Desert Messenger

WHAT'S INSIDE 3 Vaccines available to 55+ 5 Hospital visiting hours 5 AARP Tax help 6 Editorial 6 Choices 8 Cat Sitting 9 Restaurants 9 Gardening With Dennis 11 The Salvation Army updates 12 Council updates 12 Salome High updates 13 HerbMama 13 In Memoriam 14 Classifeds 14 Paul Winer's Cartoon www.DesertMessenger.com • "Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper" • 928-916-4235 WEDNESDAY, March 17, 2021 VOL. 17 # 337 Now in our 1 7 t h YEAR! Alwa y s FREE! SEE AZPT PAGE 15 Off Road Community Honors J.C. Sanders for Implementation of the Arizona Peace Trail On March 3, 2021 The Ari- zona Peace Trail (AZPT) Board, Quartzsite Off-Road, and The Arizona Sunriders OHV Club, honored J.C Sanders, the fi rst Chair of the AZPT Committee, which was formed in 2011. Under the direction of Sand- ers, fi fteen off-road clubs, in as- sociation with the U.S Bureau of Land Management, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona Parks and Trails, and other organizations, began the planning and development of a unique 675-mile off-road adven- ture trail in western Arizona to promote tourism in three coun- ties: Mohave, La Paz, and Yuma. La Paz County Supervisor, Dis- trict 3, Holly Irwin, was seated as Chair of The AZPT on Janu- ����� | V����� C�������� Back Row Le� to Right: Chris Bedinger, Mark Goldberg, Doug Ross, Bruce Fuller. Front Row Le� to Right: Jim Williams, Joyce Taylor, J.C. Sanders, Holly Irwin, Ron Riff e. ary 1, 2021. Now in its fi nal stage of approval, the trail is being used by many off-road enthusiasts from all over the world. The Arizona Peace Trail was fi rst initiated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Arizona Game and Fish De- partment (AZGFD) in July 2013. With vast amounts of open desert, thousands of miles of old mining roads, and other dirt roads and tracks to manage combined with the growing popularity of motor- ized off-highway recreation in the area, the two agencies felt it would be able to create a connector trail between Bullhead City, AZ in the North and Yuma, AZ in the South, a distance of nearly 210 miles if traveled along route US95. At the same time, BLM and AZGFD began their effort, the Arizona Sun Rid- ers ATV club based in Quartzsite, AZ had been working with La Paz County since 2011 to create a loop OHV trail system around the Quartzsite area. Additionally, the Bouse Ghost Riders ATV club based in Bouse, AZ was working with the La Paz County Board of Supervisors to develop OHV recre- ation opportunities with the hopes of attracting more winter visitors to their small town. In the early fall of 2013, the Bouse Ghost Riders ATV Club, heard about the BLM and AZGFD efforts to build a connector trail between Yuma and Bullhead City. Also being aware of the effort in the Quartzsite area, the Bouse

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