SPRING 2016 VOLUME 45—ISSUE 1

J E E P T R A C K S Becky Antle, ASA4WDC President, 2014—2016

ASA4WDC WEBSITE http://www.asa4wdc.org/

Congratulations!

The iconic Jeep is

75 years old this year.

Our love affair with

these amazing

machines is

never ending!

1941—2016

ASA4WDC 2015 OFFICERS

President Becky Antle—520-682-0273

4critter@comcast.net

Vice-President Ted Nunez—520-705-9070

tbear714@yahoo.com

Treasurer Ray Jenkins—480-834-0517

Pat.and.ray.jenkins@gmail.com

Secretary Joan Beck—928-565-2811

fourby@citlink.net

ASA4WDC BOARD MEMBERS

Adopt-a-Trail Doug Larson

az-lrrp@cox.net

Environmental/Legislative Advocate Becky Antle

4critter@comcast.net

Four Wheel Safety &Awareness OPEN

Historian & Event Coordinator Chari Ainsworth

brokenaxle2@aim.com

Insurance Chair Allan Connor—480-308-1498 aconnor@farmersagent.com

Membership Chair Wayne Ash

rwayneash@gmail.com

Website/Internet Services Becky Antle

4critter@comcast.net

Wheeldust Editor Joan Beck

fourby@citlink.net

ASA4WDC DIRECTORS

Region I Chari Ainsworth

brokenaxle2@aim.com

Region II Phil Strittmatter

pstrit41@hotmail.com

Region III OPEN

Region IV Rheal Tetreault

Email: 4critter@comcast.net

Page 2 The Wheel Dust

FEBRUARY 20, 2016 ASA4WDC QUARTERLY MINUTES EDGEWATER CASINO, LAUGHLIN, NV.

Called to order 1:30 p.m. by Pres. Becky Antle Roll Call – Quorum met. Pledge to the Flag Phil Strittmatter. Guests and ASA4WDC members introduced themselves. Insurance: Becky changed the agenda to accommodate Allan Connor, ASA4WDC Insurance agent, who had to leave early. Allan explained the insurance policy to the Bullhead 4 Wheelers and ASA members present. One event per club per year is covered by the policy, i.e. Spook Rally, Trail Dust Days, Desert Splash. Briefly, the 100% liability policy covers us for meetings, runs and events—a million dollars per occurrence. Medical coverage for staff people if, during an event, somebody gets hurt, it depends on the situation. If on a club run the driver rolls his vehicle or is injured the vehicle operator is usually at fault and carries his own insurance. If someone gets hurt or loses an arm, it depends on the situation. The spotter could be at fault for a bad call, or, the driver could have ignored the spotter and chosen his own path. The policy hires an attorney for us to help stop a law-suit. The policy is in place to protect us. This is when written reports, witnesses, photographs all come into play. Contact insurance companies with details imme-diately and keep a record of everything you send to the insurance company. Someone could have a minor injury on a trail then turn in a claim up to two years after the incident – keep documentation, time, date, incident and photos. Allan said there’s a lot of cheating going on with attorneys, etc. Bill Hammond wants to see the policy - claims it's the law. Gavin Van Hook and Joyce Hammond requested a certificate of insurance for the club show-ing that we are covered. Lengthy discussion after which, Allan stated he will pro-vide a Ceritificate of Insurance to the clubs. Club waivers discussed. Allan has provided the waiver information that must be written on the run sign-in sheets and sign-ins at club meetings and for any motorized event that occurs related to the insurance policy. The B4W will make sure that takes place. Becky will send a copy of Allan’s waiver. Additionally, each person on a run must sign it (husbands and wives). Parents must sign the waiver for their children/grandchildren and any guest that is a minor. Becky thanked Allan for his efforts and for providing his time and information. How ASA4WDC money is spent. Becky provided a breakdown to members and guests of the yearly budget and how every dime is spent. Also explained was how the lobbyist receives his money. ASA4WDC can not afford, nor is the sole fiscal provider for, his services – the amount he receives from motorized recreationists comes mainly from other groups such as Family Motor Coach; the AZ Off High-way Vehicle Coalition; a few car dealers in the Phoenix area and donations from the proceeds from club events; i.e. the Spook Rally. AGENDA Committees: Secretary: Joan Beck. Nothing to report. Becky asked for a motion to approve the minutes as printed in the Fall 2015 Wheel Dust. Motion made. Seconded. Ap-proved as written. Treasurer’s report: Ray Jenkins – Becky asked for a motion to accept the report as read. Motion seconded. Treasurer’s report accepted as read. Budget: Becky - discussed the budget. The new budget will be presented at the upcoming May Quarterly. Membership Committee: Wayne Ash thanked everyone for being members of ASA. He asked the clubs to please update their rosters. Request: B4Wers asked Joan to send Emails in pdf.

