FJUNKIE wrote:

Ok, second version of my lost-in-space post. My buddy came back from camping and was really angry. I asked him why and this is what he said. New land management laws for AZ State land (not private land) went into effect May 1 2012. This has been kept very quiet. Gov Brewer decided not to veto them. They eliminate, redraw and reclassify trails and camping spots. Trails can be opened or closed at their discretion. If you are caught on an under 52 inch width only vehicle trail, horse only trail, closed trail, or not on a trail designated on the map - $1,500.00 fine. The trail does NOT need to be marked as new maps are available at ranger stations and it is the responsibility of the traveler to find out if it is open or closed or exists on the map. He went camping in Blue Ridge over Memorial Day. His spot of 40 years was reclassified a non-camping spot so he can never camp there again. In his 40 years he saw a total of 3 Rangers. He saw over 20 Rangers that weekend and they were writing ticket after ticket. He spoke to one and the Ranger said he felt bad but was told if they don't write a ticket for EVERY violation they see that they would be fired. My buddy also spoke with a guy that was following the legislation and told him that this will be the first of three stages. If we want to know what it would be like after stage three to look at Utah. Apparently AZ is following what Utah did. I don't know what that means and I have not had a chance to research this further. Anybody with information or that can dig up some facts I think would be helpful to the group.

Sucks indeed, but remember state trust land is NOT public land. The state issues permit for the use of the land and they can revoke your permit.

www.land.state.az.us/p...Permit.pdf

I found out more about this. If anyone is interested in reading about it, google search for "Agenda 21". Not good.

Martinez Canyon now has an official sign, until someone removes it or puts holes in it.

It's sad, but at least the message is clear and the people who didn't believe it before, will believe it now.

For your open/closed list, the trails called "Jawbreaker" and "Woody's Wash" used to be awesome rock crawls out there in FJ and they were closed. "X" was a trail that someone forgot to tell the BLM about when they did their inventory. It's conspicuously absent from the travel management plan although there's absolutely no reason that it should have been eliminated. It's a few hundred yards of bone dry rock and grit with nary a tortoise in sight.

Also, under "closed" you can list every named trail in the white tank area. There should be lots of red on that list. Landslide, Turtle Falls, Firebird, Tax Collector, Ruler, and a bunch more I can't think of off the top of my head...

BellyDoc wrote:

Also, under "closed" you can list every named trail in the white tank area. There should be lots of red on that list. Landslide, Turtle Falls, Firebird, Tax Collector, Ruler, and a bunch more I can't think of off the top of my head...

Are these temporary closures while they (Buckeye?) organize the off-road recreation area or are they history?

thx Doc

AZFJTOY wrote:

BellyDoc wrote: Also, under "closed" you can list every named trail in the white tank area. There should be lots of red on that list. Landslide, Turtle Falls, Firebird, Tax Collector, Ruler, and a bunch more I can't think of off the top of my head... Are these temporary closures while they (Buckeye?) organize the off-road recreation area or are they history?

In dealing with government one finds when things are taken they seldom are givin back. Hopefully this will not be the case.

holy crap, i havent been wheeling in the FJ area for about 5-6 years. thats where i learned to ride dirtbikes and wheel my Land Cruiser.

i am running to Desert Rat right after work to get a new copy of the Charles Wells book. my 1st edition is in tatters. looking at the funtreks website, the appendix is totally different.

Martinez Cabin/Canyon and Ajax were some of my favorites. lots of good memories out there

AZFJTOY wrote:

BellyDoc wrote: Also, under "closed" you can list every named trail in the white tank area. There should be lots of red on that list. Landslide, Turtle Falls, Firebird, Tax Collector, Ruler, and a bunch more I can't think of off the top of my head... Are these temporary closures while they (Buckeye?) organize the off-road recreation area or are they history?

The details of this issue would be most accurately represented by My1stjeep. That's Chris, and he's intimately involved with the AZOHVC and it's efforts. Here's what I understand.

The WT region used to be BLM land. Then, it was appropriated by the City of Buckeye in order to make a park. Apparently, the original plan involved OHV use, or at least they paid lip service to that. However, the land grab requires working within the BLM framework. The City of Buckeye can have the land if they prove to use it according to the BLM's criteria during a period of time. In working within that constraint, the plan set forth by the City had to go through an Environmental Impact Study and somewhere along the line, they dropped off the evaluation of OHV use. Consequently when the study passed, OHV use was no longer part of the plan. The AZOHVC, on behalf of the OHV community has pushed for the addition of OHV use and an additional EIS to support it, and to their credit, the City appears to be receptive. However, there are funding limitations.

If you look at the City of Buckeye website for the project, it sure looks like they have other plans that work at cross purposes to ours. They're basically wanting to build a series of hiking trails and ramadas. I doubt they'll be upset if the OHV issue just dries up and blows away. It will require a continued pressure from us to fight this.

rovnrev wrote:

holy crap, i havent been wheeling in the FJ area for about 5-6 years. thats where i learned to ride dirtbikes and wheel my Land Cruiser. i am running to Desert Rat right after work to get a new copy of the Charles Wells book. my 1st edition is in tatters. looking at the funtreks website, the appendix is totally different. Martinez Cabin/Canyon and Ajax were some of my favorites. lots of good memories out there

Here is the current travel plan for that area. Basically if the trail is not on the map it is then closed. It is up to you to know where you can and cannot go. Some of the trails listed in the book may now be closed.

azfj.org/index.php?nam...pic&t=4962

Thank you for the updates. This is a surprise, I had thought Buckeye actually looked forward to creating an OHV area. Since I live very close to the White Tanks I was looking forward to eventually running trails there.

Is there a specific person or office we can call to encourage their thoughts?

Awesome, been looking for a thread like this!

CROSS posted to the FRP thread

Friends of Redington Pass posted up this CAT travel management plan from the USFS on April 3rd.
trello.com/c/WYjhWRJz/...t-helps-to

Looks like Mt. Lemmon is going to fare the worst with no more camping within 300' of the road.
As for Redington Pass
Here you can clearly see the re-route of FR4431 around the mud area near Chimney rock, but most of the rest of the routes are not touched.