Straight from Lance's Mouth

[Kurtuleas]

Since very few of you fawkers ever read the editorials here on pirate, Here is one straight from LANCE:

There are many places to choose to recreate and many forms of recreation to choose from in today’s world. That’s the great thing about living in America, we have choices. We can choose to go climb a mountain top, or conquer the deepest valley. We can raft down a river, or simply stand there and fish in one. We can choose to ride our bicycles, snowmobiles, ATVs, horses, jet-skis, boats, planes, cars and trucks to just about any place we wish. Of course there are limits to what types of recreation are best suited for any specific area, but we are still free to choose what and where.
Unfortunately, there is an epidemic that is slowly ending recreation as we know it. It is spreading quicker than a fire down a river of gasoline. Our public lands are falling victim to it acre by acre. More and more forests are succumbing to the effects of it everyday. Is it the beetle? Is it wild fires? No, this plague that is threatening our public lands is of the human controlled variety. It is a condition known as apathy. Its symptoms may go unnoticed, but its effects are often irreversible.

There are many groups that want all but a few elitists off public lands. These groups often use the guise of “saving the environment” to appeal to their audiences. This is where apathy sits and waits for the right time to infiltrate its victims. Most people have short attention spans and apathy thrives on this. The Anti-Recreationists bank on this fact and saturate their audience with sad stories about some “rare” frog needing 10 million square acres to reproduce or the world will stop turning. In the meantime the audience disregards the fact that this “rare” frog is found in 10 other parts of the world. The Anti-Recreationists use scare tactics to capitalize on apathetic persons. There is scientific evidence which shows that many, if not the vast majority, of their claims are completely opposite of the truth. How come we are still losing public lands every day when this is the case? The Anti-Recreationists play the apathy card, that’s why. They know on any given day more people will take the time to read about whatever BS they print and mass mail, than will take the time to locate the real facts and call them to question and do the research and make an educated decision. They know recreationists have better things to do than write letters or make phone calls. They are banking on the fact that you’d rather be out wheeling or wrenching than at a local USFS meeting. They know that 90% of recreationists feel that something not directly affecting their form of recreation doesn’t warrant any action on their part because it’s “someone else’s problem.” NEWS FLASH – Its everyone’s problem. Until we realize there are not separate forms of recreation, each and every one of us will continue to lose. Your children will lose. You lose. Either you are a Recreationist or you are not. If you are you had better pull your head out and get in gear preserving what we have left, before the Discovery Channel is our only way to get in touch with nature. We are one.

I hate to draw the correlation between the tragic September 11 attacks on our home soil on, but remember how the whole world took a step back when we became the UNITED States of America again. For the first time in a long time we were one. Everyone stood up and took notice. We all put aside our differences and united for a common purpose. We had the attention of the entire world when we became one, so getting the attention of the local and federal land agencies should be a snap. WE are in charge of our lands, not some left wing nut cases working with an elitist agenda. It’s time we took our land back from the Extremists, before you have to explain to your children what was so important that you couldn’t protect their future.


How will you answer this question when asked by your son or daughter? Will you be able to stand there and look them straight in the eye and tell them you did all you could to preserve public access to public lands? Maybe they’ll accept it unquestionably when you tell them you didn’t have time to attend a meeting, write a letter, or even make a free phone call? Surely they will acknowledge the fact that you didn’t feel it was necessary to support your local Pro-Access organizations. Maybe they'll believe you when you tell them you couldn't afford $20 a year as you load the extra 3 cases of beer into your beat and battered truck that you've got a $5K stereo in? They’ll understand when you tell them you thought it didn’t include “your type” of recreation, so it didn’t concern you?
This line hits me the most: We can choose to ride our bicycles, snowmobiles, ATVs, horses, jet-skis, boats, planes, cars and trucks to just about any place we wish.

The Route Des project has the potential to cut down the amount of roads and trails in ELDO National forest by more than 50%.

