I received this message today from the AZOHVC about a possible closure of Martinez Canyon. Your help in writing letters is urgently needed.

Here's the message:

Just heard some bad news about Martinez. The Tucson BLM office which is in charge of that land is looking at possible closing it. We need help getting letters out to them, telling them why we want the trail open, what it means to us, include things like enjoying the historical meaning of the trail and cabin, etc... I will include a form letter, however encourage your members to alter it and include reasons why this is special to them, just plain form letters get lumped in to one pile and looked at as one voice. Just an example, if they receive 1000 form letters, with only differing signatures, they are looked at as one, if they receive 1000 letters that are all different and explain the significance of the trail from each persons perspective it is viewed as 1000 opinions. It has a much larger impact. Any help you could give us with this would be greatly appreciated.

Please keep in mind we need to be positive and polite,one thing I have learned is that they may use any anger in correspondence against us in representing us as bad for the environment and just as bad people in general. Since this will be going out to a lot of BLM folks it would be good to "kill them with kindness" so to speak.

I do know one item that the BLM is looking at is the destruction of the cabin which most of the OHV crowd agree is partiers that don't know the historical value of the cabin. In addition there are some bypasses being cut to get around things that the vehicles on the trails are not capable of getting over, so they cut new portions across the terrain. These are specifically the main two reasons they are looking at the emergency closure. I have included a picture the structure that is being destroyed.

I look forward to working with you as we band together in our efforts to keep this trail and area open.

Just as an FYI, some on the list are very open to working with the OHV crowd, so again the more positive the letter sounds about working with the BLM to keep the areas open and helping fix any issues the better they likes it.

Here is the notice I received:
Fellow OHV recreations........
Below is a sample letter to the Tucson BLM Field Office regarding their intended closure of Martinez Canyon. It's IMPORTANT we deliver HUNDREDS of letters on their desks in the next couple of days. Some at the office have had an agenda to close this canyon for several years so this has finally given them the ability to do so.

***** An EMERGENCY CLOSURE does not require public coping. *****

PLEASE use this letter or write your own and delete parts that don't apply to you, but if we want to keep Martinez Canyon open to our use we need to take the bull by the horns and send your letter NOW. Don't let "the other guy do it". YOUR letter will count! BE PRECISE BUT PLEASE BE
POLITE.

Please do not just "forward"............ Send as an independent letter. Cut and paste into another email but don't show "where you received the sample" or "who forwarded the information to you" etc.

We CAN make a difference. Please forward this to everyone you know??.


Please be sure to copy everyone listed here and if possible please include me (on at least one copy). I would like to take your letters to the AZOHVC and show them the positive response received by your club. My email is My1stJeep@excite.com

Francisco_Mendoza@blm.gov Tucson Planner
Patrick_Madigan@blm.gov Tucson Field Manager
Bill_Gibson@blm.gov State OHV Coordinator
Julie_Decker@blm.gov State Resources Coordinator
Mike_Taylor@blm.gov State Resources Deputy Director
Bill_Civish@blm.gov Tucson District Manager
Anna_Atkinson@blm.gov D.C. OHV Coordinator


Sample Letter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
August _____, 2006



Bureau of Land Management
Tucson Field Office
12661 E. Broadway
Tucson, AZ 85748-7208

ATTENTION: Mr. Patrick Madigan, Field Manager

Dear Mr. Madigan,

I am a member of __________________________ (AZOHVC; TTORA; club; group etc) representing _______________ (number of members.. AZOHVC is now over 11,000.)

I have been recreating, hunting, camping and enjoying our backcountry for ______ years and the Martinez Canyon area is important to me and my family in both recreation opportunities and history of our state.

I am writing this in response to a recent notice involving Martinez Canyon. I was dismayed to hear of the damage done to the Cabins but was equally dismayed to hear BLM is strongly considering an ?emergency closure? as a result.

?Emergency Closures? tend to become permanent. I am requesting some mitigation steps be considered before closure.

