Magic City 4-Wheelers have 2 trail rides scheduled for January 2005:

Friday, January 14th - trail ride to Clarks Fork Canyon
Saturday, January 15th - trail ride to Red Lodge or Pryors

For both trail rides the meeting place is Burger King in Laurel at 7:30 am.

January Delegates Meeting is Saturday, 1/8/05, in Clancy, MT at the Legal Tender, south of Helena on I-15, north of Boulder.

Race Committee will meet following the Delegates Meeting.

Frontier will be having a club trail ride on SUNDAY, the day after the meeting for anyone that would like to go out in the cold n' play after staying over Saturday night.

Club Trail Rides - All rides meet at County Market, 9am.

SUNDAY, January 9th. This is the day after the Delegates meeting.

and

SATURDAY, January 22nd.

It's cold out there, so be prepared. Plenty of warm clothes, extra shoes n' socks, etc.

Plus the usual tow-hooks and straps, good tires, full tank of gas, etc.

I just wanted to let folks know that there is pending legislation that, if passed, would allow the Forest Service, BLM, and other lands administered by the Interior Department to begin charging a user fee. This means you potentially would have to by an "access" permit to hunt, fish, hike or drive o­n your public lands. Also, there are special permit fees allowed (in addition to the "access" fee) for such activities as: "(1) A group activity., (2) A commercial tour, including commercial aircraft tour., (3) A recreation event., (4) Use of a motorized recreation vehicle., (5) A competitive event..." These were directly quoted from the pending legislation. I have attached it below. This was copied form http://thomas.loc.gov searched for HR3283 (108th congress)

While some may be inclined to say so what, just remember that you currently pay taxes to recreate o­n PUBLIC LANDS. If this legislation passes, you are essentially being taxed twice.

If you are opposed to this concept, please do your part to encourage our congressional delegation to vote against this.

Sincerely,
George Jordan
concerned member, Magic City 4-wheelers

Watch for meeting in your area!

This is about your recreational opportunities.

You are Invited to Public Meetings to Discuss Travel Planning Criteria For the Bureau of Land Management - Butte Field Office Resource Management Plan Revision

The Bureau of Land Management - Butte Field Office will host public meetings to discuss criteria for travel planning on public lands; these criteria are currently being developed as part of the Resource Management Plan (RMP). The public meetings will be tailored to discuss travel planning criteria in five separate areas and are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, November 30th, North Hills Area, West Valley Volunteer Fire Department, 1165 Forestvale, Helena, 7- 9p.m.

Wednesday, December 1 Scratchgravel Hills West Valley Volunteer Fire Department 1165 Forestvale Helena 7- 9 p.m.

Thursday, December 2 Marysville Area West Valley Volunteer Fire Department 1165 Forestvale Helena 7- 9 p.m.

For additional information please contact Ruth Miller BLM Project Manager at 406-533- 7645 or visit the RMP website at httD:llwww.mt.blm.aovlbdol.

Saturday, December 4th.

Meet at 9am at County Market (corner of Montana and Custer Avenue, behind McDonalds) in Helena, then we're heading south on I-15 to Basin to hunt trees.

RSVP at the Frontier meeting Wed 12/1, 7pm at Helena Motors and we'll make sure there's enough chili. :D

Guests are welcome.

NOTICE to Citizens For Balanced Use:

THE RALLY IS ON!
Where: Gallatin County Courthouse.
When: December 11, 2004 - Noon until 2 pm
Stop by and meet the people that will carry
the fight to keep our public lands open to everyone.
This is serious and we must not lose this fight!

This notice is posted on the www.citizensforbalanceduse.com website.
Encourage your friends to join!

The Gallatin National Forest has published their Motorized Trail Closure Plan, oops… I meant Travel Management Plan preferred alternative. Information is available at:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/?page=/projects/travel_planning

Alternative 7 is the preferred alternative selected by the Forest Service; however, it is not a lucky No. 7 alternative for motorized recreationists as shown on the attached table developed from information in Chapter 2. The % change from the current condition has been added in red for comparison to existing conditions.

First, start with the miles of ATV roads. Under Current conditions there are 77 miles of “legal” ATV road opportunity available. Under Alternative 7 this opportunity increases to 361 miles. Sounds good if you like to ride roads. Next look at the miles of trails open to ATVs which is 680 miles currently and decreases to 167 miles or 25% of the existing miles under Alternative 7. Ouch, this is a big time loss of the most valuable OHV recreational opportunity!

(Without Any Casualties)
By Del Albright, Blue Ribbon Ambassador and
Daniel R. Strà, Founder, JonFund 4X4 Club

Is your club/group held in the clutches of time by its club elders? Do you wish that you had more input, or that the club/group would change to keep up with the crises our sports face?

As a club elder, are you worried that letting go of things will cause the club to spiral downward or that if you let go of the power no one will step up and continue your good work?

Either situation can be remedied.

Many groups have problems related to a lack of distribution of the workload and responsibilities. There are those who do a lot (and are getting tired) and those who want to do more but aren’t being given things to do. Both situations lead to burn-out and membership decline.