So, as I make my final prep for tomorrow’s departure on the “Tide Tour,” I ask you to give me something to cogitate on while I’m riding that will make a better future for all of us in outdoor recreation – especially for you and BRC.
As you know, part of the mission of the Turn the Tide Tour is to help make BRC a better national grassroots umbrella organization that spans the spectrum of outdoor sports and recreation. We are fighting for you, but we want to know MORE of what YOU want from your BRC. Please take a minute, give me something to think about while my tires make short work of thousands of miles of pavement….go here and Share Your Concerns for a better BRC (and landuse in general if you want - http://www.wearebrc.org/comments)
What do YOU see for BRC? Let ‘er rip, good and bad, big and small picture, whatever….
Thanks for engaging with us, Greg
3 Comments
Deep Thoughts
Submitted by Kurtuleas on
How can we reach out to not just the OHV crowd, but to EVERYONE that just wants to use a dirt route to access National Forest and BLM lands?
In the Eldorado National Forest, at FIRST is was not the OHV crowd that lost big, it was the normal family that just wanted to drive through the forest to camp, explore, fish, hunt, bird watch, picnic etc. Over TWO THOUSAND MILES of normal, graded dirt routes that you could drive a Prius down were closed. Access to literally thousands of dispersed campsite was lost... and before you say that we could hike in.. keep this in mind:
I have 3 little boys and a ton of camping gear. There is NO WAY that I could use our old campsite which is 3/4 of a mile down a dirt road that was closed..And i have been using that campsite for nearly 20 years. Furthermore, there is no way my dad which a bad hip, or my Father-in-law with diabieties would be able to walk into that campsite. They will both die without ever being able to camp once again in a place that was very important to our family.
In a letter to President Roosevelt, even John Muir agreed that roads were NESSASARY on public lands so people could experience nature. Why can't we listen to John Muir himself?
Bottomline, how do we get the message out to the GENERAL PUBLIC about what is happening on their public lands?
the tide is turning
Submitted by brbrian on
As usual, Kurtuleas hits the proverbial nail on its proverbial head.
It is a question that OHV advocates have been asking for decades now. (BRC has a plan to add a PR staff person who can focus on getting the word out to the general public, but raising funds is difficult.)
It isn't easy.... The media is all too eager to play the access issue as a battle between "destructive OHV users who want unfettered access" against well meaning environmental groups who just want to protect the environment. So the small percentage of the general public who is paying attention are often misinformed.
Getting the message out to the general public will take a concerted effort from the access community. It is an achievable goal, and each year I see more OHV people are willing to write letters to the editor and such. So I'm actually optimistic.
Speaking of deep thoughts.... I think the tide is turning, and it is turning precisely because the general public is now encountering "road closed" signs ever more frequently. Moreover, people who may even support closures are distressed to see our National Forests and BLM lands so mismanaged. Each year, the "environmentalists" lose more credibility with the general public.
We missed you at DTC but Rhonda was a great substitute
Submitted by Terry Fuller on
We are through the second day of the 30th Dakota Territory Challenge and the trails that BRC has helped us secure are keeping our participants happy.
The thing we need to work on is establishing a formal procedure for modifying the trail system. Every year the Forest service removes some trails from the system because of fires, logging etc. so the users need to have a way of proposing trails to be added to replace the trails that are removed.
Keep up the good work Greg!