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Event Coordinator: Chari Ainsworth, has reserved the Rec. Room in Wickenburg May 14th. The Fat Olive Restau-rant in Flagstaff for August 13th. The Copperstate 4 Wheelers Four Peaks Cleanup will be Nov. 5 – the Quarterly will take place Sunday the 6th at Four Peaks. The G&F Expo 1st weekend in April. Safety & Awareness: Chad Chaney had to resign for personal reasons. He will be sorely missed. Environmental Legislative: AZ St. Parks OHVAG (Off highway vehicle advisory group). The Kingman BLM re-ceived grants in 2015 from St. Parks for adopt-a-road trails for the B4W – BLM is just waiting for ADOT to kick in and approve the trails. Legislature has an upcoming Bill re: Motor Fuel Taxes. They want to repeal taxes that go to motorized recreation - its a significant chunk of money. A proposed bill to enforce the wearing of motorcycle helmets for everyone. $500.00 fine if found without one. G&F Exposition takes place the first weekend in April at the Ben Avery shooting facility. There is a rock crawl area, gun shooting area and much more – a great family weekend event. Calendar is on Website. If you want access to add runs, etc, ask Becky for the password. Region I Chari Ainsworth - no director's meeting. Perhaps next quarter. Will go to TRR March meeting. Region II Phil Strittmatter – Re: Adopt-a-trails, BLM waiting for ADOT approval – St. Parks grant received. Dis-cussed new club in Prescott - may possibly join ASA4WDC. Region III – Need a director Region IV Rheal Tetreault. Saddlebrook 4 Wheelers - asked about joining. Questioned the amount of dues. Old Business Jamboree on hold. T-shirts – Becky stated it’s about $400 for 40 shirts. Will get more estimates. Property. Ray let the clubs know about upcoming work groups. Summer's almost here and it will be rough working in the heat. Can probably camp on the property. Will have to work on culverts for the dips in the roads. Perhaps the end of April. Getting surveyor out ASAP. Chari knows an engineer who can do it. A drawing and estimate from PVB Fab-rications, Inc. for two gates on the property – looks good. He will do it for cost. Will check more estimates. Becky will put out to the property committee. By-laws: Phil Strittmatter’s amendment re: property disposal should the ASA disband. Motion to pass by-laws written by Phil as published in the Wheeldust. Discussion. Seconded. Passed. Chari - By-law corrections as mentioned by Joan at the last quarterly. They were last updated in 2009 and need to be updated. Must go to By-laws committee. Chari, Ted, Phil, Becky, Wayne Ash volunteered to be on the committee. Suggestions: Move 4 Wheeler of the year to SOPs. Ref: to United. Remove from by-laws. SOPs. Take out locations of quarterly meetings. Say four meetings a year in Feb. May. Aug. Nov. Have member-ship cards only, not plaques. Webmaster. That may change. Convention Chair. Leave as necessary. G&F Expo. Chari’s booth. She has table, banner, looking for other items. We can have a raffle. Perhaps a couple of RC Cars - about $40.00 each - very popular with children. Chari already has raffle tickets. Becky is trying to get a trailer.Chari has $50.00 to spend, wants to get plastic totes. Get business cards w/website information. Maybe St. Trust Land rec. permits. FS brochures. Becky will bring awning. New Business Becky’s Survey re: asking for suggestions on how to improve the association – it worked well, now Becky wants to do a followup. Announcements Apr 2-3 Game & Fish Expo Mar 19-20 AZ Classic Bronco’s Stampede May 14 ASA4WDC Quarterly Wickenburg Rec Center Aug 13 ASA4WDC Quarterly Fat Olive Flagstaff Sep 23-25 TRR Trail Dust Days Oct 28-30 Spook Rally Nov 5 Four Peaks Cleanup Copperstate 4x4 Nov 6 Quarterly at Four Peaks Nov 12-13 Desert Splash Parker 50/50 Joe Eisensee won the pot. Motion to adjourn - seconded 4:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Joan Beck, Secretary

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MESA 4 WHEELERS PLAYDAY IN THE SNOW AT FOUR PEAKS January 16th...brrr! Thanks to Mike Drawsky for sharing the photos, the report and his great newsletter.

8:30 AM and we are all lined up at the 4-Peaks Staging Area ready to go play in the snow!

