GUEST COMMENTARY
BlueRibbon Coalition on Responsibility
In a response to last week's guest commentary by Harrison Schmitt, president of Responsible Trails America, about OHV abuse, the BlueRibbon Coalition argues it is the responsible wing of the OHV community.By Brian Hawthorne, Guest Writer, 5-05-09
We were pleased when NewWest.Net outdoors editor Bill Schneider asked the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC) if we’d like to respond to Harrison Schmitt’s guest editorial Manufacturers Promoting Irresponsible OHV Behavior.
Schmitt’s premise that “extreme rhetoric” from the “industry-supported” BlueRibbon Coalition somehow contributes to unlawful OHV use might fit nicely in the worldview of some NewWest.Net readers, but it is wrong.
Unlike Schmitt’s organization, we are pretty much an open book over here at BRC. Our members are real people that really ride. Everything we do and think is posted on our website: Sharetrails.org.
You can read through every issue of our newsletter, as Mr. Schmitt apparently has. And you can enjoy our delightful “invective-laden” action alerts, guaranteed to boil the blood of Dave Foreman acolytes.
All of our tax forms are there as well. You are free to discover for yourself BRC’s gigantic budget of around a million dollars a year, a tiny percentage of the total budgets of the many groups dedicated to our demise. Industry funded? Ha! We wish.
Looking past our redneck charms, you’ll see that BRC’s first mission is to protect recreation access. To do that, BRC serves as a leading advocate for responsible access to, and management of, recreation on public lands. Our efforts include partnering with academic, responsible conservation groups and land management agencies, to conduct scientific research and support educational projects aimed at legitimate issues such as excessively loud OHV exhaust noise, moderating wildlife/land impacts, rider safety, and many others.
It’s no secret why OHV and mountain bike recreation are growing in popularity. Both are fantastic ways to use and enjoy our shared public lands. Naturally, as these sports grow, so does the need for education and management. Thus, BRC has long supported the policy of limiting OHV and mountain bike use to roads, trails and areas that have been properly designated for our use. We also support law enforcement, monitoring and maintenance of our trails. Motorized enthusiasts, like sportspeople, have even “taxed” ourselves via OHV registration programs in order to properly fund necessary management.
While BRC may not be nearly as politically sophisticated as our multitudinous and trust-funded adversaries, the fact remains that BRC has been remarkably successful in promoting a strong, genuine backcountry recreation ethic among not just our members, but the riding public at large. We are proud of that success.
Mr. Schmitt’s hit piece made me appreciate similar attacks from the likes of Scott Silver and the gang at Wild Wilderness. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll oppose Scott’s vision of public lands management tooth and nail. But at least he isn’t trying to fake a pose as some kind of “responsible” wing of the OHV community, which the BlueRibbon Coalition has already been for the last twenty years--and will always be.
Editor’s Note: Brian Hawthorne is the Public Lands Policy Director of the BlueRibbon Coalition.
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I guess my message here is that there are fat, inconsiderate assholes in every aspect of life, not just in one user group. The more you get away from the names and labels and go to work to make or fix something next to a stranger, the more you'll actually learn about someone's opinions and perspective, broaden your own. Now I am not buying an ATV, but maybe some day a dirt bike, and every time I ride my bike way back in the Big Holes and I see one of the 50 deadfall trees that the IFTMA guys have cut out of the trail with their little chainsaws that fit on a dirt bike, I am thankful that our forest has more than one user group that likes to work and play hard.
I've been riding off road since 1964. You obviously know very little about motorcycles. The was NEVER a day when the 250 Honda Scrambler was considered much of an off-road bike. It was never a supreme anything. You must have missed all those Japanese and Spanish 2-stoke singles of the era. FYI: Bultaco is credited with producing the 1st trail specialty bike in 1963
You must have never heard of Bultaco, OSSA, Montessa, DKW, Greeves and dozens of other mid-60s off-road specialty bikes. In 1966 I owned a single cylinder 175 cc Bultaco Scrambler, a real trail bike. I rode fire roads along the Blue Ridge Parkway. My father rode a 500cc BSA single in off Road competition in the 50s. I can show you photos of Grand Dad off roading on Harleys and Indians in Ohio in the 1920-30s. Hill Climbing is a completely separate form of motorcycling and primarily a competitive sport.
You see Larry what you call despoiled we call fun time. Differ values, neither are absolutely right. But any position that locks a large group out of public land is taking away citizens rights to share in public land. That you think walking is the ONLY way to do it is what we find offensive. elitist and causing the conflicts.
To call us fat and lazy won't work either. All you have to do is meet a bunch of Dual-Sport Riders to see there are very few fat ones. Do a MotoMarathon, 400 miles of on and off road in a day and see who's in shape. I'm 58, I raced up until 10 years ago.
You must realize that the more land that is shut down the more the motorized use will be concentrated into less and less land area, which will inevitably cause more management problems?
Frankly, you keep on closing land and you'll create MORE outlaw dirt riders, mountain bikers, ATVers, Jeepers. And we will have NO STAKE in preserving anything, you can't and won't maintain a trail you are a criminal for riding. We will go deeper and deeper into areas to not be caught.
Remember the Law of Unintended Consequences before acting rashly.
Most enviros are already levitating with your blinders on.
This is the "new west" alright. Just don't confuse it with the values of the "old west" and you'll be fine.
http://www.cultofdualsport.com/
The discussion of "protecting" land amuses me. It reminds me of a joke I heard as a kid: "A gentleman is a man who will protect a woman from every man but himself". Mountain bikers and other motorists are only interested in protecting the land from OTHERS, but not from themselves. But the joke's on you: depending on vehicles is a good way to ruin your health. Walking never goes out of style....
Those that really think that ATV'ers and mountain bikers have any real interest in "preserving" wilderness have had the wool pulled over their eyes. It is clear off-road wilderness preservation only extends to preservation of off-road access and little to do with preservation of wilderness and it's ecological biodiversity. In fact one mountain bike club's mission statement says it all:
"An organization dedicated to the *preservation* of trails for bikers.." It's sole mandate is to keep all their trails open and challenging. It's all about "Them", and to hell with what anyone else thinks.
The mechanized and motorized off-roaders are passing this kind of mindset onto our children. As our population grows and people feel their rights should extend to heavier abuse of our wilderness. The insanity never seems to end.