US Closes 18,000 Acres in Desert to Off-Roaders

[Ron_in_SoCal]

This one is NOT a joke.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000023845apr03.story

[Dodger]

Man that definately sucks, land closures to OHV or motorbikes is becomming fairly rampant. Up here in Colorado we've had many of our trail shut down or closed, expecially cut off trails that link trails to other trails. It's almost impossible to do our cross county ride here in Boulder county (at least legally) now with many of our link trails closed. ? With each passing season, more trails seem to be getting closed down on us, and I've personally seen new areas getting closed down because some OHV'rs ( and that totally includes 4X4's and 4 wheelers) will not stay off of trails that were recently closed. The counties then close the trails that lead to the newly closed trail to further attemp to keep people off of them.

Unfortunatelly, there ARE a few "bad apples" out there that totally refuse to obey a trail closure, and continue to ride restricted areas. I think this could be the biggest problem out there, it just gives way to much ammunition to the counties and governments who regulate land access. In no way should we completely accept land and trail closures, but continuing to ride the areas is just going to get MORE areas and land closed. We as outdoor and access supporters, need to voice our opinions to those that control these decisions, and offer our views and ideas for solutions to these problems.

I don't know, it's really hard for us who want nothing more than to enjoy the great outdoors on our bikes, people who don't ride just don't understand, probably never will. To bad we can't just beat it into them !

My $.04,

Dodger

[BigDesto]

Hey Ron,I've been riding at cal-city & randsberg

for almost 25 years now, and each year they keep closing more and more!As far as the tortise,what i heard is that ever since they closed the local land fill(dump), the ravens(crows) now have nothing to eat except turtle soup! I have seen pictures of crows nests with lots of baby turtle shells in them! It's not the riders! The BLM sucks ,they put up fences accross existing trails!,as i found out the hard way in 2000 at Dove Springs,i had to lay my bike down at high speed to avoid running into the barbed wire fence-therfore recieving a rod in my left tibia! Ya-Hoo

Even if i had a green sticker,i would not waste my time stopping for the stinking rangers- they are just there to hassle people even if they are legal! ?

[Chaindrive]

I think the responsible, effective answer to many of the problems, on both sides, might be to convince the "authorities" to LET us work WITH them.

Imagine Yamakazee DOING the chasing. Imagine being able to make inconsiderate slobs that are cutting OUR throats PAY with a genuine, for real FINE and/or suspension of privileges when they litter or violate trail laws. Imagine SHARING the responsibility for preserving open trails.

We are frustrated as hell for being tarred by the few. It only takes one or two. It is far easier for law enforcement to close an area than patrol it.And those are, to them, the ONLY choices.

The all-or-(most often)nothing approach is in part due to the law's inability to enforce anything in remote locations. Especially when up against pro-class machines and riders. Why not double your trail fun by teaming up with law enforcement to save the sport you love? Citizen trail patrols?

The proper approach and sincerity of effort would be hard to deny... Who would be doing something positive now? We DO care, lets find a way to show it that works!

[Chaindrive]

Hey Yamakazee, I'm not picking on or judging you here. My point is that no butthead beer-can- slinger is going to outrun someone like you. Enforcement becomes real: "They's a NEW sheriff in town, boys..."

Wanted to make sure you understood that. This would be very foreign territory for me, too. ?

[Brian_in_Long_Beach]

Originally posted by BigDesto:

Even if i had a green sticker,i would not waste my time stopping for the stinking rangers- they are just there to hassle people even if they are legal! ?

I guess I'm just lucky and have never met a ranger that I felt was just there to hassle me. Maybe it has something to do with my attitude......

Brian

[BFLee]

Chaindrive, that is a great idea. Then we can leagally ride in the closed areas to 'patrol' them.

The closure is just more of the same eco-bullsh*t. The nazis will use any excuse to close areas whether the reason is valid or not. If your political group has the funding, you can hire an 'expert' or 'scientest' that will 'discover' whatever supports your point of view.

