Woman singlehandedly changes how CA regulates off-highway vehicle use
Mark Graffis
Friday, July 14, 2000
In her search for peace and quiet in the woods, a California
woman has singlehandedly changed how the state regulates off-highway
vehicle use.
Karen Schambach moved to the Sierra Nevada foothills of California in
1984. Six months into the construction of her out-of-the-way cabin,
the intrusive buzz of dirt-bikes startled her.
Asking around to find out what authorities could do to keep the bikes
out of earshot, Schambach learned that the state's Off-Highway Vehicle
Division monitors off-road trails in California.
Convinced that the agency was delinquent in its enforcement of
environmental regulations, Schambach began a 15-year battle to force
the division to comply.
Schambach delivered a scathing report to the state of California last
year in which she alleged that the OHV division caused more
environmental damage than it prevented - and that the agency may be
getting more than its fair share of gas tax money from the state.
In her report, Schambach argued the many off-road vehicle enthusiasts
who worked in the OHV division rarely enforced environmental
regulations. Moreover, she maintained, the regulations governing OHV
use were unclear to the public.
Schambach has since made more than a few enemies in her hometown of
Georgetown. Resentful off-road vehicle enthusiasts have sent her
threatening mail, buzzed her house with motorcycles and even showed up
on her property with guns.
But Schambach also found some sympathetic ears in state government.
She contended that the OHV division used faulty logic to secure its
funding - at taxpayers' expense. In theory, the sale of registration
decals to off-highway vehicle recreationists was to fund the program.
But, Schambach explains, "After only a year, they found the sticker
money wasn't enough. From then on, [the program received] 1 percent of
the state gas tax - about 35 million dollars a year."
[INLINE]
Schambach surveys the damage after a dirt bike endurance race in
Eldorado National Forest of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Today, gasoline taxes fund 80 percent of the OHV program. But there
are twice as many illegal off-highway vehicle users without stickers
as there are registered users. And the division includes these users
in the count it uses to argue for its portion of the gas tax.
Schambach argues that this policy effectively rewards illegal
off-highway vehicle enthusiasts for evading the law.
No other group of recreationists in California gets $30 million a
year, but no other sport supports an industry worth $5 billion
annually. There are 120 official off-highway recreation areas in
California, with 100,000 miles of trail for sport driving. However,
the more trail managers "maintain" those trails, the more they cause
environmental damage, Schambach explains.
Don Amador, one of the seven OHV division commissioners, defends the
division as a "model program." Of Schambach's report, he says, "Almost
every sentence has some sort of fabrication or lie in it."
But even Dave Widell, the division's new deputy director, concedes the
agency has always been "kind of controlled by the users" without
enough input from environmentalists and homeowners.
Schambach says Widell is making a difference. OHV program officials
are rewriting environmental regulations with input from the public.
Schambach hasn't seen all the reforms she asked for, but Widell says
there is a new gas tax study in the works and that the commission will
no longer be stacked with OHV enthusiasts.
All indications show that OHV sports are managed more effectively in
California, thanks in large part to Schambach's tenacity.
Terry Davis of the Sierra Club is positively giddy about the turn of
events. "I never thought I'd hear myself saying this ... but all of a
sudden, they're listening to us!"
Take action
A summary of Karen Schambach's report is available at
[25]http://www.nordicvoice.org/issues/ohv_summary.htm.
Keep tabs on the [26]California OHV program as regulations go
through a public review period.
The Federal Bureau of Land Management publishes an on-line OHV
issues [27]newsletter.
The organization [28]Wild Wilderness is vocal in its support of
America's wildlands.
The [29]Wilderness Society is an outspoken opponent of OHVs on
public lands.
The [30]Bluewater Network works to ensure a quiet experience in
the backcountry.
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1. http://www.enn.com/index.asp
25. http://www.nordicvoice.org/issues/ohv_summary.htm
26. http://www.calohv.ca.gov/
27. http://www.mt.blm.gov/ea/ohv/newsletter.8-9-99.html
28. http://www.wildwilderness.org/
29. http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/orv/index2.htm
30. http://www.earthisland.org/bw/