Oceano Dunes
Great news! Oceano Dunes is open for off-roading. After only six weeks of closure, California’s only OHV area on the beach is open. The April closure was the result of a 2020 Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit claiming State Parks was operating without an incidental take permit to protect endangered and threatened species there. The Park submitted a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) (which Parks had been working on for many years) to the Fish and Wildlife Service at the beginning of this year. It was surprising that the judge issued the order to close the park, given that the State had already completed the HCP. Fish and Wildlife reviewed the plan and issued an incidental take permit in May, allowing the park to reopen. We hope they got some dirty air quality samples with no one using OHVs there to show the bad air quality is from nature, not OHV use.

In not so good news at Oceano Dunes, Friends of Oceano Dunes (FoOD) decided to dismiss their Implied Dedication lawsuit. The legal cost of the suit was more than they could afford. FoOD asserted that because enthusiasts had been freely driving and camping across the dunes for decades before the state purchased the property, a permanent public easement was created.

Rubicon Trail
There is some controversy at the Rubicon Trail. A section of the trail has been identified as “unstable”. If the area were to collapse, the trail would be impassable. The Forest Service wants to make a reroute around the area. Some nearby landowners (who love to go 4-wheeling) believe the section can be adequately repaired quicker and for a lower cost. There were some passionate comments during a recent OHV commission meeting. I suspect the Forest Service reroute will take place. We will see.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP)
Some may remember when the Sunrise Powerlink tried to go through ABDSP, but was stopped by people (like the Anza-Borrego Foundation) because it would ruin the beautiful views in the park, especially going up the Montezuma Grade on S22. There is a new project called the Golden Pacific Powerlink that would bring renewable energy from Imperial Valley to customers closer to the coast to the north. While this would not threaten off-road vehicle routes, it would definitely threaten the beautiful views in ABDSP. There are about 500 miles of dirt roads in ABDSP and I think we all would like to keep the views. Click here for more details.

Glamis News
Polaris, maker of UTVs and other OHVs, owns 143 acres around the Glamis Store and they want to develop the area. We just learned about the project, which will make substantial changes to the area around the Glamis Store. Here are some of the things they want to do on their land:

Recreational – These include an Adventure Center (OHV training, OHV rentals, etc.), amusement facilities, desert tours, racetrack, shooting range, and park/playground/picnic area.

Commercial/Retail – Fuel stations, rental facilities, sporting goods stores, and RV park(s) to accommodate a small number of users that desire to have conveniences not found in open dry camping.

Storage – OHV and RV storage

Entertainment – Could include an obstacle course, fireworks display area, and racetrack.

Hospitality – Hospitality land uses may include medical services facility, mobile food trucks, tourist information center, public showers, public restrooms, and hotel/motel facilities.

Residential – Temporary housing in Glamis. Guest, employee housing, seasonal private residences and temporary use of RVs.

Renewable Energy – Solar generation facilities (including battery storage).

Infrastructure improvements – Existing water and wastewater facilities will need to be improved. The GSPA will allow for the development of utility buildings, utility substation(s), and water/wastewater treatment facilities.

Research & Development (R&D) Facility – This facility will allow Polaris to test their equipment in a natural and private setting.

The environmental work for the project has been completed and we will see it start to be implemented soon. Click here for more details.

Tire Efficiency Program
Assembly Bill 844 from 2003 directs the California Energy Commission (CEC) to adopt a replacement tire efficiency program “designed to ensure that replacement tires sold in the state are at least as energy efficient, on average, as tires sold in the state as original equipment on new passenger cars and light-duty trucks.” Replacement tires are those purchased by drivers to replace existing tires. The tires sold with new vehicles are referred to as original equipment tires. Testing commissioned by the CEC shows that original equipment tires are more efficient than replacement tires. This mandate sat quietly since 2003, but was recently acted upon.

Exemptions

Under the formal draft text released by the CEC, multiple categories protect off-road vehicles, trail rigs, and recreational dirt sports:

Dedicated Off-Road Recreational Vehicles: The draft rules explicitly state that the regulations do not include “a tire manufactured specifically for use on an off-road motorized recreational vehicle” (which includes sand buggies, dune buggies, ATVs, and UTVs/ROVs under California Vehicle Code section 500).

Motorcycles: Two-wheeled vehicles are entirely outside the scope of this program. Dirt bikes, dual-sports, and adventure bikes are unaffected.

Deep-Tread Tires: “Deep tread tires.” are exempt. This protects aggressive, heavy-ply Mud-Terrain (M/T) tires and specialized rock-crawling rubber. Because these tires inherently require deep, blocky treads to dig into dirt, silt, and rocks—which increases street rolling resistance—the CEC carved them out entirely.

Heavy Duty Load Ratings: Tires with a load index of 122 or greater (or rated for maximum loads exceeding 1,450 kg / 3,196 lbs) are excluded. This shields heavy-duty work trucks and large overland rigs that require commercial-grade weight capacities.

While pure off-road tires are exempt, there is a gray area for All-Terrain (A/T) tires designed for dual-purpose street and trail use on light trucks and SUVs (tires carrying the “LT” designation).

Phase 1 will begin January of 2028. New replacement tires sold in CA must meet the baseline rolling resistance max and the mandatory wet-grip safety floor.

Phase 2 will begin January 2031. The much stricter, tier-two rolling resistance ceiling takes effect.

Click here for more information.

Safety Bill
SB1613 is at the State Senate now. There has been some controversy regarding whether to include street legal vehicles. We argued at the beginning that street legal vehicles were not really part of the problem and should be left out. One advocate strongly argued that any vehicle operating in a green sticker area should be required to have safety training. The bill was amended to incorporate street legal early on. Groups supporting the current bill recently received significant pushback from the 4X4 community saying street legal should be left out. At the recent OHV Safety Summit, I spent time with the BLM State OHV manager. He told me that more than half the law enforcement stops at the Dunes are with street legal vehicles. From his comments, we have softened our resistance to including street legal vehicles requiring training. Training will likely take between 45 minutes to an hour, cost $25 and be done online.

Ed Stovin, Director of Land Use
San Diego Off-Road Coalition