Awesome work quarterbacking this, Jon!

The details all came together -- 125-150 individuals, 75 rigs, and 5+ media representatives. We paraded around the block, and at one point had a solid ribbon of vehicles circling the block -- all wheeled recreation users flexing their might (legally, of course!)

BRC, CORVA, CA4WDC, FOTR, and United were all represented... both with formal representatives and also with individual club members (though a few clubs were notably and surprisingly absent) and members of the www.4x4Wire.com and www.Pirate4x4.com BBS communities showed up to be counted.

Big thanks to everyone who came, and HUGE thanks to Jon Crowleyn for getting the permits, organizing it, and shepherding us all along.... :D Big raspberries to the rest of you who didn't make it. :rolleyes:

Even bigger raspberries to Barbara Boxer and anyone else who wants to keep the public off the land that their taxes pay to maintain.... we proved today that there are many who won't take this lying down...

Randii

Sounds great:D Ours went quite well also, although we only had about 40 rigs.

Sounds great!

Congrats on the success, lets hope it makes a difference.

good work boys

From those of us who couldn't make it to those who did- Thank You :beer:

what was with the biker guy, did ya knock some sence into him? ;)

Originally posted by Brandon
what was with the biker guy, did ya knock some since into him? ;)

That's what I'm wondering. I saw a couple different people talking to him but didn't hear the conversation. I can't figure out how a mountain biker can be FOR the Wilderness Bill. :confused:

Originally posted by M.Martian


That's what I'm wondering. I saw a couple different people talking to him but didn't hear the conversation. I can't figure out how a mountain biker can be FOR the Wilderness Bill. :confused:

the "not in my backyard" thing. Sounded like the area in question he did not go to so nobody else needs to either. But that was just what I overheard. Randii was chattin with him..

Originally posted by randii
Awesome work quarterbacking this, Jon!
DITTO!!!!! Jon is the MAN :trooper:

And a big thanks to Peter - Yellowsub, for all the hard work on the L.A. rally.

Sounds like Sac had about twice the turnout we had but we still did a good job of jamming up the intersections for about an hour :D

Heres a link to some LA pics
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66815

Originally posted by M.Martian


That's what I'm wondering. I saw a couple different people talking to him but didn't hear the conversation. I can't figure out how a mountain biker can be FOR the Wilderness Bill. :confused:

There's two reasons they are for it... The SC is starting a MB chapter, and the International Mountain Bike Association is trying to make a deal with Boxer that the areas with bike trails will stay off the Bill, and the IMBA will vote in favor of all the other areas... I'm just going off of a few different sources, but no one/nothing I've seen is disputing it.... so :flipoff: IMBA



Jon, Thanks for all your hard work on this, I look forward to many more in the future!! :D



:usa:

what was with the biker guy, did ya knock some sence into him? ;)
Nope, no wrassling -- but I did go over and talk to him after the rally -- there were two of them, who clearly knew each other... I asked specific questions about where they rode, where they were from, etc, and based on their answers, I'd guess that neither was a serious MTBer (one guy's TOTAL lack of tan sorta confirms this)... I'd guess they were plants. Uninformed ones, at that.

Pretty cool that we had 125-150 people strongly in favor, and only three against (two 'Mountainbikers for Wilderness' :rolleyes: and one 'Grandma Poet for Wilderness')

Randii

Did anyone see any media coverage of the Sac protest? I watched ch.3 from 4:30 to 7:00 and didn't see any. Did I miss it while taking a wizz:confused: All I know is they had some B.S. homeless(freeloader) protest the other night that they covered for about 5 min.:mad3:

I'd like to thank everyone that made it! A huge congrats to you all.... What an impressive turnout. :cool2: I appologize for being out of town, but that's the way it goes. Again, KUDOS to ALL!!!

Sacramento protest in action

Inside the Capitol getting ready to visit our representatives offices

Great turnout!

Thanks for coming all, we made an impact. i wish there was 2,000 people ther rather than 200 :( but hell, its a good start.

I didn't know too many people there, but I talked to Del for a sec and gave him my card. I have some "inside" info into government affairs ;) , and a lot of contacts.

I was the guy in the blue dress shirt and slacks, milling about.

BTW: Grandma poets for wilderness? WTF is that? That gal looked like she couldn't walk to get the mail, much less traverse wilderness!

