It's going to be interesting

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
Let me preface this post by explaining to those who might not understand how management of public lands affects access to public lands by motorized vehicle. Pres-Elect O'bama is quickly filling his cabinet. The Interior Department controls BLM land throughout the United States. The guy that O'bama is considering as head of the Interior Department is being praised by the Grand Canyon Trust (they have pushed legislation to drain Lake Powell and other wacko-environmental ideas). Hold on to your hats, the ride is getting bumpy here in publiclandsville.


All you need is the last paragraph

Over the weekend, several news sources reported that Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is the top name on Obama's list to head the Interior Department, a job that would put him in charge of federal lands, national parks and endangered species.

Grijalva has represented Arizona's 7th district since 2003, and has racked up a 95 percent lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters. He earned an 88 percent from LCV for the 110th Congress. A member of the House Natural Resources Committee and the chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest and Public Lands, Grijalva has been active on open space preservation, national parks, environmental protections along the U.S.-Mexico border, and renewable energy.

He's been a leading critic of the Bush administration's approach to public lands and natural resources. In October, he published a 23-page paper [PDF] with the not-so-subtle title, "The Bush Administration's Assaults on Our National Parks, Forests and Public Lands."

In it, he accused the White House of carrying out a "concerted strategy of reducing the protections for our public lands, parks and forests, and opening up these lands for every type of private, commercial and extractive industry possible." The document is a partial list of the actions he calls the "Bush administration's legacy of failure to our public lands, parks and forests."

Last year, he sponsored legislation to protect black bears, increase funding for the National Park Service, and expand Arizona's Saguaro National Park. He also sponsored legislation to extend and increase funding for environmental education for Native Americans. He was the sponsor of a bill calling for a change of the tax code so that Indian tribal governments could make use of the production tax credit for renewable energy.

Before going to Congress, Grijalva, the son of a migrant farm worker from Mexico who grew up in Tucson, was a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors from 1988 to 2002. In that role, he was a big supporter of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan to protect species and habitat in the area.

Enviros in Arizona cheered the prospect of Grijalva taking over Interior. "Talk about a 180 from where we are today. That is certainly something that we would love to get behind, something we would cheer," Richard Mayol, communications director at the Grand Canyon Trust, told the Arizona Republic over the weekend.
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
This could be worse than Babbit. You have a Democratic controlled Senate and House. And I think you are seeing more appointments that are way left leaning eniviro's. Remember, his Chief of Staff selection was a co-sponsor of the Red Rock Wilderness Bill.

I will get on a little bit of a soap box for a second. There is a small percentage of people who are actively involved in land issues. It is the 9th hour and those people need to really step up and start influencing their friends to get them more involved in the fight. Clubs and organizations need to get united under the umbrella's of the different land use organizations. THERE ABSOLUTELY NEEDS TO BE A STRONG UNITED FRONT FOR THE MULTIPLE USE COMMUNITY.
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
I wish there was a simple answer to that question. More than anything it takes key people being a center of influence on other people. A few people on this board may know who Alan Peterson is and what he has done over the last 20 years to keep access open in Southeastern Utah. He was a center of influence to get other people more involved, including myself. So now it is my turn to try and be that center of influence with other people.

More than anything, I think it is just keep it in the forefront with people you associate and recreate with. It has really surprised me how often you talk to people who are angry that trails are closing, but have done nothing about it. Is it their fault? Probably not entirely, since many of them do not know what they can do. So it takes people who are passionate about their access to public land to educate others. Get them to join a club, do a service project, become active in organizations like BRC and USA-ALL.

In a certain sense, the recreation that we all enjoy (motorcycles, ATV, Full-size) is kind of like having a bank account. Everytime we go out and have fun, we are making withdrawls. Everytime we get active in a club or access group, do a work project, get others involved, write a letter, we are making a deposit. You can only make so many withdrawls before that account is empty and you are in trouble.

What would Moab be like if you did not have a groups like the Red Rock 4Wheelers and Ride With Respect? There would probably be a whole lot more closed than there is.

If I had to sum it up in a simple statement, I would have to quote Alan Peterson, who was a center of influence for me:


JOIN-DONATE-PARTICIPATE AND CHOOSE TO BECOME A CENTER OF INFLUENCE TO OTHER PEOPLE.
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
Don't cry, write your congressman. But first, get 500 of your friends to join you.

In essence you have hit the nail on the head. You always need to be looking for opportunities to influence peoples beleifs enough to get them to do something. Belief that if they just sit around and wait, it is going to be to late. Friends, acquaintences and even strangers.

I will be in Moab this weekend with a friend from Montrose. There will be people with him that I have never met and I will look for opportunities to get people more involved. It's like a snowball rolling down hill......getting bigger as it goes, picking up more snow....we need to pick up more people everywhere we go.
 

GOAT

Back from the beyond
Location
Roanoke, VA
Palms must be greased to keep trucks on trails. Do we have enough cash to gain political influence? I don't think so. Maybe someone in the 4x4 community has an uncle that can help. Nepotism is fairly prevalent here, you never know-_-

In all seriousness, I would also start diverting some of those funds to private land/parks for not too distant use.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
thanks for all your hard work. i will be involved in all i can. Then i will get get everybody out here involved. they closed 3 hardcore trails here last year. i don't think it's going to stop. once again anderson750 thanks. it takes a guy with passion. to get thru the red tape.

3 trails in Montrose? Which ones?
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
met with blm monday. the official word is 230 miles of roads closed out of 630 . on the rock crawling trails calamity is closed . just the first loop is open . we are fighting this one. the rest of the trails are ok. the blm said they will look into reopening calamity. clutch and unamed is on emergency closure . this probably is permanent .

That's too bad, hopefully the BLM will work with us as they can. I heard there was a lot of rouge trail building down there in the last year or 2. I understand the need to curtail that and hope the BLM is fair with maintaining the other legal trails.

I really need to get down there this year... Pat, you willing to show me around?
 
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