Former mayor, California Assemblyman, and now Congressman Paul Cook of Yucca Valley addressed the Yucca Valley Town Council at its Tuesday night meeting. Managing editor Tami Roleff says some of the issues he addressed during his 20-minutes talk were bills that outlawed privately owned drones in fire zones, increased penalties for graffiti in national parks, and preserving areas for off-road vehicles…
“The drone bill, I think it’s got a good chance. We had a number of incidents, particularly in this district, where the firefighters had to cease air operations…. How stupidity could outweigh public safety is just mind boggling.” Dismayed by the increase of graffiti in national parks, Congressman Paul Cook has proposed increased fines. “All the graffiti is just absolutely mind-boggling also. The new “art form,” I think it’s a disgrace to one of our most precious assets in the area. And that’s another one that’s going to raise the penalty for what these people do. They have to understand they’re not going to just get a slap on the wrist.” And the last topic he touched on was a management plan for the national parks and BLM lands. “Off roading is huge, it’s a large part of our economy. I think we want to keep the trails open. This management plan, let’s not have a bunch of bureaucrats in Washington write a plan for an area that they don’t even know exists. I think you have to have all the stakeholders involved.”