Anyway, thanks again all who showed.

Andy

Originally posted by Albino Man
Did anyone see any media coverage of the Sac protest? I watched ch.3 from 4:30 to 7:00 and didn't see any. Did I miss it while taking a wizz:confused: All I know is they had some B.S. homeless(freeloader) protest the other night that they covered for about 5 min.:mad3:

I beleive that Channel 40 (Fox) was the only tv news that was there watch at 10pm

Originally posted by afecko
Thanks for coming all, we made an impact. i wish there was 2,000 people ther rather than 200 :( but hell, its a good start.

I didn't know too many people there, but I talked to Del for a sec and gave him my card. I have some "inside" info into government affairs ;) , and a lot of contacts.

I was the guy in the blue dress shirt and slacks, milling about.

BTW: Grandma poets for wilderness? WTF is that? That gal looked like she couldn't walk to get the mail, much less traverse wilderness!

Anyway, thanks again all who showed.

Andy

I was kind of disappointed with the turn out :( 15% of my forum turned out what % Did the Jeep and Toy guys pull?????? We need to do better!

I was the bald sweaty guy in the tan shirt and 501s

There was at least one of us from the Suzuki group there. Granted I drove my Tacoma today since I didn't want to die of heat stroke driving 2 hours each way in the heat. :rolleyes:

I was the guy wearing tan shorts and a grey tank top.

There was a short piece on fox40.

But the A-holes interviewed one of the 5 wannabe mountain bikers not any of the 200 protesters.

Okay, I just saw the coverage on FOX 40. The only interview they gave was to the :rainbow: on the mountain bike that was for the bill:mad: I guess the other stations didn't put it on TV because there were no transvestites or migrant farm farm workers there (I guess the :rainbow: on the mountian bike could have been a transvestite) anyways :flipoff: liberal media

word on the street is these "mountain bikers" couldn't name a trail that they rode on.

I knew those dudes were plants!!! :flipoff:

I'm glad i missed the media coverage, it would have just pissed me off.

What you have to understand about the Capitol is that there is a demonstration there almost every day. To get good media coverage, you need a good freak show. The homeless rally the other day was a good example. They had rastafarians strumming guitars, topless transvestites, 3 legged dogs, and people drinking 40's of Steel Reserve. This is the kind of thing that'll get you on TV.

Regular Americans trying to protect something that they love is NOT newsworthy, unfortunately.

Andy

First off, thanks to everyone that took time out of their busy lives and showed up. My hat is off to all of you that know we need to fight for our rights to access public land. :beer:

The thing that pissed me off is we had news crews at the Capitol covering Ross Perot. There was one that was a few hundred feet from us. Saw him standing around quite a bit. How hard would it have been to take a few shots of us?

Crowdog (Jon Crowley)

Originally posted by Crowdog
The thing that pissed me off is we had news crews at the Capitol covering Ross Perot. There was one that was a few hundred feet from us. Saw him standing around quite a bit. How hard would it have been to take a few shots of us?



Wouldn't have been hard at all for him to take your pic, IF you were doing something the news station agreed with. So much for unbiased media coverage :rolleyes:

TEX

Television coverage sucked.... but DAMN, let's get over it.

We'll do better in print... and it doesn't matter. REGARDLESS of the news coverage, we've STILL gotta keep up the good work.

Jon did an awesome job pulling all the details of this together, with help from across the state. We need to do MORE of this -- let's take a breather, then start planning for next year.

Instead of two or three locations across the state, we need to hit every major county seat PLUS the capitol. Instead of 200 people total across the state, we need to aim for at least 2000. Each of you that's in a club outside this and other boards needs to rope all your club members into showing up...

Maybe next year, to leave an impression, we can have a demonstration at the capital steps and a full-on parade around the capitol block, with a non-stop ribbon of vehicles flashing their lights and honking their horns. I'll be there.

Will you?