I have 2 little boys aged 3 and 5. I would love to drive them onto my regular campsite, sit by the fire, take them for a ride in my rig or on my quad....but if the route des project goes down like it looks....WE WILL HAVE TO PARK ON A PAVED ROAD AND HIKE ALL OUR SHIT IN 4 MILES!!!!!!! That's ON the road, not right off it...that's forbidden by the route des project.

Please become informed about what the route des peoject is doin in Eldo. YOU CAN STILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE! When the final draft comes out, you can argure for certain routes, trails and campsite to be opened.....but if you do not, they will be closed forever.

Why even buy a 4x4, a quad, a dirt bike or even a fawkin deer cart for huntin season if the entire forest is off-limits to them? Our favorite form of recreation is being flushed down the drain.

I am sorry for the rant, but it pisses me off that right now 221 people are in chit-chat slamming the latest fawkin newbie or checking out the 35% that was posted on photobucket while all our trails are being shut down. That's compared to 2 people looking at the land-use forum. In 2 months if you live near ELDO, thay will be asking "WHAT THE FAWK?" Anyone who wheels, camps or visits ANY National Forest in the future will be saying the same thing since this will eventually happen in every one....

Please take the time to read my other post in the land-use section and print out the handout my club has written. The public needs to be informed as to what is REALLY going on...

KEEP PUBLIC LANDS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

[BadAssXJ]

WELL SAID!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bill4rest]

It's called laziness. They will let other people write their letters, make there phone calls, or I'll do it tomorrow.



Sometimes I wish I was enviro Nazi /anti gun zealot just so I can feel like I was on the winning side for a change

[Bebe]

Wow, that was really moving Lance. Well said. Thanks for posting it Kurt, I am guilty of not always reading Lance's editorials.


We need to get the attention of those 221 people in General Chat.

[TrailLegacy]

We never truly payed enough to play when the opportunity was there for us to sustainably maintain and/or enforce the use of these lands to begin with.

Every single land management unit in this country has been crying for literally decades about the ever increasing amount of funds these people needed to manage this exploding sport on public lands...yet our leadership has responded time and time again with a call for more money into their cozy little 'non-profits'...as opposed to championing the rapidly increasing fees required to keep up with the dollars needed at each individual venue.

Greenie lobbyist to government land manager:

"So...exactly how much 'pressure' have you received from the off-road community to actually PAY for the inevitable increased scrutiny our public lands receive here in the 21st century...whether those requests be of the questionable nature that we tend to dream up, or not?"

Land Manager:

"We have never even so much as heard the phrase "pay-to-play" uttered in any meeting with orv non-profit leadership since day one....nor have we witnessed a willingness from any one of them to effectively preach that previously unheard gospel even preceeding this massive closure that every one of us was well aware of for years."

End of story.

[TrailLegacy]

...and if you want to argue this...please explain to me why I am still paying $16.25 per year to ride in Michigan with orv sticker sales flat for years now... and why my local orv leaders continue to brag about how it shouldn't cost us a dime more if the sides of our roads are opened up for atv use.

Sorry, folks...but having to look some kid in the eye over trail closures is nothing when compared with telling him or her the real story as to just how all of this 'actually' came about.

[lrsafari]

I want to say, although not acive on this forum, I am on forums relating to other outdoor activities, and this is a grave concern to all who enjoy the outdoors.

Currently the prospectors of California are fighting 3 different attacks, including a FS attack on right to use campgrounds.

I will share this link with a few other forums to build awareness for this issue. I was aware of a similar action in Plumas NF that will limit or remove access there as well.

Keep up the fight.

Scott

[awildwes]

nice post lance , we need more people to read it and get on board with what is going on out there .
Im allways going to the ctuc meeting and there is know one there .they are open meetings and every one needs to go and give them your input and find out about the funding that isnt there
we lost 32 grant this year to NF so theres alot of closers coming up with out the funding . that will effect everyone get involed if not personaly suport your local offroad association bye joining all that you can . read up on what is going on or you will lose your faveret 4wheeling spot . again nice start lance it make me feel not alone out here tring to fight these guy
i donate over a 100 hours a month and alot of money out of my pocket to keep are land open . and there othere that do the same and we need more off roader to stand and up and be there to and support use
(wes southern region director )of CORVA

[DJ404564X4]

How about some easy links to the places that help . Like Blue Ribbon Coalition, CAL4WD and such. Maybe a way to show you cared enough to send money on your avatar? We are lazy but if it was made easy for us more people would do it . Make it THE FORUM one that pops up and smacks you in the face .

