WrightwoodCalif.com Forum
Public Forums => Outdoors => Topic started by: RobertW on Nov 28, 05, 07:17:26 AM
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Thanks for the report and the pictures RobertW. That was quite an effort on your part. Nolena, KW, myself and a few others hiked the slide area on 10/30 and there were no tracks or signs of that vehicle. I have pictures of KW above the area of the top plateau, that I took that day and there is nothing visible in them in regards to car tracks. That really is the pits that someone would do that in that area and would go to so much effort to launch that car from the top. Too bad the sheep cam was not up there to maybe have gotten a picture of the perpetrators.
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RobertW this make me sick. That vehicle will undoubtedly be coming down in future slide activity and cause additional problems.
The Bighorn Sheep numbers in the San Gabriel's Mountains had dropped to critical levels in recent years and just appear to be making a comeback. The Wright Mountain/Pine Mountain & Heath Canyon areas have been recently added to the Bighorn Sheep summer ranges in the study protocols.
To allow public vehicle access to this critical sheep habitat is going to make a huge difference in the recovery process. This exact issue was brought to the forest service attention over 1 year ago. With this summers vehicle access to the area we have now went through a summer with hunters target shooting in the area and now vehicles are being dumped over the side. So long Bighorns...............
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And people wonder why so many are opposed to having Hwy 39 reopened? Parts of our forest have been war zones for years. Some parts have more graffiti then urban areas. Sadly, those elements are slowly moving Eastward.
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Um, where have you all been? There are upwards of 30-50 cars dumped on the forest every year. Many of them are dumped on the desert side. Littlerock area is a favorite. What is really great is about every 3-5 years, there is a bonus of a dead body in it. These are stolen, stripped, and often torched. Many a fire response comes to a vehicle that has been treated this way. There are currently upwards of about 10-15 vehicles that are on the Santa Clara/Mojave River district alone that are so remote, they can't be towed away by a tow truck. And who can pay for this? There is no money allocated to the agency for picking up this kind of dumping trash. Does the agency lock everyone out? Do they put gates on all the roads and only the "special" people get to drive the roads. After all, this is public land. There is no legal means by which the District Ranger or the Forest Supervisor could keep the road closed down to Lupine anymore. That was supposed to be a 5 year closure based on the Narrows Fire. It was in place for almost 8 years.
A NEPA process will have to be done in order for an additional gate to be put in. Who does the work? There are already 27 pages of priority one projects on the forest. Who pays for the gate? They cost over $9,000 just to purchase one. (Oh, and by the way, as of December 31, 2005 there are NO contracting officers for the 4 southern california forests--so who would process the purchase order?) and even if the money was there for the purchase of the gate, then you have to pay for the installation--dozer time, personnel time, etc. There is no money allocated for this. The budget is 25% less what it was last year and nationwide, fire is already severly in the hole. Guess who makes up the difference? Deficit spending is not allowed so any surplus from other functions (like wildlife that would pay for this gate) is sucked up to pay for the fire deficit.
It is easy to sit back and point the finger and say "this is wrong, and that's wrong." It is a h*ll of a lot harder to be sitting in the trenches trying to figure out how to do more with less until you are expected to do everything with nothing.
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Oh I get it "keep your mouth shut if you can't do anything about it". I kinda thought the voice of these concerned citizens was well put. Things are tough all over but it costs nothing to window shop. Get over it
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You better knock it off Hillbilly, someone might think you're using SLANDER. Stupid meth head tweakers ;D
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I'm actively involved with the San Gabriel Mountains Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project and a member of the State Hwy39 Bighorn Sheep Study Technical Advisory Committee. I don't need to tell most of you the amount of time, money and effort that is being put forth by volunteers, CDFG, ANF, SBNF and others on this bighorn sheep recovery process.
When I learned over a year ago that the forest service was planning on reopening the Lupin area my thoughts were focused on how the bighorn sheep recovery might be affected.
While attending various forest service and bighorn sheep functions I spoke with numerous biologists regarding the opening of this gated area and they all agreed that it would have a direct impact on the building population in the Wright Mountain and Heath Canyon areas.