Left: Just as we were nearing the sum-mit, the shaded areas of roadway were icy, time to lock in all 4’s! Right: Jim’s TJ begins to slide off the road while trying to squeeze by this Razor. With the aid of his winch and Mike’s Jeep as leverage, Jim was back on the road in no time!

Below: Just as we were about to depart, two gentleman showed up with a radio controlled drone. They offered to take aerial photos and video of us, so we delayed our departure time.

A Chevy pickup slid off the road into a ditch and an SUV had lost traction while trying to pass, causing about a 10 vehicle backup. Fortunately, the jam up was just about 300 hundred yards from the summit. What made it challenging was the grade and the bends in the road. The only way to clear the road was to get the stranded vehicles to the top. To accomplish this Mike had to either back down to them or drive down and then find enough roadway to get turned around. Either option was not going to be easy when there’s ice involved. Trying to avoid becoming another casualty, Mike decided to drive down as close as possible then work at get-ting his Jeep turned around. The plan worked and within an hour Mike with some help from others had both the SUV and the Chevy pickup unstuck and to the top.

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WILLOW SPRINGS ADVENTURE January 23rd—from the Mesa 4 Wheelers Horn—February 2016 Issue. Thanks you Mike Drawsky

Everyone jumps in to help.

Kurt Loga starts the climb over “the boulder.” We all made it safely through this challenge.

Oh no! A broken rear driveline.

This is what makes our club unique. Everyone pitched in to help. Kurt steps right in to winch him up! Kurt stayed with Jim for the return trip back to pavement assisting his crippled front-wheel drive TJ through the remainder of the trail.

The last person on this challenge made it look easy.

Jim showing the Driveshaft.

The end of another wonderful day with the M4Wers.

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Tucson Rough Riders Adobe/Hog Canyons—Larry Narcus Pics by: Tim Naylor—February 2016 Issue of The Rough Rider—Thanks to Dave Peterson, Editor

Well, there was quite a turnout for this run. The meeting place at Houghton and I10 was just packed and we had to pick up more vehicles at Sahuarita Road and SR83 as well as Sonoita Center. We started with 35 4-wheel-drive vehi-cles. I was really sweating the large group because I told the Crown C Ranch that 15-20 vehicles would be crossing their property on Saturday Feb 6th. Had to get their permission. Not that they would be counting that morning. And then, our first stop at the “Bathtub” Tank could only accommodate about 20 vehicles. But with the expert guidance of Stan Fetherman, Paul Siskind and Phil David (our tail gunner) we were able to send some vehicles up to a turnaround about 0.2 miles up to the dead end of the trail and have them come back down to the Tank. What a relief - we got everyone parked! I swear that at one point I, as trail leader, was in Pima County and Phil David was still in Santa Cruz County. We really had a string of vehicles going. The Tank proved very interesting and with water running did not disappoint. This was a man-modified natural “falls” that was used by ranch hands and miners to take baths “as necessary”, especially if they did not want to spend the 25 cents on a proper bath in one of the towns. Very picturesque spot. Little bit of a hike, but well worth the effort. We headed out of Adobe Canyon and made our way up on a ridge overlooking the canyon on the left. Very pictur-esque indeed. With Mts Wrightson and Hopkins to the left (snow-covered no less), there was indeed a very postcard type of a scene. We then made our way south through Hog Canyon to our lunch spot which had tons of room for everyone to easily park. Great lunch spot and after lunch I gave a detailed review of the starting episodes of the Indian Wars of 1861-1886. Many people do not realize that the catalyst for these “misunderstandings” was centered on a small ranch in the Patagonia area. The whole affair grew very much out of proportion and led to years of mutual hostility with the Apache. Two abandoned “Forts” just south of Hog Canyon at SR82 are no longer there - they were Fort Buchanan and Fort Crittenden. They were really encampments. After lunch, we again headed north along another ridge line with similar great views and ended up going east to Gardner Canyon Road to our exit point onto SR83. On the way out, we would bump into a camper or hunter or two, and I would inform them that I had 30 plus Jeeps behind me. They all looked very puzzled by my proclamation - one fellow even told me jokingly that he couldn’t be-lieve that there were that many Jeeps in all of Southern Arizona. I assured him there was and most of them were be-hind me. He was soon to realize I was not joking. A great day was had by all and the weather was absolutely perfect. Great day on the trails.

