BLM - Ukiah Field Office
I support the grants for the Ukiah BLM. Sean Faherty - 3/9/17
I support the ukiah field office and mendocino 4x4 Nicolas Chavez - 3/14/17
Regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s (Ukiah Field Office) 2016/17 grant application to the CA Off Highway Motor Vehicle Division, I would like to make the following comments regarding Law Enforcement and Ground Operations (including Section 11a, Pg. 8-Signage and Pg. 9 Section 12b-website of the General Application Statement) relating to the Knoxville Recreation Area (KRA): After bringing the issue up for an extended period of time, BLM refuses to properly designate Devils Head Road as a Napa County road. In fact, Devils Head Road has been a county road for over 100 years. This distinction is important not only from a legal standpoint but also from a safety and law enforcement point of view. The proper designation of Devil’s Head Road as a county road versus just an undesignated road or trail, makes a big difference in the public’s perception of road usage, safe driving, law enforcement, and OHV use in particular. Irrespective of the very positive effect that the Napa County Sheriff’s OHV team has in controlling illegal OHV use, they cannot be on site 24-7. Unfortunately, the lack of proper BLM signage encourages improper OHV use on Devils Head Road. This includes driving OHVs off the road into the muddy road shoulders in winter, causing deep ruts which obstruct drainage ditches. This leads to ponding water and significant deterioration of the road crown. It is not uncommon to find wide sections of the road that show evidence of OHVs having been driven in tight circles (donuts) in the center of the road also leaving deep ruts causing a further deterioration of the road. Damage to the county road does not appear to be a concern to some of the OHV users. All of which increases Napa County’s maintenance costs, and makes difficult driving conditions for law enforcement, property owners and the general public. In some cases, OHVs travel at excessive speed given the general road configuration and numerous blind turns endangering other normal vehicle traffic. It is time that BLM correctly designate Devils Head Road as a county road on all brochures, maps, signage, and websites. To the best of my knowledge, there is no mention of Devils Head Road as a county road in any of the above indicated sources of BLM public information or the 2016/2017 BLM grant application. It is interesting to note that in the herein referenced BLM Grant Application, the directions to the South Cow Mountain OHV Recreation Area specifically indicates that access points (Mill Creek Road and Scotts Creek Road) are county roads. Why isn’t Devils Head Road listed as the main access county road into the Knoxville Recreation Area by BLM? Overall signage on Devil’s Head Road and the KRA in general is very poor and needs significant improvement. When entering KRA to the south of the Devil’s Head County Road intersection with Hunting Creek Road, there should be appropriate signage clearly indicating that the Devil’s Head County Road is the only way into and out of the entire southern portion of the KRA including Adam’s Ridge Road. This dead end road situation with many miles of BLM roads off the county road presents several potential problems relating to public safety, law enforcement, emergency response time and the ever present threat of a forest fire. As a long term property owner on Devils Head County Road, I think it’s time that BLM step up and deal with the signage problems and other issues as indicated herein. It’s particularly important given the fact that the KRA is now part of the new Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Joseph Erasmy - Joseph Erasmy - 3/31/17
BRC has reviewed the two proposals and believes they are appropriate given the quality motorized trail opportunities afforded the public at the South Cow Mountain and Knoxville OHV Areas. Increased management of these riding areas has become even more important given creation of the Berryessa-Snow Mountain National Monument. Don Amador - 3/29/17