[DJ404564X4]

Ok looking around there is such a tread , but unless I went looking for it I would not have found it. Maybe if it popped up at the top everytime you hit new post people would pay attention .

[Kurtuleas]

While it is great to give money to any of the groups that fight for our land use rights.....

At this time, especially with the Route Des project coming down, EVERYONE needs to do two things:

In order of Importance

1. Get the message out to as many people as possible that El Dorado National forest, and EVERY other National forest is goinf to be shutting down THOUSANDS of miles of roads. Most of these roads have been there for YEARS and are used by many different types of people. People do not realise the extent of this massive closure. See my other post here in the land use section under "Memorial Day Flyer" and look at the maps on the second page...

2. As soon as the Forest service comes out with the final Map in June, which will only show roads OPEN to the public...

YOU HAVE 45 DAYS TO ARGUE FOR ROUTES, CAMPSITES TO BE OPEN AND FOR HOW A ROAD IS DESIGNATED (ie. ATV/ GreenSticker use)

If you do not argue for roads to be open...they will be closed FOREVER. We will be losing fire trails, 4x4 trails and campsites that have been used for DECADES.

EVERYONE CAN STILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE...

but if no one responds during that 45 days.....

Do not leave it up to the "other" guy...or depend on groups like FOTR to do everything for you. Those guys need all the help they can get..

[Kurtuleas]

Originally Posted by lrsafari

I want to say, although not acive on this forum, I am on forums relating to other outdoor activities, and this is a grave concern to all who enjoy the outdoors.

Currently the prospectors of California are fighting 3 different attacks, including a FS attack on right to use campgrounds.

I will share this link with a few other forums to build awareness for this issue. I was aware of a similar action in Plumas NF that will limit or remove access there as well.

Keep up the fight.

Scott

Thank you for forwarding this..

WLDWUN in my "club" bought Mineral Rights for the sole purpose of trying to gain access to certain campsites by vehicle.

PLEASE share with your other forums the flyer that is in the other link...

[DJ404564X4]

So I know I'm a pest but , seems like I'm one of the few that know about this . I got the flyer sent to my email address , but how many other people have responded? I would use the power of PBB to your advantage and make this something that people will see . Everytime at the top of the bulletin board. We are here to wheel if you lose that right we won't be here . It would be pirate I used to 4x4 bulletin board . Yes I'm a noob here but I've been playin in the desert since the early 70's . I want to keep playin for the rest of my life , and not have to sit and look at desert and forest land thats closed . Just my two cents.

[TrailLegacy]

Again, we hear a lot about 'fighting' these closures...but not a word from ANYBODY, most notably our orv leaders, about the increased money needed to fund/maintain/enforce these areas properly at either this zero-hour or in the immediate future so that nothing like this ever happens again.

Every workshop or orv 'summit' ever put on in the history of motorized recreation has embarrasingly lacked one very important 'come-to-jesus' topic in their individual meeting agendas.

And until one of these orv non-profits stand up for concept of drastically increased pay-to-play user fees as the one and only road to our access-related salvation...you will witness more and more of the liberal-minded among us claiming that we lost these areas for the 'fact' that it was "the government's" responsibility to have kept them open. (certainly not our leaders...who chose not to 'upset' the vast number of enthusiasts who never believed in pay-to-play to begin with and who funded their cozy little jobs at the expense of an under funded/manintained national trail system that we witness self-destructing today).

You guys can talk around it all you would like; yet there are a number of us out here who have been directly affected by these leader's arrogance and even threatened for so much as 'daring' to speak out about paying our own way; the dangers of not working together under one roof or (not surprisingly) even predicting what is about to happen now with these massive land closures.

