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Friday, June 28, 2013

BIG BEAR FOREST FEST ROCKS THE MOUNTAIN!

INLAND EMPIRE BIG BEAR FOREST FEST A HUGE SUCCESS.
                Del Albright Blog June 2013



Over Father’s Day weekend, the IE4W club put on another Big Bear Forest Fest in the wonderful mountains above the LA basin, near Lake Arrowhead, CA.  Big Bear is a cute mountain community in southern CA with a bunch of outdoor sports and fun four-wheeling trails.







BBFF includes many guided trail rides; BBQ tri-tip dinner; vendor show; raffles; landuse support and more.  IE4W wants to keep the sport alive and our trails open, so they go all out on this sold-out event.  I was there for BlueRibbon Coalition and received a nice $2000 donation.  Other landuse groups received support as well.  This club ROCKS!







Larry McRae and crew from Poison Spyder Customs, club members, put on the feed and do the cooking every year, and WOW, was that dinner AWESOME!  They fed over 800 dinners, kids and adults.




Officially, the club reports 366 registered vehicles, with over 900 guests, and a couple dozen vendors. They use the ski area, Snow Valley parking lot in Running Springs for base camp, and counted over 100 motorhomes in attendance!






Poison Spyder Customs sponsors the landuse support and attendance from BlueRibbon Coalition, and I am most thankful for that whole crew!




The Sweepstakes Jeep for the California Association of 4Wheel Drive Clubs was there as well, and well, I bought some tickets!!

GET TICKETS HERE:
http://cal4wheel.com/ca4wdc-store/win-a-jeep-tickets/sweepstakes-win-a-jeep-tickets-2









Mike Moore, BBFF Chair, shows off the laminated cards the club uses to help folks sign up for trails; learn more about the trail ride; and have an obvious "ticket" for their time at BBFF.  This works GREAT.


Learn more about the Inland Empire 4Wheelrs club here:     http://ie4w.com/index.html

 Here's Wende Owen giving me the $2000 check for BRC.

thanks all...this is one of my favorite events of the year.....  Del

Saturday, June 22, 2013

SOUTHERN CA LANDUSE TOUR BY DEL

TOUR OF SOUTHERN CA BUSINESSES WITH LAND USE ON MY MIND

After Big Bear Forest Fest with Poison Spyder Customs and the Inland Empire 4Wheelrs, and a nice donation to BlueRibbon Coalition of $2000, I decided to spend some of my vacation time (not representing anyone in particular) and stay in southern CA and make some social/business calls on landuse supporters (and business friends of mine).


It's not often I get a chance to just tour factories and headquarters offices, so this was the perfect time.

Most businesses become busy vendors at events so it's hard to get in informal chat time.  This tour gave me that chance.




I started with Raceline Wheels, Greg Mulkey and crew. Wow, I had no idea what it took to make wheels, aluminum and steel.  And what an operation they have at Allied/Raceline.

And to polish the big wheels (alum) -- man, what a job!



Then I got some time in with the crew at Source Interlink, 70 publications, 41 of them automotive. Steve VonSeggern gave me the first class tour and wow, it was impressive to see this operation up close and personal.

I got to say hi to a lot of magazine writers who support our landuse efforts, as well as produce some mighty fine reading (and videos).





Next stop was 4Wheel Parts and Transamerica -- the Greg Adler empire!  Denis Snow from Off Road Adventures magazine gave me the first class tour and I got to also visit with Operations Chief and race car driver, Brent Goegebuer.

Yes, this is a toy store!  Whew....and the headquarters store to boot.  Transamerica is right next door.



SEMA was a great stop as well.  Colby Martin took me around the headquarters of this busy place where our hobbies/sports are being protected with their national team.

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) fights hard for hobbyist.  This trade association consists of a diverse group of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, publishing companies, auto restorers, street-rod builders, restylers, car clubs, race teams and more.








Then for some outside fun and a great tour, I hooked up with Tony Pellegrino of GenRight Off Road.  We even took the Growler Jeep out to some local property for a video shoot and some fast driving!


Tony showed me his brand new carbon fiber line for JK Jeeps.  Sweet.  This stuff looks nice and should really add a nice touch to JK's.

The tour was a resounding success for me, especially since I got to hook up with so many great folks who support our landuse efforts.





Monday, June 3, 2013

FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOMS; FIGHT FOR OCOTILLO WELLS SVRA IN CA

Find the Fight for Ocotillo Wells on Facebook here:


WRITE A LETTER NOW TO HELP SAVE OCOTILLO WELLS WHERE TIERRA DEL SOL (TDS) HOLDS DESERT SAFARI (AND MORE).

Two enviro groups have filed suit to shut down Ocotillo Wells SVRA in CA.  State Parks MUST resist and fight back.  We need to encourage them to fight back on this asinine lawsuit against our freedoms.  State Parks needs to know we are WITH THEM in this fight.

Right now we just need you to WRITE A LETTER to help encourage State Parks to fight back!
https://www.facebook.com/FightForOcotilloWells?fref=ts

This State Vehicle Recreation Area (SVRA) is something we built and paid for with motorized recreation money.  It's OURS!  We use it responsibly.  Let's make sure the fight is ON!!

It matters not where you live.  Please WRITE a letter for us.

There is a letter generator here and more info.  We must get State Parks to file and fight back.  Then we can raise money to get in the middle of this fight and keep our freedoms alive and well.

Here is Cal4's Letter Generator that is easy to use:

Thanks for your help in this critical battle.
Del


JUNE LANDUSE UPDATE AND NEWS


 LANDUSE UPDATE, NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS FOR JUNE 2013 FROM TEAM ALBRIGHT



1.  CA, RUBICON: Friends of the Rubicon are organizing work parties and weekends now.  The season to continue saving this trail for all of us is here.

 FOTR has been bringing on the blood, sweat and gears for 12 years now, fixing the trail, keeping erosion in check, making sure we can use the trail responsibly, and being a part of the governing bodies.  Rubicon Trail Foundation is headed up the "officialdom" of FOTR efforts and making sure we have funding to get things done.
More here at (the new) website under construction: http://www.rubiconfriends.com

2.  TRAIL TIP -- BE A FORCE MULTIPLIER:  make your efforts really count. Here are some simple things we can do to help our governing land management agencies when budgets are tight.  Muirnet highlights some great tips from Quiet Warrior Racing here: http://www.4x4wire.com/index.php/discussions/trail-tip-be-a-force-multiplier

3.  ENDANGERED SPECIES AND NEPA: Ever wanted to learn more about the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and how it artifically can be used to lock us out of public lands.  Try this link on for size:
http://www.4x4voice.com/Notebook/ESA-Critical-Habitat/index.html?1



4.  USA -- NATIONWIDE ALERTS:  BlueRibbon Coalition continues to launch some significant landuse alerts and efforts to help us all, nationwide, keep our sports alive and well.  They need your help.  Join, renew or donate now to help keep the fun alive.
https://www.sharetrails.org/support/join-or-contribute

5.  UNITED FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ASSOC.: if you missed their May e-news, read it here to see what all they are doing for landuse and our sport of four-wheeling: http://www.ufwda.org/2013/05/may-2013-enews/

6.  CA-NV: OCOTILLO WELLS LAWSUIT TO CLOSE US OUT!  Two environmental groups have sued State Parks to close us out of open riding areas at the Ocotillo Wells SVRA where we do a LOT of off roading.  Help out; see what's up here: http://www.cal4wheel.com/southern-california--access-issues/413-environmental-groups-sue-to-restrict-riders-at-ocotillo-wells

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Del