The BLM Volunteer ?Red Shirts? have offered numerous solutions in the past and I would hope these steps be considered again. 5-6 Years ago BLM was offered the services, at no cost to BLM, of a structural engineer to
evaluate the stabilization of the cabin and the OHV community offered to supply the workers and materials to do what was needed. It was also felt that interpretative signs telling the history of the canyon would bring ?responsibility and ownership? from the users. None of this was ever accepted by BLM. We are now in a situation that OHV are paying the penalty for damage by other than OHV. Because of the intimation of the OHV being to blame for the destruction certainly doesn?t lend itself to partnerships between BLM and the OHV community. This area has been a
local party spot (RAVE parties and drugs) for several years. The defacing of the historical cabin was not done by OHV. The bold writing on every wall in the cabin was done by an environmental ?BLM Volunteer?. Your office staff know of this incident???? has he been banned?

The ?BLM Red Shirt Volunteers? are those that do clean-ups; install kiosks and signs; obtain and offer these materials to BLM at no cost; we offer to Adopt trails and help with monitoring and maintenance; many of our OHV folks are now Site Stewards??? we do this and still are the only recreationists denied access to a beautiful canyon because of our choice of transportation or recreation?

I believe gating and permits for access to this canyon was recommended some time ago. I?m assuming if this canyon is closed to motorized use it will be gated at the entrance. Why could this not be a gate allowing for permitted access only. This would give BLM knowledge of who and when there is access to the canyon; it would turn the party crowd away and allow time to join together and evaluate the cabins and hopefully do stabilization work and put together a ?history story? of the area. Closing access to OHV is certainly not a way to build collaborative partnerships nor trust between BLM and the OHV Community.

It is respectfully requested BLM meet with the OHV Community leaders to discuss reaching an acceptable approach to this problem before decision of closure is made.

Thank you for your consideration.

*Name
*Address
Phone
Email

 

Mark you can count on me and I know others here will support the letter writing as well.

Thank you for spear heading the campaign. It would be a shame to lose Martinez Canyon.

<< See my Avatar, that's Yellow Belly Ledge.

**Letter Sent**

 

It would be great to have some support from neighboring states! Thanks.

 

Did you post on the NM TTORA board?

 

stickied.

let's get those letters in!

edit: mark, if you read that sample form letter, there are a bunch of ??? marks in there, which makes some of the paragraph's intent and meaning unclear. can you clean it up?

also, i am writing a condensed version for out-of-staters. however, i will need to understand that letter better in order to finish mine.

thanks,
bob

 

Ok, out-of-staters, here's my form letter that i am going to send in. As Mark mentioned, please include all BLM members on your distribution list and cc him as well. i will find out the # of members we have at a later date (first paragraph). you can edit that out if you feel you can't wait to send the letter

And as Mark mentioned, please vary your letter's content, so as to not seem too "form letter"-ish. you guys all hate when you get a form letter response from companies...so don't do it yourself!

- bob

************
August 23, 2006

Bureau of Land Management
c/o Mr. Patrick Madigan, Field Manager

Tucson Field Office
12661 E. Broadway
Tucson, AZ 85748-7208

RE: Martinez Canyon Closure

Dear Mr. Madigan,

I am a member of Yotatech.com, one of the nation’s largest Toyota SUV and Truck online forums representing over XXXX registered members nationwide. I am also a concerned out-of-state off-roader from California who has seen too many of these decisions go from “temporary” to “permanent” without a public hearing and grievance process. As a responsible off-road enthusiast, I am writing you today to re-evaluate the emergency closure of the Martinez Canyon recreational area and to propose a meeting to discuss alternative solutions.

As everyone is aware now, the area has unfortunately become a local destination for unregulated and uncontrolled rave parties. We want to make clear that the actions were caused by these people and it should not be the sole reason why Martinez Canyon should be closed. We strongly feel that our law-abiding group is largely being punished for the misdeeds of these law-breaking individuals.

