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The annual Christmas party and December meeting was held on Saturday, December 7, 2002 at the St. Anthony Conservation Club. Members present were: Jim and Tina Phillips, Rich and Melissa Reisz, Allen Popp and Brenda Angel, Daniel Weisman, George Deel, Heath Eckerle, Bill McFall, John and Billie Deel, Billy and Lisa Chaplin, Steve Roach and Kendra Ryan, Glenn and Lori Coe, Rodney Gogel and April Mehling, Dave Wettstain, Chuck Sadler and Liz Reed, Chad Sadler and Jan Fleck, Mark Cowans and Tanya Masterson, Tom Mullen and Carla Cooper, Chuck Aldridge, and Greg Mauzey. Preston Taylor attended as a guest. Chuck Sadler won the top prize, a High Lift jack. Points of discussion during the meeting were upcoming events: January 9, 10, and 11th-Thunder Nationals in Evansville. January 17, 18, and 19th-Chill on the Hill 4 at Mt. Watson. There will also be a meeting held at this event on Saturday, January 18th at 4:00 pm. February 7, 8 , and 9th-IFWDA Convention at French Lick Springs Hotel. March 21, 22 and 23rd-trail ride at LBL. Half pot was $15.00 won by Rich Reisz. We will no longer keep track of club points. I hope everyone had a Happy New Year start. May everyone prosper in 2003. Hope to see everyone at least once at some type of Boonie event in 2003. Til next time...smile and be safe! From a recent DNR newsfax- important OHV information for our area! The Interlake property will be temporarily closed to all motorized and non-motorized bicycles, horses and dogs from November 16th - January 31st. This is a major safety issue as this is hunting season (deer and small game). It will also be closed from the last week of April through the 1st or 2nd week of May for Turkey season. Bush opens up backcountry trails to vehicles Jan. 1 - The Bush administration, in a move that has outraged environmentalists, is about to hand a big victory to Westerners who want to use a post-Civil War-era law to punch dirt-bike trails and roads into the backcountry. Untallied thousands of miles of long-abandoned wagon roads, cattle paths, Jeep trails and miners' routes potentially could be transformed into roads -- some of them paved. Many crisscross national parks, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas. Scheduled to go into effect shortly, the rule change was greeted warmly by off-road vehicle enthusiasts, whose numbers have exploded in recent years. Many oppose attempts to fence off wilderness areas where mechanized vehicles are banned. Where miners and wagons trains went, so should dirt bikes, they say. "We consider it a pretty substantial gain," said Clark Collins, executive director of the Blueribbon Coalition, an advocacy group for snowmobilers, dirt-bike and all-terrain-vehicle riders and 4X4 enthusiasts based in Pocatello, Idaho. "That historic use in our view should provide for continued recreational use of those routes," he said. "The government should not be allowed to close those routes." Environmentalists say the amount of noise pollution, erosion, water pollution and other harm done to the backcountry will depend largely on how the rule is handled by the Bush administration. And they're worried. "I don't think Congress in 1866 meant to grant rights of way to off-road-vehicle trails," said Heidi McIntosh of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. "This is flying under the radar screen, but I can't think of another initiative the Bush administration is pursuing that would have a more lasting and significant impact on public lands." In Washington state, huge areas -- including parts of North Cascades National Park -- are honeycombed by old mining trails that could be promoted by off-road-vehicle devotees as open to motorized traffic. Other national parks that could be affected include Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias and Rocky Mountain. A 1993 National Park Service report said the impact across 17.5 million acres in 68 national parks could be "devastating." The law was originally passed when Jesse James was just starting to rob banks and the U.S. cavalry was still fighting Indians. roads-for-lands provision of the old mining law. However, at the time Congress gave states and counties 12 years to settle their old road claims. Ten years later, Congress in effect extended the deadline. But the |
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