Over the last 2 weeks I have received calls, emails and seen posted threads on other boards in regards to the White Tanks and Table Mesa being closed. Thus far we have not gotten anyone that has a name or badge number of specifically what for.

I cannot stress enough, if you are spoken to by an LEO from any agency, please get a badge number, name, what the infraction is (law/ordinance/etc), be sure to capture what land you are on (STL, BLM, FS), time etc. The more specific you can be the better.
I have brought this up through several channels. It appeared to be maybe a PM10 dust issue, however that is not panning out, however someone did steer me in the direction of Ordinance P28 from Maricopa County which looks like a viable posibility. However without the above information we don't know what we are trying to oppose so we can work on it.

Here is the P28 Ordinance for your reading pleasure. It does have some loop holes, but I have been told they are looking at a re-write which will be even worse for OHV when it is done.

And I would not offer up this ordinance number if the officer tells you he does not know, all he knows is you can't be there or gives you a different one, I would not offer it up, let them tell you what they are citing as the infraction.

http://www.maricopa.gov/aq/divisions/planning_analysis/rules/docs/p28-0802.pdf

I had been following these developments on the other boards. I appreciate you dispelling the misinformation and letting us know what is going on with these matters Chris.

Ok, I wish I had better news at least short term on this. It appears after going through many possibilities of what it could be, that we have our answer with the attached photos that were sent to me by another person. It is closed due to Soil Stabilization and Restoration. Nice way of saying Dust.

However I think this is a smoke screen for what is really happening. Out there as most know there are some homes that have been there forever near the big water tank at the turn that takes you to the dune. Due to Verrado and those new homes going in there has been increased activity out there, including those homes and the vehicles taking bullet holes into them and people tearing across their property. Add that to the Maricopa County Dust issues and I think the pressure got to the STLD and they used this to close the area off.

Now that said, we do have precedence on our side, in other areas that BLM land was land locked by STL, the BLM has worked with STL to get an ingress/egress to access the BLM land. With only Appetizer on STL land and the rest on BLM land, it would be awesome if we could get the access to the BLM land worked out and get those trails back.

I have sent on the signs to Jeff, he is going to work on this with his contacts at the BLM and STL and use the prior acceptances to obtaining access to state our case. He has a meeting with the top cheese from STL today and will bring this up.

At this time I would not advocate anyone going out there, with that signage it would be a sure ticket. I wish I had a good timeline on this, but we all know how the government works. I will keep you updated on the progress.

A quick heads up. I am getting some information from sources that will be sued at a meeting Monday with the STL and a state legistator with Jeff and they will be discussing this issue among others. We are going to supply them with very specific GPS coords and map and have a proposal.

One part is that we are going to propose that we enter off of Miller and go in a back way, this will keep traffic away from the homes, in addition it will be less know and might keep those causing an issue from knowing about it at least for awhile.

Any suggestions you might have please let me know ASAP as I have to have this presented by Sunday.

can we get the access gated?

offroadaz wrote:can we get the access gated?

That is an idea I will pose to Jeff. The only issue is those gates cost $20K and the STL is not going to pay for it, so we would have to come up with the money. I would rather see a gate then lose it, that is for sure.

Yesterday Jeff had a meeting with STL. During that meeting he reviewed options, and while it is a longer route it appears that the option going in off of Miller Road would be a preferred route. It keeps us away from the older home in the area, it would be a less travelled route and also not promote those living in the newer homes of the area to follow us out there.

If it is accepted it would then grant us access to our White Tanks trails.

Today Jeff is back at it, this time meeting with the BLM to get them on board, a request from BLM requesting the STL to grant access will be a large component, thus his meeting today with the BLM.

While nothing is official, no final decisions have been made, it is looking good that we will obtain an access path to our trails. <knocking on wood>

I will keep you up to date, keep up the positive thoughts and might want to say a few prayers and thanks to all those who helped and made suggestions or gave input of any kind, everything went into the proposal outlining options, and it made it much easier for Jeff to work with.

Thanks Chris for all the work and correspondence

UPDATE

I talked with Jeff today to recap both meetings this week. We have nothing but Good News.

After further review they would prefer the entrance to be via Watson Road due to concerns about private property off Miller Road. The Miller Road entrance is not totally out of the question, but private propery concerns must be checked.

This is not ready to use yet, just the best possible alternative that could be reached. For Miller Road we are looking at the main road, and by the water tank veer to the left, follow the road that is just outside the wash that Appetizer ended in until you hit the main wash to access our trails. Signs will be posted about not going off the road, and if dust issues arise then we will have to look at treating the roadway. We need someone to show Jeff the road so he can GPS it and get it approved.

We need to put in an information center, not a full kiosk those cost $5K showing the route and we would like mailings to go to the new home owners of the area.

We are also in desperate need as this goes through to have a club adopt the area and help keep it clean.

What we need:
Get Jeff on road with GPS coords.
Will need a club to adopt area.
Might need volunteers to install signs and such.

Issues Still:
We cannot stage on STL, we would have to traverse all the way back to BLM land to stage. STL is willing to look into making a staging area, but we need to find a way to control dust, gravel etc... so if anyone knows someone who would donate the gravel let me know so we can look into this.

The main problem is if you can't get your tow set up back to BLM you have no way to stage, unless you go to the Lowe's parking lot on the other side of the freeway, but then you are traveling on roadways, also illegal. So out main problem now is working out a plan to ensure those with buggies or rigs that are not street licensed get access too.

Any suggestions are great appreciated.

Now the really cool part, once we get the coords, it looks like within about 2 weeks of the submittal we could have our access back. Any volunteers want to take Jeff out there? PM me or Call me on my cell phone @ 623-340-0885.

Please check out the other thread in regards to AZOHVC gains recently, great information in regards to STL permits.

I do kinda know that area... its changed ALOT in the last 15-20yrs and not for the better :( I only know of a few trails in thats area.
And on a "bad note" before I got the XJ I was storm chasing in that area, now back in 1999 - 2000 I was able to drive north of Miller road and explore the trails & old mines.
Well I found out thru a very angry home owner that I was not welcome in that area and that is was all Private Property (this was after I asked a Buckeye PD officer who was finishing up a traffice stop gave me the "ok" to continue on that road)