The cost of over $9,000 was discussed with a number of people and a few alternate suggestions were made that could save the forest service a good deal of money. A local building material company has offered to help with the materials if needed and a suggestion was offered to move an existing Blue Ridge gate (that appears to serve no purpose) and would save half the $9K cost.
This issue was not on a hidden agenda, never presented in a negative manner and there was no finger pointing intended. It was presented then and now as a concern for the recovery process of the San Gabriel Mountains bighorn sheep with suggestions being made to help minimize or eliminate the costs.
Lets try and find some solutions and not place blame on why it can't be done. If fund raising efforts are needed I wouldn't hesitate to approach the Bighorn Sheep Restoration Program for funding.
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Rumor around town is some 19 yr old gal got mad at her boyfriend and let the car roll as they were partying up top.
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I don't think I have ever heard of such dumping. This could be a Ripley's Believe It or Not.
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I was wondering how someone could strip it in such an inaccessible place. Whatever the reason could be for doing this, they should pay for the removal. It's only fair.
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Okay TableMtn, can you shed some light on this situation? If we know who did this and/or who's car this is, why can't the money be spent to remove this vehicle before it slides down the mountain and causes our town a whole lot of trouble and then go after the responsible party for reimbursement. Or in the alternative, go after them for the money first and then remove vehicle. There must be something that can be done. Do you know if anything has or is being done about this vehicle?
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I guess not. ???
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Is this vehicle still up there? What will happen to it if we get the large amount of rain that is being predicted?
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Yes the vehicle is still there and will continue it's way down Heath Canyon with time. If we indeed get a significant rainfall the wreckage will more than likely move from it's current position.
RobertW posted this yesterday in the snow pool discussion topic:
Here is the car as it sits on Sunday, February 26, 2006, before the storm.
You can see that there already seems to be some sliding on the steep cliff just to the right of the car.
(http://pages.prodigy.net/robertmorgan/Car022606.jpg)
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Looks like it is in the same spot. I took this picture about 3 PM today.
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/chuck3195/caronslid1e.jpg)
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Chuck,
Your photo capture is at a different zoom level than RobertW's so it's really hard to tell for sure.
You also need to keep in mind that the vehicle, what's left to it, is over a mile away from the camera and would be difficult to notice a movement of 10 or 20 feet.
I agree that it doesn't appear to have moved.
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I take it that the car is still hanging out on the side of the mountain. I tried looking to see if you can see it thru webcam but couldnt tell.
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can't tell the mtn is now brown so its hard to spot...
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Yup.. the car is still there as of today. Sorry, these are the best photos I could get of it. From my vantage point, it actually looks like its on fairly level ground, and not likely to move.
(http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Small1.jpg)
(http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Small2.jpg)
(http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Small3.jpg)
The full sized images can be viewed here:
http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Large1.jpg (http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Large1.jpg)
http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Large2.jpg (http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Large2.jpg)
http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Large3.jpg (http://www.fly-ul.com/Wrightwood/HeathCanyonCar/Large3.jpg)
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You mean before it makes it was down to my house ? ;)
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I'm sure wrightwood has some free time he can get up there and get it down ;D ... Oh dang he isnt superman? Thought he was... BostonBob could probably sell it at his next yard sale ::) Just a couple of ideas! ;)
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Since I have the VIN number, we know who owned it along with names posted on the dash board and reported it to both the San Bernardino County Sheriff's and the USFS, I curious as to what was done if anything.
Just out of curiosity, to whom did you give the VIN number to in the Forest Service?
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Does the car still contain gas and oil? That could be a major concern! If so Maybe the forestry service should be notified.
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Would'nt the last registered owner be responsible for the cost of removal?
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Is is always best to contact the district ranger in writing with what your concerns are. But, given that she is leaving in 6-8 weeks, good luck with getting this issue resolved. The Los Angeles River Ranger district has been vacant for over a year now and has still not been filled. Maybe with having only one ranger on the forest, it will spur the powers that be to get these vacancies filled.
Cid Morgan, District Ranger
30800 Bouquet Canyon Road
Saugus, CA 91390
I feel sorry for whomever they put in as "acting" district ranger as there are a lot of things going on with the forest and a lot of vacancies that they can't get filled.
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I checked with Captain Jeff Bradford and he said that a standard incident report was filed and notified ANF dispatch.
