Hey All,
We had a pretty decent showing last night, and we hope to see more people at those meetings in the future. I took some notes last night and hopefully all of the information is correct. If anyone else that was there has anything else to add that I missed, please do.
It was good to see you all last night.
Notes from the meeting:
-As of yesterday, the rules surrounding the requirements of recreation passes have changed. The adventure passes will only be required when parking at places with the following amenities: Restrooms, trash, picnic tables, information kiosks, parking, security, trail access. This being said, there were several people at the meeting last night who mentioned that the sheriff's department has not gotten the memo across to all patrol officers yet. Might want to have one on your vehicle just in case for now.
-The punishment for illegal campfires is changing. Where the fine was previously much lower, getting caught with an illegal campfire can now result in a $50,000 fine or six months in jail. The forest service isnt messing around people.
-When we are out on our trails cleaning up, it is very important that we break up any illegal fire rings. They have apparently found some big enough to fit a small vehicle inside. They reminded us to spread rocks and debris, scatter ash, and be vary careful when breaking these up. Always wear gloves and be careful to check and make sure if the ring is hot before touching.
-Counting/reporting of hours was a longer topic of discussion last night and there were a few points that were hit:
--Reporting of club hours needs the following information:
---Date
---Hours worked
---Club name
---Trail report
--When counting hours worked, keep track of the following:
---Travel time to and from counts toward hours
---Children count as double hours
---Administrative hours also counts as volunteer hours, so arranging trail cleanups, reporting hours, planning, etc
--They no longer want a report of personal hours unless your personal hours are over 100. There are over 3000 people in the AAT program now and they cannot keep track of everyone. They would like us to track our own personal hours and only report when it gets over 100. Those hours are recognized at the yearly BBQ and awards ceremony.
-LA County is trying to open an OHV park in the Little Rock area, this has been a few years in the making and is still a work in progress.
-The following classes will have dates and will be available to all of us in the AAT program soon:
--Map reading/compass class (sometime in September)
--Advanced recovery and winching class (sometime in July)
--Geocaching class (August 10)
--Geology class (end of July)
--Historical tour around Big Bear (sometime in September)
--They are going to be offering First Aid, CPR, and a 2 day Wilderness First Aid training to anyone in the AAT program for a highly discounted cost. CPR and First Aid will be $69. The 2 day Wilderness Training will be $150. They are also offering an option to do a personal class for our club for $500. The class will be for 10 people. Any additional people would be $40 per person. They will come to us and do a personal 2 day training. (For what it's worth, this is extremely cheap. I used to do search and rescue and these classes are extremely expensive otherwise. This is a great deal.) For more information on this, you can go to
sbnfaid.org.
-The yearly BBQ and awards ceremony is on Sept 28 at the Big Bear Discovery center. During this event, there will be:
--Club Photo contest for kids on the AAT program
---Photos must be printed 8x10 and matted
--BBQ contest (this year, there will be a ribs competition
---No charcoal grills will be allowed during the competition (sorry guys)
Hopefully I didnt miss anything important, but if I did, please add in more info.
Thanks guys!
