Employees group, which he said independently decided to fight pollution at Carnegie. Connolly said he’s a member of the Public Employees group because he believes in environmental responsibility. He said he’s talked with the group about Carnegie since the lawsuit was filed, but he had little discussion about the off-road park with the group before that. It’s unclear how the Public Employees group became involved in Carnegie, though the group has worked to stanch pollution and environmental damage at other off-road areas. Karen Schambach of the Public Employees environmental group could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Connolly is the husband of Celeste Garamendi, whose brother John Garamedi is California’s lieutenant governor and a Democratic candidate for the East Bay’s 10th Congressional District. The lieutenant governor has won political endorsements and received financial donations from the Service Employees International Union, which represents large numbers of public employees, campaign records show. Connolly called any suggestion that there could be a connection between the Public Employees lawsuit and the Service Employees’ political support for his wife’s brother a “conspiracy theory” with no basis in fact. ò Contact City Editor Eric Firpo at 830-4223 or efirpo@tracypress.com.
Now we know why a hole like Carnegie was picked as the target, some BigWig's want their property values to go up. What better way then to use an eviormental group to file a lawsuit so it doesn't come back on them. Of course years from now when it's closed and the park is gone then I am sure we will see that area developed for big $$$$.
That sure sounds like where this is all going. To bad too. Because they will get away with exactly that. Someone should take some before and after pictures.
I was out there yesterday riding and taking it all in.....could very well have been my last rideThe place was packed, riders were eveywhere, all the MX tracks were being used. I parked up on a hill that over looked the valley and was truely pissed about this whole issue!
Meanwhile, in our neck of the woods, we (SDAR) were given an tract at Corral Canyon OHV area to build a new singletrack trail by the Forest Service. Rangers were on hand to give us ground rules on trail building. The Jeep club also was work on their new trail and another group of people were building the "tot lot", a track for youngsters to get some safe rider education on. We also adopted an existing trail, that our club helps maintain. Get involved with your local rangers. It might do some good. It did for us.
Please confirm, the Corral Canyon of which you speak is in Southern California, right? Carnegie is also referred to as Corral Canyon at times.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/cleveland/recreation/ohv/corral.shtml Corral Canyon is located in the Cleveland National Forest, south of I-8 off of the main road Buckman Springs and on the road called Morena Stokes road also known as Corral Canyon road to some. Nearest landmark is Lake Morena and to the south, the "town" of Campo. Then you are practically on the border.
Here's a link to the actual event. Pages one through 3 were just the planning stages and page four is where the pictures and write up begins. SO I started the link there. http://www.dualsport-sd.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6252&pid=62515&st=45&#entry62515
