He is asking for all forms of recreational use of public lands to unite in a common cause.
This call needs to be heard, and it is something we need to heed as our right to enjoy our
lands is being challenged every day.
So here it is:
I have always been a big promoter of the fact that 4x4 recreationist need to unite.
Reading this article brings up the question of why we do not.
Laying down a bit of info for my argument here would be presenting the fact that the green side has,
over the past few years,started a network aimed at uniting the organizations for the common good.
They also see the need to support everyones issues, as a victory here is a victory everywhere.
Open several of the environmentalist sites and they will post up the network, it is scary to see the numbers.
I also see they do not have these "Good Ole Boy" ribbing going on. I mean I do not see a member of SEWA with a bumper
sticker putting down a Sierra Club Member. Never have I seen a SEWA recovery vehicle sticker on a World.Org vehicle.
However, I do see a lot of "Good Ole Boy" stickers being sold by organizations that claim to be trying to unite
4x4 enthusiasts. What gives here. Does the 25 cents we make off the sticker mean more than the image it portrays.
Why do our members divide so stubbornly by make and model? Could our own self promotion be part of the problem?
I started this hobby because I wanted to go fishing and hunting. In the South where I was living at the time you
needed a 4x4 to get around some of the best spots. I acquired one and was soon off on a lifestyle change.
The change involved a lot more camping, hunting , fishing and strangely enough, a huge growth in the way I looked
at the land. As I went out more and more into the land, I wanted to help be a steward of the land. I started looking at both sides
of the land issues and noticed the more thought out sides usually were presented by groups who used the land.
The less thought out sides were being put forward by people who almost never used the land and wanted it shut down.
Face it, the days of bunnies laying around in nirvana with lions ended after Noah's Ark grounded,
suddenly that lion got hungry, our lands are what they are. Management of them now requires human interventions.
What happened over the last 3000 years has set the natural balance off so bad we need the management.
I move out to California and find out my Lifestyle out here is a hobby, or a sport.
22 years later I still do not think it is a sport, but a lifestyle, and a lifestyle anyone who uses a 4x4
needs to come to grips with the land use issues. Campers, rock climbers, Hunters, Kayakers, Fishermen, Hikers,
the list is endless of those who are effected by land shutdowns. Access is access, to one and all.
Which brings us back to the question of uniting.
And how we promote not uniting by our own leading organizations.
Change happens slowly, and it is faster if started from the top.
We need to review how we portray ourselves.
Look at this, Hummer, who is bashed constantly and the owners are really thin skinned because of that,
is a huge funder to Tread Lightly.org. They help fund a lot over there, but yet you get a H3 on the trails with
you and everyone cat calls the guy. Yet his Make is doing more to support open trails and get the education out there
than most organizations claiming to be land use leaders.
We need to see the bigger picture, we need to lead.
We have the infrastructure in place but we need to unite Jeepers with Toyotaers with Hummerers with......
and soon we would have the campers and hikers joining also.
This is not an isolated problem, the amount of groups who need to unite is huge. Many do not even know about the issues.
We need to sit back, review a few things.
We need to review our image we portray among ourselves,
Our image to the outside,
How we promote or discourage our message.
We need to recognize the fact that our problem lies a lot within our methods.
There will always be a divide by make, that is natural, but feeding fuel to that fire gets us no place at all.
Put up an effort to unite.
The virtual world is a huge growing force to deal with, we can use it as a tool to unite and educate.
Or we can let the opportunity it delivers pass us by.
Using it as a tool, linking it together, ending the self promotion of division would affect more than most imagine.
I personally have seen the power the Net can provide, but it also can turn so quick on something as it allows
the world to investigate how you do business. Policing our image starts at home.
thanks for reading
James Hennegan