Making a difference on the OHV trails

The Off-Highway Vehicle Program of the Southern California Mountains Foundation spoke to OHV enthusiasts at the Pinnacles OHV Staging Area on the Mountaintop Ranger District of the forest, Nov. 23. The foundation has been a valued partner of the forest for years and their OHV program has been instrumental in engaging and informing the public, who use the trails for recreation.

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Mike Casares, OHV Manager, and Randy Roth, Assistant Recreation Officer with the forest, setup an information area at Pinnacles that Saturday morning and spoke with several visitors, who rode on dirt bikes, quads and pickup trucks. They provided a free map and answered rider’s questions. Casares and Roth were also equipped with a sound level meter and could check for spark arresters in the exhaust of vehicles.

Casares explained that the goals of his program are to educate the public about the rules and regulations of OHV riding and safety.

“We are performing an OHV Safety week,” Casares said. “The state would like us to do these booths, these education kiosks, where we do sound checks, we do spark arrest tests, we educate the public on all the safety gear that they should have: helmets, shin guards, boots, chest guards, and; keeping them on the trails.”

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Ismael Hernandez, of Fontana, Calif., rode his Polaris quad to Pinnacles OHV Staging Area that morning. He checked in with Roth and Casares, who gave him a forest motor vehicle use map (MVUM). Hernandez explained that he enjoys coming out to the forest and appreciates being out in nature, breathing in clean air. He recommends visiting for the opportunity to relax and "re-charging one's batteries" for the upcoming week. 

Casares explained the OHV program gets assistance from 80 volunteers, with 50 of them being frequent contributors. With their help, the program is able to interact with the public on all three ranger districts of the forest.

Thank you Mike and your program volunteers!

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