Seems the whole "police your own" for trail closures is really backfiring on all of us. It's a tool in their kit to keep closing more and more routes with no restitution for our side in sight and we keep infighting because "if we travel it they will close more!"... but we already know they are going to close more.
Reminds me of the type of people who get angry about others who have figured out how to pay little to no taxes. It's appearing ridiculous at this point.
I guess I’m missing your point. Are you saying you advocate driving a road that has been closed for 40 years? Driving closed roads does lead to dismissive favor from land managers, public perception and I can readily cite situations where illegal route use does/did lead to additional closures in an area (Forest Lake is a great example).
Can you share a situation where rogue use did the motorized community any favors? If someone wants to do a protest ride and invite the media and state/county officials as a way to bring awareness to the feds strangle on RS2477 and Class D routes… I’m 1000% behind that.
I don’t think we are going to lose more… if people get involved. If 1/10 motorized users in Utah spent time engaging the processes let alone donating money to groups working to resolve these issues, we could add routes, particularly if RS2477 claims can be adjudicated. So now we have a collision of ethics and apathy.
Don‘t get me wrong, I want this road re-opened as much as anyone and can comfortable say I’ve spent more time tying to make that actually happen than most. Discussed at length with the NPS rec planner, in person at meetings, participated in public comment periods, discussed and supplied supporting information to the County. I don’t care about tax loopholes or fraud, but I do care when the actions of others impact the trails I can still enjoy or may be able to enjoy in the future.
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