I'm afraid there may be no choice but uncivil disobedience ?

[zmr]

BFLee, your closer to the right track IMO.

"Bad Apples" etc... can and are used as excuses by the Greenies to close land to ORVers. But you have to remember the Greenies (especially the hard core) Goal is to TOTALLY ELIMINATE ORV use on ALL LANDS-PUBLIC AND Private. They use excuses/lies like "Bad Apples", Endangered Species Act(ESA) etc... to achieve their means. They dont care. Eliminating ORV use is only part of their Mission to "Save Mother Earth" from Humans. To them Humans come in a distant 2nd to Nature etc... I'm sure you have also seen the attempts to outlaw SUV's or any vehicle that they dont like and in turn require us to use Battery cars-or worse Mass Transit etc... Anyway I could go on and on here but you know the story.

One of the Goals of some the these hardcore greenies is to creat HUGE WildLands Regions within our Country where humans are NOT allowed. See:

http://twp.org/

http://wildlands.org/corridor/corridor.html

Some explanations (translations) of the Wildlands goals...

http://www.wildlandsprojectrevealed.org

http://www.aldenchronicles.com/articles_by_diane/diane_022102.html (The Green Matrix part 1)

http://www.aldenchronicles.com/articles_by_diane/diane_030402.html (The Green Matrix part 2)

http://www.aldenchronicles.com/articles_by_diane/diane_030902.html (The Green Matrix part 3)

[ April 03, 2002: Message edited by: zmr ]

[Chaindrive]

Public land is supposed to be available for the "public interest", right? If people, most of whom will never actually leave their condos, can't or won't use it (no interest) , they feel compelled to ensure that no one else can, either...just in case they ever change their mind, they don't want "leftovers". What good is wilderness other PEOPLE have already experienced? And since they got it closed, they can always get it reopened (when its profitable),see? (trying to think like an elitest *sshole here; it hurts!)

OK> Lets see if I got it: We can't ride on land that belongs to us. We can't ride on land that doesn't...Jet skiis?

So, by decree, we now have millions of acres of essentially, no, TOTALLY worthless, unusable land. And our population is expected to double over the next 50 years. Never mind that WE love it and use it and own it,too, and want our kids to be able to. It does not exist.

Lets just have the govt. nuke it, then nobody will complain. Oh I forgot! We can't ride bomb craters either...cockroaches may still live there.

?

More species lived and perished forever, BEFORE humans even existed, than have ever been alive since...What does that tell you? We give ourselves more credit for our ability to wipe out species than we deserve!

[Dan_from_HB]

Thanks for the update, Ron. It's very sad that these people can just threaten lawsuits and get an entire area closed. It's infuriating at the same time. Our US Constitution was not constructed this way. We cannot ever give up. We have to fight like it is our last stand. Because it may be just that if we can't begin to get a few victories. It takes everyone concerned to be writing your elected officials. From state Representatives and Senators to the Federal brand as well. It is essential that we ALL DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE TODAY. Not next week, or next month. NOW! Please, before it is all over. Dan

[YAMAKAZE]

The Public Land for Public interest thing died years ago when the greenies got(paid off/bribed/got elected)Judges to enforce their twisted adjenda's. 18000 acres...Those are some mobile turtles !

[BigDesto]

Originally posted by NVR FNSH:

I guess I'm just lucky and have never met a ranger that I felt was just there to hassle me. Maybe it has something to do with my attitude......

Brian

Your just too cool!

[PMAUST]

Hey guys, we are currently fighting the same kind of battle up in NorCal. We even have the entire community and town on our side! The rangers took it upon themselves to start destoying roads and trails without any imput from the public at all! ?

[PMAUST]

https://www.thumpertalk.com/bike/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=007593

[Mark_Cantrell]

If the desert tortoise is so damned scarce, how come there are enough to reside on so much damned land.

I was saddened to read that hay bales had been vandalized. The horror.

mwc