J News—Hot Off the Wires
Welcome to what’s going on in the world of Jeep®. J News is updated regularly from hundreds of resources to bring you the latest intelligence in all things Jeep. Use the search function at left to resurrect archived J News articles.
Win This Jeep!
For the sixth straight year, the East Coast 4 Wheel Drive Asso. is raffling off a Jeep. This year’s prize is a nicely built 1997 TJ with Electric Lime Green paint by Capitol Jeep. Buildup goodies include:
• 4.0 6 cyl. w/AirRaid intake system
• 5.5 in Clayton Long Arm kit
• 35” BFG MTs
• Ramsey Patriot 9500 winch
• American Racing wheels from 4Sight
• Rockcrusher Dana 60 rear with Detroit Locker, Superior Axle shafts and disc brakes
• 4:88 gears
• Tom Woods Driveshafts and SYE kit
• Line-X by Line-X of Springfield, MA
• Full roll cage and rock sliders by Banditt Off Road Mfg
• Tuffy Security Products center console and rear locked truck
• Smittybuilt Bumpers
• AGR power steering pump and box
• Wrangler Power Products high amp alternator and dual battery setup
• KC HiLites
• HI-Lift jack
• Misc. parts and work by JD’s Off Road, Clayton Off Road Mfg., Truck Stuff and more
Tickets are just $5 each, and only 8,000 will be sold. To get yours, visit the East Coast 4 Wheel Drive Association Web site or a local EC4WD club.
OHV Route Designation Workshops
The National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) in cooperation with the Tonto National Forest is conducting Arizona OHV Route Designation Workshops on September 7 and 8 for USFS personnel and for OHV enthusiasts on September 9 and 10 to assist the Forest Service and the OHV community in effective implementation of the USFS Travel Management Rule in their State. The workshops will be conducted at the Marriott Buttes Resort at 2000 Westcourt Way in Tempe, (602) 225-9000. While the sessions on Thursday and Friday are designed primarily for Forest Service personnel and the sessions on Saturday and Sunday are designed primarily for OHV recreationists, the sessions are open to all who want to attend. The Workshops will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Continental breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m. Lunch and breaks will be provided.
Specific objectives of the workshops for Forest Service personnel are to:
• Develop consistency in the national Route Designation Process
• Develop an understanding of the Travel Management Rule
• Communicate requirements in the Forest Service Manual Direction
• Make compliance with the Rule and manual easier
• Build upon the Agency/Industry/Enthusiast partnership
• Facilitate agency personnel and enthusiast communication
• Discuss management techniques that provide high quality opportunities and resource protection.
Specific objectives of the workshops for OHV enthusiasts are to:
• Educate enthusiasts of how to be effective in influencing route designation decisions
• Develop an understanding of the Travel Management Rule
• Help enthusiasts understand how they can get quality trails and still comply with the Rule
• Encourage long-term public involvement
• Build upon agency, industry and enthusiasts partnerships
• Facilitate agency personnel and enthusiast communication Read more…
ORV Tour of Nevada Outback
Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and other four-wheel drive owners are invited to a day of mild four-wheeling over designated dirt roads to see some wild and remote country, photographing the wild mustangs herds found southeast of Reno, Nevada, during the spring blooming season.
Hosted by the Wine Country Rock Crawlers of Sonoma County, California, this scenic tour will begin at the Reno Hilton Hotel at 8 a.m. and conclude at approximately 4 p.m. in the historic town of Virginia City.
According to Steve Sampson, the tour chairman, the trip doesn’t require any rough four-wheeling but has been designed especially for families with SUVs who want to take their vehicles off the paved highway to see just how easy it is to drive the designated roads in the Nevada desert.
“So many people purchase an SUV and never experience driving off pavement on dirt roads,” said Sampson. “We are giving them a chance to drive along with us to beautiful and remote places that they most likely would never go by themselves.”
Participants will drive their own four-wheel drive vehicle in a guided group with others like themselves. Low-range four-wheel drive will be required as well as suitable ground clearance. The Wine Country Rock Crawlers will be along with their vehicles to provide guidance and support along the route.
Cost of the tour, including lunch at a remote petroglyph site, is $75 per vehicle with up to two adults. Children 10 to 17 years of age are $12.50 when accompanied by an adult. Children 9 and under are free. The tour is limited to a maximum of 30 participant vehicles.
Accommodations are limited in Virginia City, but a paved road back to Reno takes less than 45 minutes. The Reno Hilton will be the tour’s host hotel and has an RV park next to it. The club has secured a block of hotel rooms at the Reno Hilton Hotel at a special rate of $89 per night for Friday and Saturday nights. Participants of the SUV tour who want to stay at the Hilton should mention the ”Wild Mustangs of the Nevada Desert” when making reservations to take advantage of the discounted rate.
To request an information flyer or registration application, contact Steve Sampson
707-823-9610 or email Sampson4wd@aol.com or go to www.winecountryrockcrawlers.org
Net proceeds are to be used to help the club’s ongoing efforts to keep off highway vehicle areas open to the public. The Wine Country Rock Crawlers are members of the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs as well as Tread Lightly!
UFWDA Intervenes In Land Closure Lawsuit
United Four Wheel Drive Associations (UFWDA) and other organizations, including the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance, recently filed a motion in U.S. district court for the District of Columbia to intervene in a suit brought against the National Park Service by Friends of the Earth, Bluewater Network Division, National Parks
Conservation Association and Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (known as Bluewater Network).
Bluewater Network is asking the court to stop all off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in all national parks and to stop all OHV use in all recreation areas, seashores, lakeshores and preserves until such units adopt special regulations for OHV use. Bluewater is hoping the court will issue an injunction to immediately stop all OHV use at places such as Canyonlands National Park, Big Bend National Park, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Death Valley National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Cape Code National Seashore, to name a few.
”This case is of vital importance to four-wheel drive users and OHV users of all kinds,” stated Carla Boucher, longtime attorney for UFWDA. Boucher said, “This case is typical of the mindset of anti-access organizations such as Bluewater and Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads, who believe OHV use should be banned in all national park units, even units such as Cape Hatteras National Seashore that
is in the midst of legal planning for OHV management.” Cape Hatteras has allowed OHV use since it was established in 1953. Its implementing legislation guaranteed OHV access, and the Park Service convened the negotiated rulemaking process in June 2005 to create a fair and balanced OHV management plan by local stakeholders. UFWDA has been nominated to represent OHV interests on the Hatteras rulemaking advisory committee. A similar OHV rulemaking process was completed by the National Park Service at Fire Island and Padre Island, yet all three national seashores are subject to the ban Bluewater is requesting.
“It appears from the complaint that Bluewater and friends do not want public access at our national park units, even in those units where the public, the Park Service and other environmental organizations have worked diligently to establish proper OHV management plans,” concluded Boucher, a nationally recognized land use authority
and conservation advocate. UFWDA feels strongly that motorized interests can be protected from sweeping closures of legal OHV use in our national parks only if they intervene in this suit and demonstrate for the court the fallacy of Bluewater’s claim and the dire impact wholesale closures will have on public lands access in this country.
United retains a full-time attorney dedicated to four-wheel drive access issues and is privileged to collaborate with chief council on this case Holland & Knight, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world.