Eco-Terrorism:
Can It Happen To You? Earlier this month, Off-Road.com
received this letter which was forwarded to us from a Jeep mailing
list..... | EdTapanes@aol.com wrote: We did a run up in Beacon, NY Sunday
(best wheeling I've done in my life, more on that later) and
ran into a sicko hiker. There were 6 of us (2 Suzukis, 2 YJs,
1 Grand Chero and my CJ-7), all well set up with lockers
f&r, swampers, etc. (except for the Grand Chero, just a
lift and BFG MTs... what Jefe would call foreshadowing). We were doing great, having a really
great time making it up the rocks to the top of the mountain.
We had to strap the GC over the tougher obstacles (most had
go-arounds though) but decided to park it about 3/4 of the way
up because the rest of the trail was really hairy with no go-arounds.
We made it to the top and had lunch. When we made it to the
top, Stan (my buddy with a YJ and 35x15.50 Swamper SX's),
noticed that he had two flats on the right side tires in the
sidewall. Surprising to have this happen to two
Swampers at the same time, but we had been doing some pretty
nasty rocks, so it wasn't impossible. We met up with
some kids on quads who told us that the GC had 4 flats and a
broken windshield. We assumed that they were mistaking
the aired down tires for flats and the GC already had a slight
crack in the windshield, so we didn't worry about it. We plugged the gashes in Stan's YJ and
headed down the trail. We got to the GC and found the front
windshield completely smashed in, and all four tires with
multiple stabs. The GC's passenger had walked down to
the GC to get his lunch when we first got to the top and had
seen a weird looking hiker crouched down by Stan's YJ, but
hadn't thought anything of it. He had thought he was
just checking out the tires. We later ran into some dirt
bikers who had seen a hiker walking away from the GC as they
had come up the trail. We had even come across the hiker
lower on the mountain and had a pleasant conversation with him
about the trail and weather, etc. We were able to plug up two of the tires
(fortunately between Stan and I we had over 120 plugs) but had
to put on the GC's donut (24x5?) and Stan's spare (33x9.50).
We kicked out the windshield (and packed it in the back of the
GC), and blew most of the glass off the seats and dash with
compressed air. We stood back to look at out handiwork
and knew we were in for a long trip down the mountain. To make a long story short, it took us
about four hours to make it up the mountain, it took us a
little over 8 to get down. The GC didn't fare too well
on the _drag_ down either (bent/mangled diffs, rims, skid
plates, rockers, etc.). None of us had never heard of anything
like this happening before and were really shocked by the
whole thing. We were way out in the boonies on some
pretty treacherous terrain and vandalism was the last thing we
expected. The hiker has obviously done it before because
he knew to make multiple stabs right next to each other to
make it almost impossible to plug. The moral of this story?
Keep an eye on your vehicle whenever possible. |
Here we have a group of off-roaders
out enjoying the sport they love, in an approved / legal area, only to
have their weekend (and a lot more) destroyed by the actions of an
Eco-terrorist. Thousands of dollars of damage
resulted from this incident, and laid what was likely the persons
primary vehicle up for an extended period of time. Lets take a look at
what an average person would endure if it happened to them.
Since few of us are filthy rich,
our off-road vehicle is usually our primary mode of transportation.
between the body and mechanical damage listed above, we can easily
assume that the truck would be in the shop for a month, at a cost of at
least $5000 for repair work. Now lets assume that insurance
will cover the damage (under theft / vandalism insurance). This saves
the person the out of pocket expenses (less deductible...say $300-$500),
but jacks up his premiums (perhaps $50-$100 per month - depending on his
carrier). It also places an unnecessary burden on the insurer, and like
all incidents of "vandalism", ends up costing everyone more
for insurance in the long run. Now the person is without a
vehicle for the month. He / She still has to go to work. Taxi's are
expensive. Lets call it $30 a day for a 20 day work month, or around
$600 just to keep working. Add in weekly trips to the supermarket, and
our hero is up to $720. The other option is a rental car. when you total
in the insurances etc associated with car rental for a month however,
cash costs are very similar. One must also consider that not everyone
can rent a car. Credit cards are almost mandatory to rent a car today,
and not everyone has them. What about emergencies? lets say a
Child gets hurt at home. Not all injuries require an ambulance, and to
tie one up for a minor injury could cost the life of someone truly
needing life saving attention. So it's back to a taxi, and more expense.
You never know. It can happen. Speaking of kids, they have their
own automotive needs as well. School sports, extra circular activities
and such. Sure, you can likely make arrangements to get them a ride with
other parents and such, but the point is, it's damn inconvenient, and
puts an unnecessary burden on others. All totaled, the bill is in the
thousands of dollars. thousands that the average family doesn't have.
Credit cards get maxed out, and possibly bank loans taken to cover the
costs incurred during the month, which will result in a huge increase of
monthly bills when the payments come due. All this because of someone's
warped sense of environmentalism. Finally, the month is over and the
vehicle is repaired. Now our hero is having second thoughts about going
back into the great outdoors out of fear of a repeat incident. And there good reader, is the
whole point of Eco-terrorism. Make it too costly, or otherwise
"expensive", to legally enjoy a legal activity, in a legally
designated area. Make those who partake too afraid to return to the
great outdoors, under the looming specter of "It can happen again,
it can happen to me". Earth First, Sierra Club, and
other radical environmental orgs. call it "Civil
Disobedience". The FBI has another definition.... "Terrorism
is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to
intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any
segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives".
--FBI Definition Or if you prefer a more
"plain English" definition..... ter-ror-ize
1. To fill or overpower with terror; terrify.
2. To coerce by intimidation or fear.
The American Heritage? Dictionary
of the English Language, Third Edition ? 1992 Houghton Mifflin Co. Look at yourself and your family.
Now ask yourself this simple question... "Is
this how I choose to live"? "It's
Not Easy Being Green" - Article Index
Links to so called
"Environmental Organizations" The Sierra Club
Homepage - http://www.sierraclub.org
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance - http://www.suwa.org/
Earth First! Homepage - http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/campaigns/ef/pubs/aulat.html |