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CANDY A$$—WILD AND MILD—2/21/16 Great photos by Wayne Jack

T hey kept coming and coming and coming! What a turn out for this lovely, but windy spring day. Doug Ohm did a terrific job leading his followers with Gavin Van Hook bouncing all over the place spotting most of the middle section. Bob Smith did an equally great job as tail-gunner; they successfully maneuvered everyone through the

gnarly canyon with no damage to anyone’s pride or vehicle—nothing shameful about a little tug from a strap. We were joined by some from the ASA4WDC the day after the quarterly. All had a great time.

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COORDINATING NATIONAL MONUMENT PLANS Posted on February 29, 2016 by admin American Stewards of Liberty 624 S. Austin Avenue – Suite 101 Georgetown, TX 78626 (512) 591-7843—asl@americanstewards.us

On February 12, 2016, President Obama withdrew another 1.8 million acres for permanent protec-

tion under the Antiquities Act. He created three new National Monuments in California: the Mo-

jave Trails National Monument, Sand to Snow National Monument, and the Castle Mountains Na-

tional Monument. This brings the President’s current total acres of land withdrawn under the Antiq-

uities Act to 265 million acres – more than any other President to date.

There are three key steps you need to take if you are impacted by a National Monument: (1) Know

what the Proclamation Protects, (2) Update Local Land Use Plans, (3) Coordinate the development

of the Monument Plan.

The Antiquities Act (16 USC 431), passed into law in 1906, gives the President the authority to

withdraw by proclamation lands for historic and scientific interests. The Congressional intent of

the Act was to give the President the power to protect objects of historic significance, such as the

burial site of past Presidents. It was not for the purpose of withdrawing millions of acres with the

stroke of a pen. In fact, the Act limits the President’s power by requiring that the area to be with-

drawn is the “smallest area” necessary to protect the objects.

Section 2 of the Act provides the President’s authority:

“That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to declare by public

proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or

scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the

United States to be national monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the

limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and

management of the objects to be protected: Provided, that when such objects are situated upon a

tract covered by a bona fide unperfected claim or held in private ownership, the tract, or so much

thereof as may be necessary for the proper care and management of the object, may be relin-

quished to the Government, and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to accept the re-

linquishment of such tracts in behalf of the Government of the United States.”

Once an area is withdrawn, there are several key things landowners and local governments need

to do to ensure the continued use of the land, to the extent allowable under the new law.

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Understand what the Proclamation Protects and Restricts

The language of the Proclamation identifies the objects to be protected, the uses to be eliminated

or restricted, and activities that are excluded from protection of the Monument. An example of this

is the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Proclamation, which has an exclusionary

clause requiring livestock grazing to continue at the level of use when the Monument was created,

managed by existing grazing laws and regulations. Landowners and local governments need to

understand what the Proclamation does and does not protect, and not rely on the federal agencies

interpretation.

Update Local Land Use Plans

The Federal agency with management responsibility will need to prepare a management plan for

the Monument. The development of this should be coordinated with the plans and policies of local

governments. For this reason, it is critically important that the counties, cities, conservation dis-

tricts and other special districts impacted by the Monument, update their natural resource plans

and policies to acknowledge the creation of the Monument and set forth those activities that must

continue in order for the local government to carry out its charge. Under coordination, the agency

is charged with resolving the conflicts with local plans.

Coordinate the Monument Plan

Local governments need to initiate coordination with the federal agency early in the process. It is

critical that your local entities get involved in this process prior to the development of the Monu-

ment Plan and Environmental Impact Statement. It is never too early to begin advocating your po-

sition, and coordination is the only process that allows local governments to have this early in-

put. This is where you publicly disclose the conflicts and advocate the needs on behalf of your lo-

cal citizens. It is also the early opportunity for the agency to ensure the Monument plan is consis-

tent with local land use plans.

ASL has been working with Kane and Garfield County in Utah on a plan amendment to the Grand

Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We have also been working with a coalition of local gov-

ernments in the Las Cruces, New Mexico area, spearheaded by the Dona Ana Soil and Water

Conservation District on the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Their use of the

coordination process on these issues has already proven to be a game changer in their ability to

protect the economy, people and way of life.

If you are impacted by a national monument, give us a call and we will help you work through

these issues.