It's not a 'government' or 'greenie' thing here, folks...it's poor leadership with a striking lack of stand-up-like-a-man values that got us in this mess...and it will take exactly those type of leaders to ever get these lands back into the hands of those who truly deserve them (ie. those who are willing to actually PAY for access as an earned privelege; rather than a left-leaning 'right').

[awildwes]

good luck with that . the treath of the closer has been there for a long time but know one . will get together and put the time in to fight it .the nf relies on grant and when they dont get them there will be no trails for use . think about it .
.

[TrailLegacy]

Originally Posted by awildwes

good luck with that . the treath of the closer has been there for a long time but know one . will get together and put the time in to fight it .the nf relies on grant and when they dont get them there will be no trails for use . think about it .
.

If you are implying that the threat of closure is directly proportionate to the amount of public effort put into increasing fees for those who use and impact our national forests (proportionally)....then obviously, I agree with you.

Ignoring the increased fee issues that inevitably led to these closures has done three things:

It has given our present orv leaders even more 'perceived' power through the ridiculous notion that only more money into their own widely divided and ineffectual pockets will ever get us out of this mess....

It has created a situation for the land managers from which they can finally hope to manage after zero help from us in giving them the money and no b.s. unqualified support to do so since the first motorcycle was introduced....

And finally, it has given many in the 'environmental' community everything that they could have possibly asked for and more without ever having to fire a single shot.(they knew that we cared more about 100's of millions spent on 'bling-bling' for our rigs each year and would cry like all holy heck if we were forced to pay a buck fifty more to model successful privatized pay-to-play programs already in place elsewhere http://www.trailsheaven.com/ ).

By the way, guys....are you having a little trouble swallowing post #6 above....or aren't these the same state orv leaders that our national guys praise as leading by the gold standard...bar none???

[Kurtuleas]

The attitude that:

"I cannot do anything by myself", or

"somone else like a 4x4 club wil fight the battle" or

"I sent $$ in so I do not need to do anything else" or even worse,

"There is nothing that I can do so, oh well"

is BULLSHIT.

Everyone can do something...

Everyone MUST do something.

1. Becomed informed on the route designation program that will happen in EVERY NATIONAL FOREST IN THE US.

2. Be an Activist. Inform as many people as you can. This effects everyone. Our public lands are basically being closed to us by the enviro-Nazis.

3. MAKE SURE YOU ARGUE FOR ROUTES TRAILS AND CAMPSITES TO BE OPEN DURING THE 45 DAY PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD. You can make a difference by doing this. Earlier in the process WLDWUN had several routes and campsites put on the alternatives that were not on any of them....

[cruzila]

Lance can't write that much.

[landusepbb]

Great Lance, but nothing said there that hasn't been said in countless articles and editorials over the past 10 years or so. Anyone got any NEW ideas to battle the apathy?

[Tinman]

Originally Posted by Kurtuleas

Everyone can do something...

Everyone MUST do something.

Amen brother!

To answer another question in this thread when the FOF website is up there will be links to Cal, United, BlueRibbon and Del Albrights site on each page.

[Kurtuleas]

Originally Posted by landuseorc

Great Lance, but nothing said there that hasn't been said in countless articles and editorials over the past 10 years or so. Anyone got any NEW ideas to battle the apathy?

How about making a Sticky on the route des project in Chit-chat, or every forum on this board? This is some really seroius shit right now, EVERY National Forest in the USA will undergo Route Des, and we could lose literally hundreds of thousands of miles campsites etc.

I will write the post if someone will stick it to the top and make it stand out somehow

I have been working my ass off getting as many of these flyers out as possible. My group has made 500 copies with before and after maps on the back to pass out this coming weekend in ELDO. The more people know about it, the better off we will be.

Next week, I plan on writing letters to the editor to every 4x4 mag, outsports mags such as field and stream, outdoor life etc that I can. This also hits the MX/ATV crowd just as much as it hits us.