I think that the issue of the outline can easliy be resolved with a semi-tradional sticker design like the one attached below.
If you are wondering, Yes I am the artist of the logo in question.
The reasons that I choose the artwork is because Moab will always be an area that will attract off road enthusiasts, and it is something that is recognizable by those outside of our area (nationally). I put mountains in the background that I felt brought out other aspects of the off road area of our state. I could have just as easily added a buch of trees, a pond, a jeep, a toyota and a friendly deer, but eventually you have to draw the line at how much information you can stuff into an image.
In some of the other concepts I came up with It had nothing but lettering to keep it as simple as possible, but felt that it did need some geographic icons to help convey the feel of the image.
Many of the most successful companies use nothing but typography for their corporate logos. i.e.- WalMart, IBM, & FedEx. Also many companies only use an icon. i.e.- MAC computers. I felt my attempt was a blend of both.
There are a million logos out there and each one reaches a certain audience. I just tried to build a logo that fit the audience that the U4WDA would be after.
I hope that it does represent the off road community in a light that presents us as caring, responsible, active, and above all enthusiasts. The last thing that I would want is for a logo to convey anything other than that.
Thanks,
Vinny