Need the Planet's Help! Save Johnson Valley petition

I know it is Dakar time, but we dont have much time to sign this Petition to have the White House look over and reply to why the Marines need to take all 140,000 acres of JV's Off Highway Vehicle area (OHV). If Johnson Valley is lost we will also lose the King of the Hammer's which we all know RG has been a fan of and did last year. Was told he was signed up to do it again this year. Several other off-road race series also use Johnson Valley and those series will lose their place to put on races. BTW the Marines have stated they only need the land for less then 2 months a year, yet it will remain closed forever. How does that make fiscal sense? This only takes minutes to do and the long term effect of Saving Johnson Valley could be saving other area's, as taking open public land seems to have a ripple effect.

Johnson Valley is the largest OHV area in California. More then twice the size of Glamis and all the Imperial Sand Dunes.

Save Johnson Valley Petition / Whitehouse.gov

We petition the Obama administration to:

Save the Johnson Valley OHV Area. Be fiscally responsible. Stop 29 Palms Marine base expansion. Keep public lands open.

With utmost respect for our nation’s military and national defense, we request our government deny any request by the US Marines to acquire 140K acres of public land designated for OHV use in Johnson Valley, CA for the purpose of expanding the 29 Palms Marine base. Expanding the world’s largest Marine base will cost tax payers millions and the Marines have publicly stated the land is only needed 2 months a year. Economic reports show neighboring communities and small businesses could lose $100 Million annually due to base expansion. The Marines current expansion plan is unnecessary and fiscally irresponsible. We request our government encourage the Marines to work with the public and obtain permits from the BLM to meet training objectives instead of closing this land to the public forever.
Created: Jan 15, 2013 Closes Feb 14, 2013

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by NIKAL on January 18, 2013 at 12:11pm

BTW we only need 14,000 more signatures to make this happen. I dont know if anyone heard but the other day the President chose to increase the number to 100,000 signatures for all future "we the People" petitions. So much for "We the People" This process was established so we have a voice and can be heard. The original number of signatures was 5,000. Then the Whitehouse chose to quadruple that number to 25,000. When that has not stopped people, they have now chose to quadruple that to 100,000. If we dont get this though this time we will have to get 100,000 signatures just to be heard.

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Permalink Reply by Vlad Rogers on January 18, 2013 at 12:18pm

Wow, I spent many, many, many weekends out there racing MDR and La Rana

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Permalink Reply by NIKAL on January 18, 2013 at 1:09pm

I know this is a non race thread, but can this be kept on the front page for a few days? This is really important and being on the front page where the majority of the traffic is at would help allot.

Without Johnson Valley there is no King of the Hammers. With no King of the Hammers, there will be no Race Discussion of RG in this event. Also RG has used Johnson Valley for testing both the TT and Hummers. This is an important place for the off-road communally, but also the rock hounds and people who just love the outdoors. Imagine having a business in the community and know you might be closing your doors if you lose all your customer base!

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Permalink Reply by Vlad Rogers on January 18, 2013 at 1:15pm

This affect Robby. Seems like a great place for it

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Permalink Reply by Wally Meier on January 18, 2013 at 3:03pm

Done! It's easy folks and really needs to be done. you can also "Share" the link NIKAL put up to your Facebook page, the more people this reaches the better.

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Permalink Reply by NIKAL on January 18, 2013 at 5:45pm

I dont do Facebook, but feel we could reach more people on the Planet if it was on the main page, even if only for a few days.

Lets face it the next few days of Dakar are just going through the motions. Nothing is going to be gained for RG. Not to say that following and supporting him is not great. But I'm starting to big picture our future in the wold of off-roading or just using out public lands. The future is not bright folks! In the last 20 years I have see huge change in where we ride, camp and how we enjoy our public lands. It is getting smaller & smaller and this sort of thing is just not in the USA. Mexico has change in a big way too.

California has always been in the for front and what happens here typically flows into other states. As of Jan 1st we now have new UTV and helmet laws. Huge solar & wind farms are popping up on public land. Why is it they always are granted land that was open top OHV's Why isn't land that is already closed off to us, use for wind, solar or Military expansion?

Could if be we are easy targets? Could it be that the environmentalist would really rather see the Military blow up and tromp over every bush, vs having some off-road vehicles run established trails 9 months of the year? Because really no one uses the deserts in the hot summer months. So their is at least 3 months where very few if any use those lands.

At State Line in NV the environmentalist have fought to close and keep off-roaders off that land, yet years ago they allowed the permit process to go through potentially allowing an airport to be built on that land. Air ports are all concrete and asphalt! Every bit of wild life will be killed off in a several mile radius. What about the original Mint 400 course? Closed it off and years later they mowed it all down and built homes on that land?

Why is their a Mark Miller thread on the main page? Because he spoke about RG? Well RG uses Johnson Valley and races the King of the Hammers in Johnson Valley!

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Permalink Reply by J.R. Sands on January 18, 2013 at 9:24pm

https://www.facebook.com/KingofTheHammers for FB.Welcome to a very special King of the Hammers edition of the Pirate4x4.com newsletter!

Is everyone geared up for the fun and excitement of this year's King of the Hammers Race? Everyone at Pirate4x4.com sure is!

Before we get to the good stuff, we have to deal with a very serious issue. The Government wants to take Johnson Valley, CA from us to use as an expansion for 29 Palms Marine Base. While we support and respect the brave men and women who defend this great nation, we feel that our tax dollars could be better spent somewhere else while Johnson Valley remains free for public use. Please take the time time to sign the petition (link below) to Save Johnson Valley! We appreciate your support.

In addition to more information on the issues facing Johnson Valley, we've also included some great threads about King of the Hammers and a YouTube video of last year's highlights.

Thanks for reading! Remember to sign the petition and we'll see you there!

-Your Pirate4x4.com Staff

Save the Johnson Valley OHV Area
Be fiscally responsible. Stop 29 Palms Marine base expansion. Keep public lands open.

PLEASE sign this petition to the President - JV related, we are winning this fight!!!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/save-johnson-valley-ohv-a...

You have to sign up to sign. We need 25,000 Signatures (1000/day)

Please help us help you.

We are winning this fight. The Marine Corp was supposed to announce their Record of Decision in May... then November...still hasn't happened.

We have succeeded in passing legislation to fight the expansion and we have congressional support.

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Permalink Reply by Scott on January 18, 2013 at 6:07pm

Thanks for making this so easy NIKAL. My family has enjoyed riding in Johnson Valley for years. It is so much safer than the small sand lot that the government has left us to ride in Glamis.