I received the following note of interest. h/t: Joel Robinson.
For many years, recreation users have enjoyed hiking in the Matilija drainage including trails the North Fork, Middle Fork and Murietta Canyon. Buzz Bonsall owns property in the Middle Fork. He has informed the Forest Service that he is denying public access through his property. If you hike up the Middle Fork to the falls, you will be trespassing unless you have an agreement with Mr. Bonsall.
The Forest Service has not had an easement through his property.
Heidi Anderson, Wilderness/Trails Manager, Ojai Ranger District
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
an invitation to mischief.
Buzz- are you ready for it…
Very interesting.
I did a little checking on Mr. Bonsall. It’s possible I may have my facts wrong. Perhaps someone can confirm this information. His name is Shull “Buzz” Bonsall Jr. His father was the producer and executive producer of a show called Crusader Rabbit in the 50′s. It stands to reason that Buzz Bonsall Jr., of Matilija, Ventura and possibly Newport Beach inherited a large sum of money and probably property.
Buzz has endorsed candidates for Ventura City Council who are uniformly Republican. He registered Republican in 2005 and began voting with the Governator’s May Special Election of 2005. That was a very interesting election as it was almost entirely a right wing packet of propositions put forward by Schwarzenegger and far right wing interests. Among the 8 propositions was a parental notification for abortion, a law to make it more difficult to switch utility providers if there is a choice, and a law to make it illegal for unions to give money to political campaigns. All right wing dream initiatives. Thankfully, all 8 went down to defeat. The Governator’s Special Election, as it has become known, has two other distinctions. It was the worst attended election in California history and it was the most expensive. This is not to say that Mr. Bonsall voted for these initiatives or had anything else to do with the election; just that he chose this election to begin voting. The next election he voted in was the Obama election. Wondering how he voted in that one.
I bring all this political stuff up only because I am noticing a trend. A couple of weeks ago the Culbert Family Trust consisting of Philip Culbert and his son Gregory were involved in a much publicized incident blocking access to Shelf Rd. From the things stated by the son in various reports it became abundantly clear the at least he and probably the elder Culbert were extremely agitated and by the “leftward” “socialist” turn in our country. Apparently since the election of the first black President, Barak Obama. I don’t know if Philip or Gregory Culbert are Tea Partiers, but I can tell you this. In Political Science we have something called a 4 X 4 voter. We also have a 2 X 2 voter. What these categories are referring to is voters who have voted in all four of the last Primary and General Elections. 4 X 4 refers to those that voted in all of them and 2 X 2 refers to people who tend only to vote in the general. 4 X 4 voters are very important in elections as they can be counted on to always show up. They tend to be the most partisan voters also. For instance, I’m not even a 4 X 4 voter, quite. Both of the Culberts are 6 X 6 Republicans.
Is there a trend developing where Republican, possibly Tea Party oriented land holders are showing their distaste for the rest of us by blocking long open access to public lands? Almost as a spiteful thing?
Just asking.
I don’t uderstand. Someone decides to exercise his rights as a private landowner and his political history is brought up? What does it matter if they are Republican or Democrat or how they voted in their 4×4 0r 2×2 patterns? I am a centrist and vote every election, how would one pigeonhole me? Maybe the access is blocked because of worrying about some flacid, wrinkly liberal spraining their ankle on their way to cleanse their filthy body in the nude at the hot springs in hopes of some swinger encounter and suing. I would say that after a post like this one maybe the concern is vandalism resulting from having their political agenda posted as to insight said behavior.
Mario-
watch out for that “liberal” sprinkling of glass you may find around your flacid (sic) rear tire
Mario, you’ll just have to help me with this sentence. I’m afraid I’m having a little trouble following. “Said behavior”? Is that referring to the vandalism you said? I never advocated any kind of vandalism or anything like that. In fact, I was asking about the seeming coincidental closing of the Matilija trail and the attempted blocking (vandalism?) of the Shelf Rd. trail. They almost seem to be coordinated and the two independent actions on the part of the private land holders have the taint of spite. Especially if you have followed the story and know the kinds of things Gregory Culbert is quoted as saying.
As for someone’s political history being brought up, everyone’s political affiliation is a matter of public record. It’s funny how it always seems to be conservatives who start whining and crying about having their political affiliation and contributions brought up after they supported something untoward like the Yes on 8 campaign or closing off access to public lands.
If you’re a conservative Mario, you must be familiar with the much touted but oft flouted principal of personal accountability. Just see Massy Energy for the latest egregious example of flouting by a right-wing, conservative 4 X 4 Republican led company. Mr. Bonsall made a decision to block long standing public access. He, and you, should not be surprised that people will suddenly be very interested in him.
Uh…
My response to you, Mario, is apparently being held. Not sure why.
Comment #5 released – not sure why it was blocked – there’s probably a word in there i added to the filter that is commonly used by spammers.
