According to a report from the American Motorcyclist Association, the U.S. military can’t spend any money expanding a Marine base into the Johnson Valley off-highway vehicle riding area in California until the Navy files a report on off-highway riding with Congress.

On Jan. 2, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (H.R. 4310), triggering a hold on spending and a 90-day deadline for the military to report to Congress on how its proposed expansion of a Marine base at Twentynine Palms, Calif., would affect off-highway riding at Johnson Valley.

The language was inserted into the bill by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) with support from Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.).

Track time can be a little difficult to come by for ATV and UTV riders, so it’s great to hear that Southern California’s Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park has announced completion of a dedicated ATV, Side-by-Side and Trophy Cart track. The track will open on Saturday morning, Oct. 6 at 9:00 am.

“With a layout filled with obstacles, the track was designed to challenge riders of all skill levels,” Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park says in a release.

As part of its OHV Access Initiative, Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., employees volunteered to help restore one of the San Bernardino National Forest’s most popular multi-use off-highway vehicle (OHV) staging areas this past weekend.

Eighty volunteers, comprised of Yamaha employees and their family and friends, along with members of the San Bernardino National Forest Association (SBNFA), contributed approximately 240 hours of volunteer service to maintain and improve the Cactus Flats staging area.

The San Bernardino National Forest sees approximately 2.4 million visitors each year, and Cactus Flats is a popular spot for OHV enthusiasts providing access to some of the best trails in Southern California. Thousands of visitors, including OHV enthusiasts, hikers and mountain bikers among others, enjoy the staging area and surrounding trails each year.

“Yamaha is dedicated to the OHV community and has contributed thousands of volunteer hours and more than $2 million since 2008 to the mission of supporting safe, responsible riding and open, sustainable riding areas,” says Mike Martinez, general manager of Yamaha’s ATV/SxS operations and an SBNFA board member who volunteered alongside his son over the weekend. “Yamaha employees are passionate about their volunteer efforts here in Southern California. We understand that these OHV areas are important to our customers and our business, and it means a lot to us personally to help keep these areas in good shape for current and future generations.”

California’s Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund is in danger of losing up to $31 million. California’s Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Resources and Transportation voted to raid the fund and transfer it to non-OHV related programs.

According to the Blue Ribbon Coalition, the OHV funds are slated to go to the Sustainable Parks Proposal, which is being championed by the California Parks Foundation, California State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and other “anti-OHV organizations.”

Don Amador, Western Representative of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, tells ATV.com the OHV Program was enacted into law in the early 1970s as a way to pay for OHV management on local, state, and federal lands. Before the law was enacted, riders got a state tax refund based on fuel use off-pavement. The law took that tax refund and created the OHV Trust Fund as a way to support sustainable OHV recreation into the future. About 10 percent of the OHV Trust Fund comes from OHV registration (e.g. green sticker/red sticker) and the rest comes from an off-road fuel taxes (paid while users recreate off-pavement) calculated formula based on user visitor days on public lands.

If you are hoping to one day make a career out of the ATV and off-road industry (or just get more involved with your local club), the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) is currently taking applications for the Spring OHV Recreation Management Course at Marshall University.

The spring semester OHV Recreation Management courses are PLS 451/551: Planning and Design of OHV Parks; and PLS 453/553: Operation and Management of OHV Trails Systems. The information in these courses can be invaluable for both agency personnel as well as the enthusiasts. The winner of the scholarship will be able to choose one of the two offered courses for this spring’s semester.

The scholarship is being administered by the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council. The applications are due in the NOHVCC office on Dec. 23, 2011. NOHVCC will review the applications and choose a winner in the shortest amount of time possible. Spring courses begin Jan. 9, 2011.