 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
BajaEdition
Trail Boss
back to top
|
Posted: Wed May 26th, 2010 03:18 am | 1st Post |
|
It is time to stand up and get off the fence.
Every one who reads this knows my position on Land Access. But for those of you who are new I will restate it.
I do not want to see another trail closed. I stand for a manged system of trails open to the public on public lands for the use in recreation to explore and enjoy the public lands that are our right to be on as citizens of this nation. I feel every user needs to donate time volunteering with Managing Authorities to maintain the trail system. I also feel it is the Job of each and every one of us to educate the new users, the uneducated users and the general public of the principles of Tread Lightly. I also feel we need to be pro active in convincing the public that donations to organizations that fight public access of the truth of what they are supporting.
I will be writing a few more words on this in the next few days, I hope you came back and read them.
But it is now the time to get off the fence, we need each and every access user to do their part in the fight. I will be discussing ways in the next few installments of this article.
Thanks for reading
James Hennegan
____________________
http://www.treadlightly.org
Freedom is something we have to fight for. And to be free, we have to accept and fight for everyone else's freedoms also.
|
BajaEdition
Trail Boss
back to top
|
Posted: Mon May 31st, 2010 10:08 am | 2nd Post |
|
The very first thing I would like to point out is that knowledge is power.
Knowledge that we have and spreading knowledge to others and we will tackle spreading knowledge to our own here.
We have a huge resource we can tap for nothing to little, you can just go there and learn, Join and support, get active within, or just ignore it. But it is one of the best places to go to learn about our conduct on public lands.
http://www.treadlightly.org
We all need to go there, I would say we all need to join. It cast 25 dollars and currently if you are a member, Goodyear, Foremost insurance, and Chrysler are offering discounts on their products. So you could get our membership cost back by sponsoring companies thru discounts, that helps. Also they offer some great brochures to be able to pass out. OK so you have to spend a little for the material but look at it like this, they are a nonprofit org and just to get a few dollars to print up stuff is like puling teeth.
I usually have some info on me to pass out, it seems that sugar attracts more flies than vinegar so I try to approach guys with a bit of education when I see them doing destructive behavior .
And a little about that, Most of the guys out there doing circles in the middle of openings and riding on virgin terrain, Most of those doing what it takes to close down a trail really are not doing so on purpose. It is that they just do not know, They bought a bike/4x4/side by side either from a dealer or second hand, are out in it having fun, are influenced by commercials on tv made in the marketing divisions of corps. selling the products, and have no clue they are being destructive. It is just they have no knowledge, It is our duty to educate them if we want to keep those trails open. Now how do we do that? Well I can tell you it is a lot more easy to do if we have a very professional brochure printed on shiny paper in our hands to offer them, being polite and a little explaining and we can reach a lot of them.
I know there are the group we will never convince, but we cannot let them get us down and to stop trying. Social pressure goes a long way, before we had a national anti litter campaign out highways looked like dumps. Most of the litter on the sides of them now is incidental. You are looked down upon if you litter now days. I truly believe we can get that attitude going if we just keep plugging along with the Tread Lightly message. I have seen that ORG grow. It started out as a small voice. and now had the ear of the government as thy recognize them as a group trying very hard to help.
This org is one of 2 places I will ever tell someone it is essential to spend money at. All others are optional depending on your situation, but Tread Lightly is a must. They offer us know;edge and very professional tools to hand out.
Thanks for reading this
James G Hennegan
____________________
http://www.treadlightly.org
Freedom is something we have to fight for. And to be free, we have to accept and fight for everyone else's freedoms also.
|
BajaEdition
Trail Boss
back to top
|
Posted: Mon May 31st, 2010 10:35 am | 3rd Post |
|
I would like to point out next that we show how many of us there are by joining access groups. There sure are a lot of them out there and we all need to join at least one.
So which one? My argument on this is we need to join the one that is trying to unite every access group out there. There is one Org, that stands up for the rights of anyone who wants to be on public lands no matter if they are a fisherman, hunter, gold miner, snowmobile rider, Jeeper or any thing else. Blue Ribbon Org is the group that is emerging as the leader in access issues and needs the support of anyone who goes onto public lands. Once again they get you discounts on products as a member so the small amount it takes to join is kinda rebated back to you if you use the discounts.
I have said there are only 2 places I would ever tell you that you need to give money to and this is the second, You see by becoming a member we can show congress how large we are. If each person who ever went on public land to recreate joined Blue Ribbon they would have such a huge member base the could sway congreesional policy, You see politicians look at who offers the most voted before voting on an issue, if we had 5 million members to Blue Ribbon we would be a sledge hammer instead of a gavel.
http://www.Sharetrails.org
Thanks for reading
James G Hennegan
____________________
http://www.treadlightly.org
Freedom is something we have to fight for. And to be free, we have to accept and fight for everyone else's freedoms also.
|
BajaEdition
Trail Boss
back to top
|
Posted: Mon May 31st, 2010 11:03 am | 4th Post |
|
Effort
That is what separates us the most from the other side.