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14-Club Partnership Working To Create 750-Mile Arizona Peace Trail By Dave Halsey, NOHVCC Contributing Writer

The Arizona Peace Trail, when completed, will be one of the longest signed and mapped trail systems in the country for off-highway vehicles (OHVs). It’s a work in progress. But considering its scope, and the fact that 14 OHV clubs have been working on it for just 2 years, the key word is “progress.” “The clubs are going to be the glue that keeps this project together and makes it work,” said John Strong, a member of the Arizona Peace Trail Committee, and past president of the Lake Havasu 4 Wheelers. “It’s going to take time. We formed a 501(c)(3) group last year. Our next grant will go toward a Master Plan for the whole trail system, so that we can work with the city, county, State and Federal agencies.” The proposed route is a 750-mile loop, traveling on city, county, state and federal lands as it crosses Mojave, La Paz and Yuma Counties. It includes roads and trails between Bullhead City on the north end and Yuma on the south, currently open to all OHVs, but unsigned. In January, a group of riders gathered near Bouse, AZ, to witness the installation of the first of what will be hundreds of Arizona Peace Trail signs. “This loop trail will connect to almost endless side trails,” said J.C. Sanders, 2016 Trail Committee chairman. “Once completed, the trail system will provide the ultimate adventure recreation system in western Arizona.” The trail name was chosen by the three counties involved, reports Sanders. “La Paz” is Spanish for “peace.” To date, La Paz County has applied for and received two grants for the project. One is a Yamaha OHV Access Initiative Grant, just under $5,000, for signage. A second grant for $74,414 was provided by the Arizona State Parks OHV Advisory Group (OHVAG), to develop a staging area in Cibola. The Arizona Peace Trail website shows the impressive progress the Committee has made since it was officially organ-ized in 2014. It features a map of the proposed route, which members have ridden. It lists the 14 “Support Partners” -- 4-wheel drive truck, ATV and side-by-side clubs. And it has a clear Mission Statement: To develop a loop trail system utilizing existing trails and roads in Western Arizona connecting Bullhead City to

Yuma, and assist the land managers in maintaining the trail system. Work with City, County, State and Federal Agencies. Keep the desert roads and trails open for public use. Work on projects for our community, our highways and our public lands. Promote the sport of OHV riding safety, with awareness and respect for the environment. As they work with government agencies at all levels to turn the proposed route into a designated trail, club members are using GPS to track the way, as well as Points of Interest (POI) along the way. The Arizona Peace Trail website lists 10 POIs found on the trail -- including petroglyphs, ghost towns, historic mines and scenic stops -- complete with their GPS coordinates. The trail varies in elevation from 170 ft. to 7070 ft. above sea level, with a wide variety of terrain and pictur-esque landscapes. The Arizona Peace Trail Committee is working with the BLM Field Offices as they develop their Travel Management Plans and designate which roads and trails are open to OHVs. “There’s a Travel Management Plan that has been com-pleted by Lake Havasu BLM, but the rest of them still have to be completed between Yuma and Bullhead City,” said Strong. “Our guesstimate is the year 2020, to get all the Travel Management Plans completed by the BLM. Hopefully, the entire trail will be approved after that. But we don’t like to put a timeline on it.” As the clubs continue to work on the trail designation process, they are also partnering with the BLM and State agen-cies on cleanup projects. “Havasu 4 Wheelers have been around for about 25 years,” said John Geyer, president of the Havasu Side-by-Side Trail Association. “They’ve been gracious enough to invite us to one of their desert cleanups that they put on every year. Our club brought in another 50 members and helped clean up the desert. We collected 11,000 lb. of trash in one day.” It only makes sense for all OHV clubs to work together on the Arizona Peace Trail, adds Strong. The plan is for it to be open to all OHVs. And some side-by-side rock crawlers are larger than his truck. “I have a 2002 (Jeep) TJ with 35-inch tires. You look at the Red Dot Engineering Polaris (RZR XP 1000 Rock Crawler), and it’s actually wider and longer than my vehicle. The industry is changing and they’re blending together.” Strong, a retired school teacher from Wisconsin, puts the same philosophy to work building the Arizona Peace Trail that he did teaching, and coaching wrestling, football and track. “When I was a teacher and coach, my message was ‘listen, learn, and serve’. I’m still trying to give that message today. The goals of the Arizona Peace Trail are education, giving back to the community, keeping the riders safe, and keeping the trails open.” To learn more about the Arizona Peace Trail, the proposed route and the 14 OHV clubs working on it, visit www.arizonapeacetrail.com.

Above are copies of the volunteer patches you’ll receive from Doug Larson our Adopt-a-Trail Chairman. The lar-ger of the two is for the first 25 hours of volunteer work and the smaller patch you’ll receive for each additional 25 hours. They’re slightly larger than shown above, multi-colored and very attractive. They’ll look great on jackets or shirts. Be proud. Be a trail volunteer!

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ADVERTISING COSTS: Approx. 3" x 2" business card $ 50.00/year 1/4 page ad $ 75.00/year 1/2 page ad $150.00/year Full page ad $250.00/year

ASA4WDC P.O. Box 23904

Tempe, AZ 85285