Maybe said behavior was the wrong way to put it. I feel that posting somebody’s political record in a matter like this sometimes will incite a certain anger or hatred for some people, resulting in vandalism, I think a reasonable hypothesis. I am well aware that political affiliation is a matter of public record, thank you. My knowledge on this subject is solely from this post. So, I just feel that bringing things up like political affiliation should not really have a place in the matter. It is the landowners private property, they should be able to close it without having anything brought up, end of story. As far as the idea of vandalism, the first post on this thread reads” an invitation to mischief?” I myself have already received a sideways threat to have my car vandalized. I’d say my hypothesis is already proving viable. As far as my political affiliation I have already stated that I am in the center. This is what really gets me about the two extreme left and right, I am just speaking my opinion and asking questions ( ok making fun of the septuagenarian watering hole could have been avoided, but I got a laugh out of it, sorry.) and have already been asked if I am a conservative and a jab about personal accountability. The reference to whining and crying conservatives may be true but no more true than whiney liberals. Maybe because I am exposed to it more in Ojai, I feel that the whining and sense of entitlement comes more from the left, and the sniping and attacking when someone disagrees with that agenda seems just as equal to me as the vitriol that comes from the right when their agenda is questioned. Maybe it’s just a result of eight years of republicant chicanery that has people so fired up about it all, mybe I am wrong but I think that issues like this can be resolved without sinking to far into politics. As for the glass under my tires I am not hard to find, please just be man or woman enough to let me see you coming so that I might render a firm middle of the spectrum boot to your rectum.
Mario, Mario…
i’ll make sure you have a major heads up on the glass sprinkling.
i’ll break the glass right out in front of you at the roasters.
then we’ll kiss and hug and ride off into the pink moment…
No tongue, I don’t get down like that.
Hmm, appropriate to consider whether the public has acquired a legal easement over all the years of access. I don’t recall ever seeing on either Shelf Road or Matilija anything saying access is by permission only, or anything like that. If these jokers deny public access that has been ongoing for decades, time to check if they hold their land subject to a public easement. Perhaps the city council or green coalition ought to get some attorneys to have the easement publicly recorded against “their” land.
As far as “vandalism,’ I remember years ago when there was a certain person in a particular neighborhood who called the police every time a neighbor turned on a radio, mowed their lawn, had a BBQ or had a dog that barked. One day he awoke, and someone had painted a gigantic neon phallus on his driveway. He was shocked, shocked. The neighbors meanwhile already knew who the big d**k in the ‘hood was, but didn’t really mind that it was now clear to everyone else too.
If these guys get vandalized, it’s not because spk identified their political affiliations. It’s because of what they did.
Sow and reap, sow and reap.
Meanwhile, if they don’t like all these ‘libs’… well, love it or leave it, right?
If these guys get vandalized for shutting down their own property, it’s because some entitled miscreant broke the law and took it upon themselves to ruin somebody’s PRIVATE PROPERTY. Really in the end justifying the reason to close it in the first place. Doing what you will with your own property and getting vandalized is not reaping what you sow, it’s exercising your rights as an American citizen and having some poopbag lash out at you for it, in a very cowardly way I might add. If this is the kind of cowardly behavior one can expect from living among “libs”, I would say don’t leave it,make it a better place by laying the smackdown on anyone that would participate or support vandalism.
Mario,
I’ll remind you again that you are the one who brought up vandalism. I think MK was making fun of you for talking about vandalism, not actually threatening your car or something. Attributing cowardly behavior like non-existent vandalism to “libs” is ridiculous and I’d actually start to wonder if you should seek medical help with the paranoia. Maybe a little lithium.
I was just asking if there was some coordinated effort by Tea Party style Republicans to systematically shut down long standing public access to public lands through their properties. To ask that question I had to make the case by showing that in these two widely separated incidents, the property owners appear to be right-wing Republicans.
mercy, mercy…
i did start out joking about some “mischief” which morphed into some “liberal” sprinkling of glass and now it’s all about the new old world order.
maybe Suza is right.
maybe i should stop “peppering” the pot
You’re wondering about a tea party/republican conspiracy to block access and I need lithium?!?! Hmmmm. Sorry to distract from the point with the idea of vandalism due to posting someones political affiliation but I’ve seen it in Ojai before. For all of it’s openess it can be a nasty place if you find yourself disagreeing with the prevalent left. I’ve seen American flags torn down graffiti and glass broken due to minor disagreements here, but let’s put that to rest. I am just trying to state the fact that people should be able to do what they like with their property as long as it is legal without politics being involved. I for one would not like to see public access denied but if it happens to be the case that the owner shuts it down ce la vie. Awesome paranoia jab on your part spk, well played lad. Maybe we will see eachother on the trail, you will just have to try a little harder though, and you’ll have to give the blogging a break to get up above 500 feet. Namaste it out duuuuudes!!
Also I don’t think mk was Joking as I found gefilte fish in my tire tread and a star of David ninja star whizzed by my head as I was about to cleanse myself in the waters of matilija.
Mario- you almost got it right.
Here’s the full story:
an aged wild-eyed full bearded pais-wearing apparently orthodox jewman showed up at my door the other night raising funds for s. palin (shamed be the name) and i told him that in this town he was risking his life and limb engaging in such activities. i showed him a few ai’kido moves and showed him how to toss a death star.
little did i know, and it has only apparently come to light in the last few hours (for your eyes only) that he was a mossadnik double agent and was attempting to ferret out questionable affiliates. how he came upon you at the secret waters of matilija is a story that may reside in private dossiers for quite some time. i think the gefilte fish is a sweet touch and does show some compassion…
The real problem with the Matilija is that idiots have been trashing that place for years. Graffiting on rocks, breaking into cars at the trailhead, littering along the trail and not behaving like people should when visiting the Forest. As a consequence Mr. Bonsall shut his property down. I can’t blame him. It sucks for those of us who use and enjoy that canyon, but its not his fault as much as the fault of all the idiots (would prefer to use a different term) who have trashed that beautiful place over the years. Talk about reap what you sow…….