Randii

Photo Gallery from the Protest;
http://4x4wire.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?direct=trailshots/4x4_Trailshots/Preserving_Our_Trails/Boxer_Protest_Rally_2002

http://outdoorwire.com/gallery/trailshots/4x4_Trailshots/Preserving_Our_Trails/Boxer_Protest_Rally_2002/P1010059.jpg

...and here's Grandma Poet and Virtual MTB-boy (check out those tan lines -- SURE he's a regular MTB rider! :rolleyes ). If you see these two folks, be sure to stop and say hi... and ask them to talk more about their beliefs. If they are anything like the other MTB fella, they'll be tripping over themselves quickly... his LACK of information was pretty impressive. :p

Anyway, we had a great rally -- here's a shot of Del brandishing our trademark FOTR shovel:
http://outdoorwire.com/gallery/trailshots/4x4_Trailshots/Preserving_Our_Trails/Boxer_Protest_Rally_2002/P1010071.jpg

Great show, folks -- we'll see even more of you there next time!

Randii

News coverage of the San Bernardino Rally:

http://www.pe.com/breakingnews/local/PE_NEWS_nawild12.e169.html

Wilderness measure protested
RALLY: Sen. Barbara Boxer's bill would ban off-roading on nearly 400,000 Inland acres.

07/12/2002

By JENNIFER BOWLES
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

SAN BERNARDINO - At 65, Eddie Phillips says he's too old to ride bikes or off-road vehicles through the forest near his Big Bear area home like he used to.

But he has 16 grandchildren who do, so he drove to downtown San Bernardino on Thursday to protest a wilderness bill that would ban off-roading and mountain biking in parts of the San Bernardino National Forest.

"We and youth need a place to recreate, besides a TV and a video game," he said. "They need to go out to nature."

Phillips was among 50 people from the Inland area -- Corona, Lake Elsinore, Idyllwild and Needles, among other places -- who rallied near U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's office. They were off-roaders, hunters, anglers and campers.

Protesters in San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Sacramento turned out to complain about Boxer's California Wild Heritage Act.

2.5 million acres

The bill, submitted in May, would designate 2.5 million acres of public land in California as wilderness, the nation's highest protection for open spaces.

In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the bill covers nearly 400,000 acres of forest and desert, including land in Joshua Tree National Park, and around Sugarloaf and Cahuilla mountains in the San Bernardino National Forest.

In addition, a wilderness area would be created around the south fork of the San Jacinto River, above Hemet; and a wild-and-scenic-river designation would mark a 20-mile stretch of Deep Creek east of Lake Arrowhead.

"Our natural landscape is an important part of our heritage," Boxer said in a statement, noting that the state could grow to more than 50 million people in 20 years. "It is our responsibility to ensure that we protect some of the best wild places for future generations."

Nathan Greenberg, 21, of Riverside said that outdoor recreationists try to help the areas they use.

"We're not going to destroy things we like going back to," said Greenberg, a Web-page designer who helped organize the protest and who camps in the mountains near Temecula.

No motorized vehicles

While the wilderness designation would ban motorized vehicles and mechanized equipment, it would allow hiking, horseback riding, fishing, hunting, cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. Other public lands, Boxer noted, provide opportunities for off-roading and mountain biking.

The California Wild Heritage Campaign, a coalition of conservation groups and businesses that worked with Boxer on the bill, went out of its way to meet with recreationists to make sure the bill was broadly supported, said campaign spokeswoman Jean Munoz. Existing, maintained roads were left out of the proposed wilderness areas, she said.

The primary reason for wilderness, Munoz said, is to protect the health of rivers and streams that provide much of the state's drinking water supply.

Some of the protesters complained that more and more land across the West is being closed to protect endangered species or to create national monuments.

"We paid for it"

"It's our land; we paid for it," said Dan Stoy, 50, of Corona, who goes off-roading in the Lucerne Valley area.

After the rally, the group marched a block to Boxer's office, where Michelle Cassella of Perris handed a petition to the senator's field representative, Alton L. Garrett Jr. Cassella, president of the California League of Off Road Voters, said the petitions contained the names of about 950 people who are against the bill.

Reach Jennifer Bowles at (909) 368-9548 or jbowles@pe.com

What's Next

A wilderness bill submitted by Sen. Barbara Boxer is awaiting a hearing before the Senate's committee on energy and natural resources. Two companion bills in the House of Representatives that propose similar California wilderness areas also will be evaluated in committee.