Effort. We seem to do a lot of volunteer work.
Look at the average guy who donates to a green org, He has just watched a National Geo special and was bombarded by adds to green orgs, or he just opened a mailer that shows a huge eyed baby seal with guys bashing their heads in. So he wants to help and sends in 25 clams. The org that got his money list him as a member and shows politicians their voter base, but he does very little else as the bad feeling he got that lead him to vote, is over once he has done his effort to write that check.
We however seem to volunteer to do AAT days, Clean up days. We show up at tree planting days ( I was amazed this year how many 4x4 and moto guys we helping with Forest Aide.) and generally are one of the biggest groups that can be depended on by the agency managing that bit of public land,and the agency noticed that.
But it is not a huge amount of us doing the work.
We need each and every one of us to join in the effort.
Every one of us, if we did we would overwhelm the Agencies in charge.
It is Just to easy to find placed to volunteer at, you are on a computer as you read this, use it's power to find an area you want to help in, and if that is with a green crowd, hold your head high as you do so, Proving to the rank in file that we want to help disproves the things theyare taught about each and every one of us being a rabid lunatic bent on destroying public lands with our hugs tires and redneck ways.
Reaching the rank and file goes much further than trying to convince the brain washed, plus it is just one more pro access guy working on the front line the managing agency sees when making policy.
Effort separates us from them, if we all just did one day we would blow them away, sadly though too few of us have to do many a day to try to look large. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks for reading
James G Hennegan
____________________
http://www.treadlightly.org
Freedom is something we have to fight for. And to be free, we have to accept and fight for everyone else's freedoms also.
|
BajaEdition
Trail Boss
back to top
|
Posted: Mon May 31st, 2010 11:08 am | 5th Post |
|
| going down sure is a lot easier than climbing up, I have written a bit about climbing and if you have made it this far you have climbed the hardest of the slope. I will be writing more but those are the essentials, the rest is easier to listen too Last edited on Thu Jun 3rd, 2010 02:23 pm by BajaEdition
____________________
http://www.treadlightly.org
Freedom is something we have to fight for. And to be free, we have to accept and fight for everyone else's freedoms also.
|
BajaEdition
Trail Boss
back to top
|
Posted: Tue Jun 15th, 2010 03:36 am | 6th Post |
|
Here are a few things to do
Step down off the fence
Join as many orgs as you can, please start with Blue Ribbon, they are the only national pro access group that represents any mechanical access, so they will have the biggest numbers and that is what we need
find a local club that has a Adopt a trail and do a few weekends a year
Voice your opinion to those voicing theirs.
Now that did not hurt did it?
____________________
http://www.treadlightly.org
Freedom is something we have to fight for. And to be free, we have to accept and fight for everyone else's freedoms also.
|
BajaEdition
Trail Boss
back to top
|
Posted: Sat Jul 3rd, 2010 06:12 am | 7th Post |
|
| there are many a local club or organization near you that need help in projects. A few weekends, or just Saturdays every year are some of the biggest way you can effect the way we are looked at. I would like to point out that doing work with normally green style groups, as a member of the Pro Access crowd gets you in the trenches with the very people we need to reach. Too many of the rank and file of the green side are brainwashed about who we are or what our goals are. When you work side by side with these guys, proving that in the end our goals are for stewardship of the land, you affect them in a very positive way. Most of them are taught w are just a bunch of beer swilling testosterone spewing guys who are bent on destruction. When tey learn most of us care as much as they do about the great outdoors, and start to doubt what they have been taught, it promotes more doubt into the propaganda machine they listen to. Now that is good as soon they are out and about with you in the outdoors and realize that Access is their issue also and they need to stand up for the rights also.
____________________
http://www.treadlightly.org
Freedom is something we have to fight for. And to be free, we have to accept and fight for everyone else's freedoms also.
|
BajaEdition
Trail Boss
back to top
|
Posted: Sat Jul 3rd, 2010 06:18 am | 8th Post |
|
| the single most important way to get involved, is to have a strong ability to stand up for what is right, and to simply not approve of what is wrong. From the grass roots we need to create a feeling that what is right is right. Allowing off trail travel and other such activities around you promotes more. A few simple and polite words about non approval plants seeds, and they grow into a movement from the community, not the authorities. Our ideas, our land, our access
____________________
http://www.treadlightly.org
Freedom is something we have to fight for. And to be free, we have to accept and fight for everyone else's freedoms also.
|
Current time is 02:28 pm | |
|
|
|
|
