Johnson Valley OHV Management Meeting Scheduled for August 16

A public meeting to discuss changes to the Johnson Valley OHV Recreation Area will be held in Lucerne Valley, California, tomorrow.

According to the BlueRibbon Coalition, representatives from the Bureau of Land Management and the Marine Corps will host a Resource Management Group meeting to discuss the changes in land use in the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area at the Lucerne Valley Community Center on August 16, 2014 from 1-3 p.m.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the future locations of the Marine’s company objective areas within the Shared Use Area for military training in accordance with Military Land Withdrawals Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-66). Input from State agencies, Off-Highway Vehicle and other recreation interest groups, and environmental advocacy groups as well as the public in general are encouraged and welcomed to attend.

The Lucerne Valley Community Center is located at 33187 Old Woman Springs Road, Lucerne Valley, California. For additional information, contact the Bureau of Land Management, Barstow Field Manager, at 760-252-6004; email: ksymons@blm.gov; or the MCAGCC Public Affairs Office at 760-830-6213; email: SMBPLMSWEBPAO@usmc.mil.

The Johnson Valley OHV Area was spared from complete annihilation by the Marine Corps last December, when, thanks to language included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 by U.S. Rep. Paul Cook (R-Calif.) and approved by a U.S. House-Senate conference committee, the land was permanently designated as an off-highway vehicle recreation area. However, while the area is now designated specifically for recreational uses including, but not limited to, OHV use, camping and hiking, Marine Corps activities will be allowed in a shared use area twice a year for a maximum of 60 days and require use of non-dud producing ordnance.