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Pathetic. These are the kooks I have referred to in the past that make me want to put border patrol on I-10 at the AZ border, let alone Mexico. Just read it:

Information Bulletin — Riverside County Considers Stringent Motorized Recreation Restrictions

AMA Staffers Meet with County Officials and Riders

Supercross legend Jeremy McGrath owns 100 acres of land in Riverside County, California, on the east end of the Los Angeles area. As you might imagine, he often uses that land to keep his riding skills sharp. In that respect, McGrath is just like a lot of other riders in a part of the country that is home to much of the American motocross community. And like those other riders, the King of Supercross was stunned recently when he was served with a “cease-and-desist” order telling him to stop riding on his own land.

County officials are working to enact strict rules governing riding in unincorporated parts of the county. And until that happens, they claim they have broad power to stop all riding—even on private land—in a county that has 48,000 registered off-highway vehicles. “This is outrageous,” says Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations. “Without citing any law, these officials are telling thousands of riders that they can’t ride on their own property.”

The cease-and-desist orders and new restrictions proposed by the Riverside County Planning Commission late last year came as a shock for two reasons: First, the county is considered the center of the off-highway vehicle world. It’s the home of racing heroes like McGrath, Rick Johnson and Jeff Emig. In addition, Honda, Yamaha, KTM, Suzuki and Kawasaki have test facilities there, and the county is home to almost 30 OHV-related businesses, plus some 48,000 registered off-highway vehicles.

Second, the regulations proposed there were the most restrictive we’d ever encountered. The proposal considered by the Planning Commission would have prevented more than two bikes or ATVs from being ridden at a time, no matter what the size of the property, and would have set a maximum measurable sound level of 65 decibels at the property line. Off-road riders turned out in force to protest the proposal at a Planning Commission hearing where AMA Western States Representative Nick Haris testified that conversational speech is in the mid-60 decibel range.

In the end, the commission put off any decision on the issue while more research is conducted. Meanwhile, Moreland, AMA Legislative Affairs Specialist Royce Wood and Haris have made visits to Riverside County to talk to commissioners and riders. Moreland is going back to California to take part in sound testing with the commissioners at McGrath’s property.

While that process continues, though, the planning commission is still pursuing extremely restrictive regulations that would ban all riding on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday; limit the number of machines operated at one time to two or four, depending on the size of the property; limit sound levels to 65 decibels at the property line; and require property owners to get riding permits. Each violation would result in a fine of up to $1,000.

If you want to view the AMA’s comments to Riverside County, click here.

Now that I hope I have your attention, please remember that this is the same county that set up a reserve for the Stephens’ Kangaroo Rat of which 000’s of acres are off limits to usage and development.

The bottom line is that this is ridiculous and totally unacceptable. I once had a comment to the above referenced article from a native Kalifonian that went something like this “come visit and leave us on the left coast alone”. While all was said in good taste, the problem with leaving it alone is the precedent. Do you think Riverside was emboldened by the recent Supreme Court decision regarding private property rights that confirmed it could be siezed for public use. Let Kalifornia set the precedent for banning riding on private land, and other kooks will follow suit…non-motorcycle riding kooks.

This is the slippery slope that I constantly refer. This is EXACTLY why I do not want helmets mandatory. Governments do not have the ability to not protect us from ourselves when making sober, adult decisions. What would be the next step…mandatory air-bags for motorcycle riders?

The reason this hits home with me is very simple and probably all to commmon of a story. When I was a kid, my dad bought a cabin just south of Houghton Lake, MI. At that time, we could ride our dirt bikes from our garage right into the trails some 3-4 miles away legally. Within ten or so years, no public land below US-10 aside from that crap-hole Mt. Morris could be used (legally) for ORV’s as well as only riding on approved ORV trails marked by the State / DNR. Absolute silliness if you ask me that we have to trailer our dirt bikes across town only to ride the exact same (and very limited) trails over and over.

Another reason is that we border Kalifornia…and get a lot of transplants. While I’d like to think that the gun-toting Arizona heritage of the Wild West keeps the greenies at bay and at home, you simply never know.

I hope McGrath kicks ass and takes names. To think that you could not operate an ORV on your own property would be another big blow to private property rights and the 48,000 registered users in the area.

Hmmm…The Great Wall of I-10. The Great Wall of the Colorado River. Those have a good ring to them.

EDIT 8/30 from terrymoto (see coments below)