Virtual on-line Rally

[Dirty LJ]

El Dorado County : Friday March 7th, 2008

Virtual on-line Rally to be Held by 4x4 Enthusiasts
Off Highway Vehicle enthusiasts organize to hold first ever online
rally over trail closures


In a landmark event, thousands of Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) users
across the world will participate in a online, Virtual Rally to voice
their concerns over a popular OHV area in Southern California . On
Wednesday March 12th, 2008 Pirate4x4.com, a leading website for the
OHV community, will hold this rally from 2 to 6 PM PST.

The Hammers trail system in Johnson Valley , California is being
considered for requisition to expand the Untied States Marine Corps
training facilities, which would effectively eliminate public access
to Johnson Valley 's unrivaled OHV Mecca.

Virtual Rally participants will be asked to post their experiences,
photos and history recreating with their families in the Johnson
Valley Area, and the concerns they have with losing this unique
recreational resource. These comments will be posted and tracked in
bulletin-board format, with a goal of creating a lasting record of
how important this unassuming stretch of desert is to a vast number
of people from many places -- some who visit Johnson Valley multiple
times a year, and others who just dream of the opportunity of
visiting the Hammers in the future. Interested parties are
encouraged to attend the rally and read the thread, as this is a
public rally, you do not need to be a member of Pirate4x4.com to read
what is posted.

Families and clubs have recreated in this area for many years with
OHV's, and competitive rock crawling, rock racing, motorcycling, and
ATV events have been held there for more than a decade, with
significant rewards for the area economy. In February, the
famed "King of the Hammers" annual rock race crowned its king.

The Bureau of Land Management currently manages the Johnson Valley 's
varied landscape of steep red rocky mountains, rolling hills, open
valleys, dry lake beds, dunes, and sandy washes. The main attraction
for most visitors is family OHV recreation: trail-rides, competitive
racing events, and general OHV free play. Johnson Valley sees
hundreds of thousands of recreation days with users motorcycling,
ATVing, 4x4ing, rallycrossing, camping, hiking, rock-hounding, and
wildlife-watching.

"It is ironic that the BLM has OHV users recreate responsibly by
staying on marked trails and not having campfires at certain times of
the year, but now they sell the same area to the Marines who will
tear all over the area and conduct live fire drills", said Todd
Ockert, The United Four Wheel Drive Association Director of
Environmental Affairs.



More information is available at www.pirate4x4.com
The link for the rally on Wednesday, March 12th will be
www.pirate4x4.com/jv

[Special Ed]

I have have not ever been to Johnson Valley yet but I heard it has some outstandind wheeling and riding. It would be a shame to loose this. I would like to visit it one day. We need to make our voices heard. Here's a link for more info. http://www.ingear4x4.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=889