Lost Lizard
The 17th Lost Lizard Off-road Fun Run is now complete and a great time was had by all. I have been a part of a lot of these events and this time everything went right. Well, almost everything. The PA went out during the raffle (generator was on eco mode) and someone pulled out 1/2 mile of route markers on Friday (Rick and Mark got them replaced in time). Everyone loved the route, we had a number of off-road and food vendors at base camp, signup was organized, the raffle went well and the checkpoints were fun. Best checkpoint went to the San Diego FJ Cruiser Club with skeletons and Otter Pops. A big round of applause goes to Tierra Del Sol 4X4 club, who not only brought a dunk tank to our event, but donated $10,000 to SDORC plus all the money they raised at the dunk tank ($5 for three throws). We had the right size crowd, enough to make good money, but not so many that the check points bogged down. A lot of people did a lot of great work to make this event a success. We couldn’t have done it without Audrey, KJ, Rob, Tim, Rick, Mark, Austin, Lauren, Steve, Jeff, Diana, Kristin, Robin, Desiree, Norm, Nicole, Boyer, Juan Jose, Tom, Arc Trooper, San Diego FJ Cruisers, South Coast RV Service, Lifestyle Garage and TDS 4X4 Club. I’m sorry if I forgot anyone else.

Red Rock Canyon
California State Parks is forming a new management plan for Red Rock Canyon State Park. This is a park by Highway 14 between Jawbone Canyon and Dove Springs and north of Lancaster. The park is about 25,000 acres and is well loved for its beautiful landscape and routes. The State is accepting comments on a draft management plan now until December 16. The most disturbing aspect of the draft plan is that it eliminates off-highway vehicle use in the park. Currently, green sticker vehicles are allowed, so this is a problem. I encourage anyone who cares about keeping off-road access there to comment. See the draft plan here.
Go here to send comments.

Johnson Valley Shared Use Area
29 Palms Marine Corps Base is right next door to Johnson Valley BLM Open OHV area and has the right to close part of the area for up to two 30-day periods per year for military training. The Marines have opened a comment period to allow the public to tell the Marines anything that is bothering them about the shared use area. The shared use area is 56,000 acres, so, if you have anything to tell the Marines about sharing, your chance is now through December 9. At a recent Desert Advisory Council meeting it was announced that “The Marine Corps plans to utilize the Johnson Valley Shared Use Area in Fiscal Year 2023 in October (10/18-11/1) and February (2/17-2/28), the latter of which occurs during the Presidents’ Day Holiday.” Click here for details.

30X30
You may have heard that the state and federal government both want to “protect” 30% of the land and waters in the state and country by the year 2030. We took a look at the map of the protected land and was disturbed to see how much land that is believed to be already protected, but is not shown on the map as protected. We would like to know exactly what the criteria is for protecting land. The published map is a little hard to understand, so I emailed the provided contact, but didn’t hear back. I then called the number on the website and was asked to send an email to the person I was speaking with. They said they would forward, but we have yet to have anyone contact us.

We believe more than 30% of California land is already well protected, but we are worried they will come up “short” and take land that we love to off-road on. We will stay on this and keep you posted. Click here for more information.

Miscellaneous
SDORC will be holding a cleanup in Ocotillo Wells by the 4X4 training area in the north on December 3, 8:00 am till noon. On December 10, we will be helping the Cleveland National Forest trim trails and pick up trash at Corral Canyon starting at 8:30 am. We are helping collect, so bring a toy for tots.

Listen to SDORC Off Road Radio live Sundays 12:00 to 1:00 pm on AM 1170 The Answer. You can also hear Audrey and Ed on past shows on our website here.

We are talking about hosting an off-road gala this coming spring. If you would like to attend or help plan, let us know at [email protected].

Ed Stovin