Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) located in Twentynine Palms, CA recently submitted a withdrawal application to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to essentially put a hold on 422,000 acres while it studies those areas for possible acquisition into the base. Uses that are currently allowed in the area will continue, but no new uses or projects will be permitted.

A large portion of the Johnson Valley OHV area is being is located in that study area. Besides taking public comment, the purpose of these meetings is to help people understand both the proposed action and the decision making process.

Johnson Valley OHV area is approximately 189,000 acres and is located in the high desert of California, just east of Los Angeles. The area is a Mecca for off-road recreation and is home to many events including off-road racing and competitive rock crawling.

The public meetings are scheduled for October 23, 2008 at Hay’s Gym, Twentynine Palms Junior High School, 5798 Utah Trail, Twentynine Palms, CA from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and October 24 at Hilton Garden Inn, 12603 Mariposa Road, Victorville, CA from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

It is important that members of the OHV community attend these meetings and make it known how important this area is to the families that recreate there. The types of comments that would be most productive at a meeting like this would be: The Marines have yet to demonstrate that their need to train outweighs the devastating impact the loss of this area would have on our community. A better option would be to have the Marines expand to the east of the current base.