Hello Tina

Prospecting is allowed on state and federal lands. Each have different rules.

Hello Janine!

You are probably talking about Rainbow Ryders. They operate all over the north valley and are located off of Lake Pleasent Parkway.

Yes, the Arizona State Land Department leases state land to various private businesses to support the 13 beneficiaries of the state trust. They likely hold a lease or special use permit on the state land in question.

If you have any concerns, I suggest you take it up with the State Land Department.

Hello Kate!

Thank you for becoming a member! Also, thank you for the update.

These folks are not playing around. They have done everything they said they were going to do.

I found out today, that lady is part of the newly established OHV study committee which starts next month. The same committee that was established by legislation which developed over the Sedona issue. It was introduced alongside this bill. She testified the other day in front of the House of Representatives opposing a bill that would increase the OHV weight to 3,500 lbs.

The rental agencies who do not donate get visits by city officials threatening citations on silly ordinance violations no one else follows and Game and Fish visits as well with their arm twisting.

Now thats wild! They are upset because they didn’t get their OHV business regulations like they wanted. “Similar to the adult sex shops,” according to the Sedona City Mayor.

And of great interest – you know I spoke about the false premise that dust from the ATV’s was killing the trees – when all along it was 20 year drought stress….well the trees have never looked better in the area. I had trees that we intended to cut down because we thought they were dead – all the tips are now green. My son said the trees out on 525 are looking good…..get this – UNTIL the forest service went out and started cutting them ALL down! They have gone out and cut the juniper trees down because they are a non-native species and invasive. Which is probably true but not one public voice from the Sedona ATV complainers about their precious trees that were dying from dust!!!!

They cut them down!? After all that complaining? LMAO! I’ll need to take a trip up there in a couple of weeks and take a look. The Greenies should be screaming over that. Or maybe they didn’t want any scrutiny.

We are investigating this matter to help us better understand the circumstances around multiple issues within the Forest Service like the Apache Trail and Sedona. We have a series of FOIA requests to get answers we can’t seem to acquire from federal land managers.

Please keep us updated. You can contact me at kevin@azbackroads.com

Thanks for asking. Many variables come into play here. In general, we have two major issues and both of them are related.

First off, the federal government is out of control and ignoring its own regulations and agency policy manual. These roads are property rights of the state under long-standing federal law and agency regulation stemming from section 8 of the Mining Act of 1866. Simply put, the federal government is acting like a bad neighbor who locked the gate on a road used to access your property. The only option is to file a civil suit for injunctive relief, get the county sheriff to cut the lock, or cut the lock yourself. Or better yet, deregulate Federal agencies to end the Travel Management process.

Federal Land managers have set a standard over the past 20-plus years that ignores states’ rights. The state and county should be taking action.

The second problem is lawless actions by the public. It’s a common misunderstanding that people are causing closures. The fact is, the Travel Management planning process is written into federal regulation as a mechanism used to accomplish the goals mandated by other federal laws. The process is used to allegedly “protect” endangered species, wetland habitats, riparian areas, roadless areas, recommended wilderness areas, and so on. However, Federal law, federal regulation, agency policy manuals, and hundreds of court cases, make the travel management process only applicable to roads constructed after October of 1976.

We cannot deny there are real problems. Open access comes with responsibility. The community and established clubs can only do so much to change how people act. In our opinion, motorized use advocates have mistakenly put law enforcement responsibilities on federal agencies where no constitutional authority exists. While doing so, we have pushed aside local law enforcement who have the legal authority to enforce state law. We NEED Sheriffs departments to start enforcing state law along our backroads and in popular areas on public lands. They are the answer to 90% of the argument. Currently, each county only has a handful of deputies dedicated to patrolling public lands in their jurisdiction.

If we could get 20 sheriff deputies in each county to focus on these issues, it would protect the interest of the federal government (environment) and the interest of the state, and therefore, We The People.

I don’t believe the problem warrants the closure of thousands of miles of roads. These roads should be governed no differently that any other county highway under the long-standing highway right of way established under Section 8 of the Mining Act of 1866. ARS 37-931 gives counties authority over roads on federal lands. Therefore, the 4×4 community should focus its efforts on engaging the County Sheriff and allocating state funding to county sheriff’s departments.

By relying on the Federal Government to stop these issues, we are justifying authority the federal government doesn’t have. Roads over public lands are a state issue under the long-standing principles established by Section 8 of the Mining Act of 1866. Federal law, federal regulation, agency policy manuals, hundreds of court cases, and documented rulemaking processes in the federal register, recognize this fact.

I agree! That’s why we need to make sure local law enforcement is enforcing state law in problem areas. We should be demanding that additional funding be set aside to hire and equip LEOs with the tools they need. Luckily, people are starting to go to jail, and about 60 million was just allocated to county Sheriffs by the Legislature.

I agree! Please follow the Read More button and voice your opinion and share with your friends!

The Wildlands Project never left. Its been here all along, and we fight against it every day!

Be aware, as mentioned above, the Navajo Nation section is closed until further notice. I would not recommend starting at the Utah line and consider starting just South of the Navajo Nation reservation.

Fixed!