June 9, 2007
A Message from Mike Lazzarino, Sierra Access Coalition Spokesman:
On March 26, 2007 after a long weekend of reading and writing e-mails on the Plumas Route Designation
Project, I walked in to DuPont Power Tool, sat down with Duff duPont, and Sierra Access Coalition (SAC)
was formed.
Eleven weeks is not a lot of time but our little group is now more than 650 strong, and the members are
from all over the western states. Members are from all walks of life. They are ranchers, loggers, hunters,
fishermen, woodcutters, recreation enthusiasts, forest managers, school teachers, business men and
women, housewives, equestrians, hikers, bicyclists, retired, young and old and even some politicians.
They all have the same goal, and that is to keep the roads, trails and camp sites we all use open.
This group of people has earned the respect of the Plumas National Forest. We are diligent in bringing
our members’ routes forward, and making our concerns heard. We’re showing we are good stewards of
the forest by getting involved with a clean-up day June 23, 2007 on Mt. Hough RD. Cynthia Lusk from Mt.
Hough RD and Duff duPont put this together and we could use some help. See the SAC Homepage for
more information.
The Empire Vegetation Management Project (QLG), Record of Decision is out. Part of this project was to
decommission (obliterate) 32 miles of roads. After my first comments in 2005 this number was reduced to
25 miles. On May 3rd Maria Garcia invited me to meet with her and her ID Team. After stating I was there
to represent SAC and I stated our case, I was asked to document the conditions of the routes we wanted
to keep. This was done over the weekend and now that number is down to 4.2 miles for
decommissioning. Of the 4.2 miles approx. ½ mile would be considered not to have resource damage. I
think you all did good.
What SAC needs now from you is your route numbers, pictures of your routes that show condition and
why you use it. This approach has worked, and the outcome of the Empire Project proves it.
SAC now has many members that use Lassen NF routes and there seems to be a lack of consistency
between neighboring forests. Many designated routes from the Plumas end at the Lassen boundary.
SAC will be working with the two forests to continue the Plumas routes onto the Lassen NF.
Plumas County Board of Supervisors and Public Works Director, Bob Perreault, are working on an
ordinance to allow green stickered vehicles on unpaved county roads. This would allow use on roads
such as Mt Hough Road, Squirrel Creek Road, Lights Creek Road, Beckwourth-Genessee Road, and
many others. When this ordinance is put into effect, the USFS has said they will work to designate routes
that intersect County Roads.
Dispersed camping is a big issue. “Dispersed campsites” are campsites that are scattered throughout
the forest and are outside of developed campgrounds. The maps for dispersed camping are up at the
district offices and district personnel have been asked to mark the dispersed campsites they know of on
the maps, and the routes into these campsites. Our members need to make sure their campsites are
submitted to the USFS and to SAC. If campsites are not mapped and designated through this process,
the public will only be allowed to drive their vehicles one vehicle length off a designated road to camp.
SAC has made a big impact in a short amount of time. Our voice is being heard. Continue to bring your
routes and campsites to SAC and we’ll continue to work with the Forest Service to get them on the map.
Happy Trails!