And this from the San Bernardino Sun:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/articles/0702/12/new13.asp

Plan to designate desert areas as wilderness protested
By ANDREW SILVA
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO … Calling it the latest attempt to shut down the desert, a group of miners, off-roaders, mountain bikers and others on Thursday protested a plan to designate 2.5‚million acres as wilderness.
"We're environmentalists too," said Chuck Mobley, a former San Bernardino resident and member of the American Sand Association. "We want to protect land and species. We just think there's room for both."

Several dozen protesters carrying signs and blowing whistles marched near the San Bernardino office of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., on E Street at Second Street. A petition in opposition to the bill with about 9,500 signatures was submitted to her staff.

Boxer's bill would designate 336,938 acres in the Mojave Desert and 54,080 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest as wilderness areas shielded within a National Wilderness Preservation System.

For advocates of open public lands, still bitter over restrictions imposed by the California Desert Protection Act of 1994, the Senate bill is the latest effort to wrest public lands from anyone whose outdoor activities involve anything other than walking with a backpack.

"A lot of different groups would be affected," said Vicki Warren, who helped organize the protest. "Miners can't mine. Horse riders can't truck their horses to their favorite trails. Mountain bikers can't ride."

Paul Little Coyote, 42, of Big Bear City mines for gold in Holcomb Valley and the Mojave Desert.

"(U.S. Sen. Dianne) Feinstein closed a lot of mining properties," he said referring to the 1994 bill, which added 3.5 million acres of wilderness to the desert. "This closure will be worse."

Wilderness is the most restrictive designation, allowing no mechanical or motorized recreation, including bicycles. It is open to horses, hiking, fishing and cross-country skiing.

The protesters argued the wilderness designation would leave only able-bodied backpackers to enjoy those areas. The elderly or disabled will be effectively shut out, they said.

Also on Thursday, Boxer issued a written statement aimed at the criticism.

She called the bill a "balanced approach" to preservation, crafted in consultation with environmentalists, mountain bike groups and off-roaders.

"Although off-road vehicles and mountain bikes are prohibited in wilderness areas, other public lands provide opportunities for these recreation users," she said. "In fact, the state parks department estimates that 100,000 miles of trails and roads remain available for off-highway recreation."

It was great to meet you guys. Great Job John. Wheel'n the Capitol was a blast. Although hot :(

jeff

Originally posted by Crowdog
And this from the San Bernardino Sun:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/articles/0702/12/new13.asp

Plan to designate desert areas as wilderness protested
By ANDREW SILVA
Staff Writer
<snip>
Also on Thursday, Boxer issued a written statement aimed at the criticism.

She called the bill a "balanced approach" to preservation, crafted in consultation with environmentalists, mountain bike groups and off-roaders.

"Although off-road vehicles and mountain bikes are prohibited in wilderness areas, other public lands provide opportunities for these recreation users," she said. "In fact, the state parks department estimates that 100,000 miles of trails and roads remain available for off-highway recreation."

When you see this type of reporting, send a letter contrasting the 11 to 14 million acres of federal and state designated Wilderness in California (14% of the State land area with both federal and state reserves counted) with less than 20,000 acres of designated State vehicle Recreation Areas (SVRA's).

With a greater percentage of the public participating in responsible off-highway recreation, much more than hikers and wilderness visitors, and the increased growth of motorized recreation Senator Boxer's comments are missleading and do not address the OHV recreation expansion needs of the public.

Make mention that some of the "other public lands" that provide OHV recreation opportunities are under threat of closure from extremist litigation (Oceano Dunes SVRA, etc.).

Make mention that the City of San Francisco has more than 100,000 miles of roads and alleyways, and we do not want motorized recreation for our children packed into an area with a bad density impact problem, a problem as bad as San Francisco during rush hour.

Happy Trails!

Great job on the rallies.

There was 4 of us from my Motorcycle club, pretty good i think for a weekday. I had to work my arse off to get there and then went back to work.

I'm happy for the success in San Bernadino. The LA rally went well with over 40 rigs in the parade protest. There was a big line of news vans packing up from some sort of shoot when we started driving by, but I guess a recreationalist rally to save land isn't considered news. If there had been 10 eco nazi's it would have been in the news. Maybe next time we will have to block all lanes of traffic with rigs and drive slow, then the "sig" allert would at least make traffic news ! :D

Originally posted by randii
http://outdoorwire.com/gallery/trailshots/4x4_Trailshots/Preserving_Our_Trails/Boxer_Protest_Rally_2002/P1010059.jpg


that guys is about as much a mountain biker as I am a retired Navy Pilot :rolleyes:

If he was a mountain biker he would more than likely have a sunberned face to match the arm (drivers Tan) and would not wear Jean shorts with a riding jersey.or those pedals, or the reflecter on the seat post..... I wouldn't be surprised if that "sweet old lady" had a penis.....


