WildLands CPR BS

[AussieLocker]

Hey everyone, its the weekend and I\'m back on the computer catching up on sending out many of the emails I have rec\'d throughout the last week.
This group is called Wildlands CPR. They tout themselves as the \"only national conservation group in the U.S. that specifically targets off-road vehicle abuse of public lands and actively promotes wildland restoration, road removal and the prevention of wildland road construction./ \"


Here is a recent article from their site:
  *Essay: \"Smoke and Gears: Seeing through the Off-Roader’s Demographic Mirage\"
 
Or, click here to see some absolute BS written by their supporters about people who visit the outdoors in/on motorized vehicles. http://www.wildlandscpr.org/your-stories

Again, although not anything we can directly act on, this is just more in the \"this is what we are up against\" dept.
There are groups out there who\'s sole purpose is to make sure that we are not allowed to enjoy our chosen sport. Sounds like a fun organization to be part of huh?
What we can do to make sure that they don\'t get their way is attend local and state meetings on OHV use, Get with your club\'s Land Use Chair, your state\'s land Use rep (CT its Aili McKeen, defygravity@snet.net; MA is Mike Belben, mike_belben@yahoo.com; and in NY its Steve Alheim (at least for right now)  adktj@adirondackjeeps.com) or directly with me.  We can get you information on what meetings you should be attending. They can help with what to write to your legislators. How to get in touch with them etc.
In order for us to maintain what we have and not lose anymore roads/trails, and hell, even gain more, is to be PRO-active.

Oh, sorry to any who may receive this twice or more, its becasue you\'re on more than one list. Simply delete the duplicates.

Talk soon,

David Brill
Land Use Chair: East Coast 4WD Assoc.
V.Chair/Land Use Chr. Region D/Northeast of EC4WDA
President, Eastern 4 Wheelers
Tread Lightly! Master Trainer
Blue Ribbon Coalition
NAMRC
NOHVCC
SEMA/SAN
Brilliant Signs & Grafix
Guilford, CT

[CoraC143]

I\'ve heard of these guys before, they are completely biased and skew all their facts to reflect their agenda.

in comment to their article; who cares about demographic or elitist vs. apple pie. It\'s not about which group thinks they deserve access, we all do, that\'s why they call it \"public lands\"

I think \"our side\" has coined \"their side\" as elitists because they want public lands to be open only to hikers and backpackers. The majority of Americans can not hike more than 2 miles, 5 max. So should all of our public lands be seen from 2-5 miles in from the perimeter? That\'s ridiculous. In yellowstone, and well, any National park, you only get to see maybe 10% of the park from the road that loops through the park. There are a few short, handicap accessible trails, and super long (15+miles) , over night backpacking trails that go though the heart of the park. It\'s not fair to anyone that is not capable of hiking 15+miles, which if we are talking demographics, is probably 95% of the American population. So, the majority of our public lands are accessible to 5% of the population. That is elitists.

[AussieLocker]

Agreed! It would almost seem that an action under the Americans With Disabilities Act would be appropriate. I believe that any disabled person can sue state, federal and  local governments for access and to limit them to a few handicaped pathways would seem to be in violation of the law.  I recall in the mid-90\'s there were Jeep clubs in the West that every year had a weekend adventure for disabled kids and trips to the desert were major events.

[MassiveAttack]

That\'s one of the reason\'s I got into off road. I used to really enjoy hiking and going out in the woods. Growing up in WV, I spent a lot of time as a kid walking in the woods and camping. While serving in the Army, I suffered a career ending injury to my foot. I could never do the kind of hiking I used to do, and off road is my way of making up for that. I\'d support any a cause that could show me they were serious about truly sharing the public lands in this county. I agree that some land should be kept preserved from roads and vehicles, but it would be wrong to make it all off limits to all but a few  of the healthiest hikers.

Besides, I could say something about paying taxes and serving my country (unlike I\'m sure a lot of their supporters) or granola and ti-dye, but I\'ll be nice :)

[E_train]

Its only fair that public lands should be accessible by vehicles for handicapped people and off road enthusiasts.  In addition to the reasons given by el presidente, the local economy in the area depends on these parks to be accessible.  If they closed the parks off to 95% of the population it would not be good for the people indigenous to the area.