There are other ways to restore, preserve and protect Martinez Canyon without closure. First, AZ OHV members have made it aware on several online forums that their “Red Shirt” volunteer services have been offered free of charge to evaluate the structural integrity of the destroyed cabin as well as maintain the trails that the general public shares. We feel that in coordination with the BLM, this will achieve positive results and a strengthening of bonds between the public and the BLM. In addition, a permit system with gates has proven to be an effective way of not only providing funds to the park system, but also to help monitor and secure access of the park. These are viable solutions that many state land management organizations use today with great success.

It is my hope that this letter contributes to the beginning of a dialogue between the Tucson BLM and the off-road communities from all over the United States. I would like to also respectfully request that the BLM hold a public forum to meet with leaders of the AZ OHV community to discuss an acceptable solution to this problem before permanent closure decisions are made.

Sincerely,

Name
Address
Phone
Email
****

 

It's OK for now. I sent the people e-mails as well that can only help. FWIW I have met Francisco many times at land use meetings and he's not that bad of a guy. The Arizona Virtual Jeep Club tends to over react, alot.

Everything is fine. The trail is harder than ever and it's still open. What people don't know is that there are alot of active mining claims up there and screwing with and vandalizing those is the REAL problem. Also vandalism of the Mill is another biggie.

Hopefully that recent thread on TTORA was removed or re-written by someone more proficient in the English language as that was legitimate ammo to close the trail. If you do something stupid, don't post it to the world.



OHV Enthusiasts..........

While participating in a meeting today at the Tucson BLM office relating to the Ironwood National Monument I spoke briefly with Tucson Field Manager, Patrick Madigan. He related receiving numerous emails concerned about the possibility of an Emergency Closure at Martinez Canyon................

THIS IS NOT HAPPENING. Mr. Madigan assures me Martinez Canyon is not going to close. He will be sending out an official notice of this early next week.


Many of you met Mr. Madigan at the "valentines Day" meeting in February. I believe he is truly trying to work with us……………….. We need to stay with this guys (and gals). We can make this work for the betterment of our sport……………...

My THANKS to all of you for your concern and stepping up to support your sport when you're worried, but we now need to direct this participation towards partnering with our agencies. BLM is going to need our help to find a mitigation for Martinez Canyon that will work for all.

Please pass this on to your lists………………. THANKS,

Sandee

 

Good news Steve. Thanks for the update.

 

NIIIIICE thanks for the update, steve.

 

Many Thanks for Yotatech's assistance

 

mark,

i am assuming we should stop the letter writing campaign in light of steve's post. can you make that definitive decision?

thanks,
bob

 

Steve thank you for posting this up as soon as you got it. I was a little slow today reciprocating it to some forums I didn't know about.

As to someone's post about stopping the letter writing. Yes you no longer need to write in on this one. At a meeting yesterday with BLM Patrick was completely unaware of the emails that Francisco had sent out in regards to closing Martinez Canyon. As you can tell from Sandee's email above Patrick was not very happy about this and said that he will be writing an official letter next week from the BLM stating that this trail will not be closed.

Thank you all that took the time to write in on this one. Patrick received over 50 letters on it.

 

Looks like official thank you for interest letter went out a couple days ago. Patrick Madigan The Field Manager sent out the offical letter, and there will a collabrative process involving OHV (us). The letters worked
Ps I wrote my letter when the posts for this first went up

 

There's a work group helping the BLM with a project on lower Woodpecker tomorrow, if anyone is out that way stop by and give them a thumbs up....it's mostly fellow wheelers helping out.

http://www.virtualjeepclub.com/showthread.php?t=16538

ftp://ftp.blm.gov/blmshare/cottonwoo...t-site-map.jpg

ftp://ftp.blm.gov/blmshare/Cottonwood-Project-Sites.jpg

I wanted to post this sooner, but just wasn't able to