:usa:

I wouldn't be surprised if that "sweet old lady" had a penis....



Bahahahahahahahahahahaha :eek:

that guys is about as much a mountain biker as I am a retired Navy Pilot :rolleyes:
Yup -- I said dat, Pete! With that farmer's tan and the inability to list one single place where he actually rides, I'm thinking he was a plant. Didn't notice the jean shorts, tho...

Question is -- who would send such an unprepared fella to the capitol?

I wouldn't be surprised if that "sweet old lady" had a penis.....
I certainly didn't check! :eek:

Randii

"Question is -- who would send such an unprepared fella to the capitol?"

I say it was Boxer's office, Channel 10 announced the ralley on there 6:00am news


"I certainly didn't check! :eek:"

Chicken:D

"I certainly didn't check! :eek:"
Chicken:D
Hmmm... planning ahead for the next Grandma Poet for Wilderness I meet...

Exactly what is the correct procedure for frisking grannies for concealed penises? :goofball:

Well, if anyone knows, i'll find it here. With all the goat ropers here, there's almost assuredly some granny gropers, as well. :p

Randii

Here's a virtual :beer: to every one of you. Thanks for the effort :)

I wouldn't be surprised if that "sweet old lady" had a penis....

Stop it your making my eyes water.

I to thought we could have had a better turn out but, next time
and the next & next. Till we get the point across NO MORE!!!!!

My dog and I also had a great time at the Rally and will keep pushing for the cause !! hope to see you all soon

"Exactly what is the correct procedure for frisking grannies for concealed penises? :goofball:"


Panty hose to cover your face, extremly thick rubber gloves,and alot of
:blender: :blender: :blender:

It should be interesting in March for the lobbying day cannot wait to go.

CA: Diverse Recreationists Protest
Sen. Boxer Road and Trail Closure Plan
Sierra Times Report
Published 07. 13. 02 at 22:04 Sierra Time

Sacramento, CA (July 11) - Over 100 jeeps, pickups loaded with mountain and dirt bikes, and sport utility vehicles circled the State Capitol to protest Senator Boxer's California Wild Heritage Wilderness Act of 2002 (S. 2535).

After the convoy, a group of about 125 men, women, and children gathered on the North steps of the Capitol to listen to speakers who vowed to fight Senator Boxer's effort to close forest roads, trails, and dispersed camping.


Speakers included representatives from Congressman John Doolittle's office,Assemblyman Tim Leslie's office, the BlueRibbon Coalition, Friends of the Rubicon, and the California League of Off-Road Voters.


Statements in response to the statewide protest were made by Senator Boxer's office and the California Wilderness Coalition (CWC).


Don Amador, the western representative for the BlueRibbon Coalition, said, "The main message of this protest today is that we are not going to let Senator Boxer close our favorite trails and camping areas in the National Forests."


"The CWC's claim by Jean Munoz that existing and maintained roads were left out of the proposal is just simply not true. Many of my favorite forest travelways including a segment of the designated California Back Country Discovery Trail in Humboldt County is targeted for closure in this bill," Amador said.


"A review by staff of the Los Padres National Forest states that Boxer's plan would close trails and impact the agency’s ability to manage the forest for recreation and wildfires. Designated trails in the Tahoe National Forest and elsewhere would also be closed,” Amador concluded.


© 2002 SierraTimes.com

http://www.sierratimes.com/02/07/14/arca071402.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to thank everyone who was able to make the rally, I only hope that if needed again, I'll be able to show.

Being that I was sitting in an Amador Court house, and did not want a warrant out on me(for the first CalROCS event), I could not make the rally.

Sorry
Rich

It was nice to meet some of the people that I see on here all the time (I was the big guy in the grey t-shirt) and help to support the sport. Hopefully our message has been heard. Thanks to Jon for all his hard work and thanks to everyone who took the time to make themselves heard.