I don't know about the Joshua Tree Forest per se, but I have witnessed and heard of even more disturbing developments a bit further south... My buddy specifically asked me NOT to post anything on TT, but he didn't say anything about DBA 
Honestly, I understand his concerns, because TT is being monitored like nobody's business... I think it's a bit more low-key here.
Without getting into too many details about KCLAO vs. COW, I'll fill you in on some of the delicious irony. Most of you guys probably know how COW (Kern County OHV Watch) kicked and screamed for more enforcement in the area because of all the "environmental Damage" and "User Conflicts" on and around the PCT caused by dirtbikes. Well, oddly enough they've been entirely absent while Alta Wind Energy runs roughshod over everything in their path. Having these guys shepherd anything tangentially related to an "environmental initiative" is like having the guys at Blackwater go on a peace keeping mission. But I digress...
This is big business and big business means big money and when there is big money on the table, people's ideals tend to change rather quickly. A lot of the guys that have had property up there for years (ranchers, homesteaders & riders alike). Discovered that there was big $$ in leasing land to the windmill companies and even if they didn't erect a windmill on your property, they'd still pay you for the rights. One little caveat, as long as they owned the rights, you could not enter your property.
As it turns out, they weren't kidding!
Anyone who has been in the area in the last couple of months have probably notice a couple of changes. Most notably being the pink survey flags and markers ALL OVER THE PLACE. Not quiet as obvious, yet much more ominous, would be the mobile para-military death squads rolling in the white SUVs complete with semi-auto sidearm and what appears to be AR15s racked vertically between the two front seats. I had a good friend of mine (workmate, riding buddy AND area landowner) detained by security mere meters away from his own land (which he had leased to Alta) by private security for three hours while his wife and kids (on another plot of land that they hadn't leased to Alta) waited scared having no idea where he went or what happened to him.
Now, why the Alta 'Blackwater' guys think that anyone on a dirt bike is capable of stripping copper wire and stealing equipment (their justification for the heavy fire power), is beyond me. But apparently they're not playing around.
Honestly, I understand his concerns, because TT is being monitored like nobody's business... I think it's a bit more low-key here.
Without getting into too many details about KCLAO vs. COW, I'll fill you in on some of the delicious irony. Most of you guys probably know how COW (Kern County OHV Watch) kicked and screamed for more enforcement in the area because of all the "environmental Damage" and "User Conflicts" on and around the PCT caused by dirtbikes. Well, oddly enough they've been entirely absent while Alta Wind Energy runs roughshod over everything in their path. Having these guys shepherd anything tangentially related to an "environmental initiative" is like having the guys at Blackwater go on a peace keeping mission. But I digress...
This is big business and big business means big money and when there is big money on the table, people's ideals tend to change rather quickly. A lot of the guys that have had property up there for years (ranchers, homesteaders & riders alike). Discovered that there was big $$ in leasing land to the windmill companies and even if they didn't erect a windmill on your property, they'd still pay you for the rights. One little caveat, as long as they owned the rights, you could not enter your property.
As it turns out, they weren't kidding!
Anyone who has been in the area in the last couple of months have probably notice a couple of changes. Most notably being the pink survey flags and markers ALL OVER THE PLACE. Not quiet as obvious, yet much more ominous, would be the mobile para-military death squads rolling in the white SUVs complete with semi-auto sidearm and what appears to be AR15s racked vertically between the two front seats. I had a good friend of mine (workmate, riding buddy AND area landowner) detained by security mere meters away from his own land (which he had leased to Alta) by private security for three hours while his wife and kids (on another plot of land that they hadn't leased to Alta) waited scared having no idea where he went or what happened to him.
Now, why the Alta 'Blackwater' guys think that anyone on a dirt bike is capable of stripping copper wire and stealing equipment (their justification for the heavy fire power), is beyond me. But apparently they're not playing around.