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I guess there is no sense in writing Cid if she is only around for 6 more weeks. I guess that will leave on Marty Dumpis as the only District Ranger in the whole Angeles Forest. OUCH! Should I write him?
I hope Cid didn't lose her job because of being too honest with the media...
First off, not to worry--Cid applied for and was offered a district ranger job on the Sandia district of the Cibola NF in New Mexico. The Sandia district is just east of Albuquerque, NM.
And I would go ahead and send the letter to Cid, she will probably just add it to the briefing she'll leave about all the items that are needing to be dealt with. That's pretty standard. If you send it to Marty, he'll just send it over to the correct district. I'm just saying that given all the stuff that is going on in the district, this will probably not be a high priority. Remember, there are still above ground gas and oil pipelines that need to be rerouted and put underground from all the storm damage of 2005. And the forest is now cranking up for fires....
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Or does the USFS not bother or have funds to cleanup "trashed cars" in the forest.
Here is the issue--there are no allocated funds to clean up "dumping" in the forest. Monies are allocated (albeit less and less every year) to do standard clean up for recreation facilites and popular recreation areas. Adventure Pass monies are supposed to supplement the meager funds that congress gives the agency. Even the "sexy" National Park Service is being cut to the bone (e.g. Yosemite has 43 interpretive ranger postions--they currently have the funds to hire 8....). So, since no monies are allocated out of the budget for the illegal dumping, the functions in the agency (recreation, wildlife, watershed, timber, botany, etc.) have to "eat" it when these dumps are cleaned up. Even on the rare occasions when the person is caught dumping, the fines are minimal. And on the even rarer occasions when they have to pay the cleanup fee--guess what? The money goes to the general treasury and the functions that paid for the original cleanup are still left holding the (trash) bag.... The funds are not reimbursed into the account where it came out of, the monies just go back to the black hole in Washington D.C.
Helicoptering out this vehicle would run over $10,000. What do you not want to get done in order to do this? Wouldn't it be cheaper to let it slide down the mountain and pick it up when it hits the wash?
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Boy that sucks big time K9. I did not realize how broken the system is. What I would really like to see, would be for them to bill those "turds" who pushed the car over the side. A $10,000 bill for those services would be a great deterrent to the next dumb a$$ who thinks about pushing another car down our mountain. But of course we will never see that happen as it just makes too much sense. ::)
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What I would really like to see, would be for them to bill those "turds" who pushed the car over the side. A $10,000 bill for those services would be a great deterrent to the next dumb a$$ who thinks about pushing another car down our mountain. But of course we will never see that happen as it just makes too much sense. ::)
AMEN Brother--AMEN!!!! ;D ;)
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IMHO:
That is where volunteers step in and help. In the Sequoias, several groups volunteer on a regular basis to maintain trails, and areas.
One such group is the "Stewards of the Sequoias". They stay active in legislature, and all issues pertaining to keeping the National Forests open for public use.
Hillbilly cleans up graffitti
I do trash pick-up.
anyone else?
It is up to us, to do what we can, the budget problems will probably never get any better than they are now! If you care about your Forest, please help do your part...(not hiking up to get the car, though!). ;D
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Hillbilly cleans up graffitti
I do trash pick-up.
anyone else?
That reminds me... I have some work to do! I just saw some on the sign by Desert Front Road.
I have seen forum member Hank on LPC picking up trash....
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"I figure if we get about 15 to 20 of us, we could push that vehicle off the plataeu and give it a "good start" down the slide."
Who gets to steer? ;D
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today i was out walking around in the area above (south of) Desert Front Rd. i came across 3 big piles of concrete someone dumped in 2 different areas. it pretty much put a damper on the walk. if you noticed your neighbor or friend removing some concrete work from around their property, that's where they left it, real nice. it should be pretty easy to ID who did it, since the top surface had a reddish color to it and a pattern of some sort. so in order to save maybe 50 bucks they ruined a couple of areas instead.
i was in one of the areas, which is along the power line road within the last month, so this is pretty recent.
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^^ Perhaps not dumped by a home owner but a cut rate wanna be concrete contractor.
I found my neighbors construction waste dumped out in the hills, when I took him to the spot he was more then a bit pissed off as he paid someone to take it to the dump.