COW MOUNTAIN REOPENING CELEBRATION HIGHLIGHTS PRIVATE/PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP

Matt Mattison, 707 Trail Riders Founder, Speaks to Celebration Attendees

BLM Cow Mountain OHV Area - Ukiah Field Office

Over 60 trail volunteers, outdoor recreation enthusiasts, non-profit representatives, and agency leads participated in a public event to celebrate the timely reopening of the BLM’s Cow Mountain OHV Recreation Area on June 3, 2019. The event was held on July 27, 2019 at the Red Mountain Campground and Staging Area and was hosted by the 707 Trail Riders.

June 3, 2019 Official Reopening of Cow Mountain OHV Area

The free event was open to the general public and featured a number of post-wildfire recovery and trail education booths where attendees could visit with organization representatives and agency recreation leads from the BLM’s Ukiah Field Office and California State Office.

Visitors were also treated to a gourmet BBQ with all the fixings.  The celebratory feast was made possible by generous donations from the 707 Trail Riders, club partners, powersports dealerships, OHV aftermarket companies, and local businesses.

BLM Recreation Leads Sign in Volunteers for June 2019 Work Party

The grand finale was a free raffle where participates won some highly sought after prizes that were donated by a long list of OHV industry sponsors who wanted to express their gratitude to all those who volunteered their time on the post River Fire recovery efforts.

Don Amador, President of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance, states, “I believe the OHV community, agency, and partners have reason to celebrate the June 3, 2019 reopening of the Cow Mountain OHV Area after many months of post River Fire recovery efforts which included numerous meetings and work parties.”

Volunteers Install New Route Markers

“This celebration honors that substantive private/public collaboration and highlights the important role that clubs, volunteers, non-profits, grant partners, and federal disaster relief aid had in the delivery and implementation of post-fire mitigation efforts,” Amador continues.

Some of those post fire recovery efforts at Cow Mountain include the following:  installing trail delineators or barriers, replacing travel management or resource protection signs, cleaning or replacing culverts, repair/replace damaged campground infrastructure, recon/report damage to routes, bucking trees off of trails, felling hazard trees, brushing routes, repairing damage to trails from dozer lines or heavy water flows, and being a support for the local communities and agency staff impacted by catastrophic wildfires or other natural disasters.

“The OHV community can be proud of their response to the River Fire here at Cow Mountain.  It serves as an outstanding template for recovering OHV recreation areas damaged by intense wildfires,” Amador concludes.

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 Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance (PWORA) is a national 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization founded to protect and restore sustainable OHV recreation from the devastating effects of intense wildfires and other natural disasters. PWORA will collaborate with a diverse array of multi-interest strategic partners to mobilize volunteers and deploy resources to mitigate post-disaster impacts to recreation areas.  You may contact PWORA president, Don Amador via email at: damador@pwora.org