Off-Roaders Fight Back With a Vengeance! Well it's about damn time.
Earlier this month, Pat Chicas and I attended one of the many "Scoping
Meetings" being held around the country by the US Forest Service. Unless
you've been wheeling' under a rock for the past couple months, you know that
Resident Bill Clowntoon and USFS Chief Dumbeck are in the process of ramming
another unconstitutional land grab down our throats - to the tune of 60 MILLION
ACRES. And of course the little green weasels were there to babble about all the
things that little green weasels babble about.
No big shocker there Buck Rogers, but on the way to another land closure, a
funny thing happened.....
The off-road community finally had enough!
I swear to you it's true, and I'm going to tell you all about it.
Since I was going to the dog and pony show, I decided to take my daughter
Britt along, and give her an up close and personal look at what happens when
stupid people are allowed to breed in an uncontrolled environment. For those of
you that have yet to bear witness to the end product of these unintelligent
couplings, the resultant spawn bears a striking resemblance to today's
propaganda spouting enviro-nazi.
In fact, one is hard pressed to note any significant difference. As we pulled
into the parking lot, we noticed a distinct lack of Volvos, 4 doored SUVs, and
other leather interiored luxo-wagons that are required to fulfill the
transportation needs of today's environmentalist. In their place were Jeeps,
Toyota 4 bys, Jacked up Full-size rigs, motorhomes, and several (obvious) ranch
trucks.
OOOHHHH!!! Funzies!!! We're gonna have a party!!!
And so we did.
With approximately 150 people in attendance, a solid 135 or better were
inclined to love their freedom, their recreational choices, and were doggedly
determined to point that out - at every opportunity. A mere 15 or so were not.
Instead, they chose to parrot the same tired old Eco-dogma that has bored
thinking men and women to tears since the dawn of Green Facisim.
Caught in the middle (or perhaps I should say far to the left - as was their
political affiliation) were two of the sorriest, least qualified, and most
utterly unprepared USFS employees that some Washington blockhead chose to mis-spend
your hard earned tax dollars upon.
Here are the 3 ...ahem..."answers".... that the Two Stooges
repeated ad nausem
Now I will give the devil his due here. They did in fact give other answers -
though they would have probably fared far better sticking with the 3 listed
above.
Want examples? Why, Soitenly!! Nyac, nyac, nyac!
I put this question to the USFS...
"You intend to close 60 million acres of land. Not everyone in
America is physically able to hike 20 miles just to get to a trailhead, much
less hike the actual trail. The United States has a large number of disabled
people, many of which are veterans. A large percentage of these persons would,
by default, be locked out of these lands. This appears to be a blatant violation
of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Based on that, how do you justify your
actions?" Here's the Official USFS, obviously perturbed response......
"We are under no obligation to provide access to every square inch of
land by every person. If we did, it would all look like downtown Las
Vegas." To which I replied....
"On the contrary, AWDA requires the government and private business
to make their facilities accessible by the handicapped. By closing down the
roads, you are knowingly and intentionally denying access to a select group of
people." The USFS responded brilliantly....
"ahhh.....Next Question?" Before the next question could be asked, A Sierra Club member shouted out
"We allow wheelchairs in certain areas!" ORC's Pat Chicas wheeled around on the Eco babbler stating...
"YOU" allow wheelchairs? That's pretty damn arrogant don't you
think? A voice from the crowd replied...
"Who are you to "Allow" (heavy sarcasm) anything?" Her comment made, the green elitist sat smugly with an incredibly satisfied
look on her face, but refused to answer either question. (They are known for
doing that when hit with questions they cannot spin).
Shortly thereafter, the conversation turned to logging practices in the
national forests. As you would expect, the greenies were quite vocal - until
backed into yet another corner.
Quoth the environmentally "aware"....
"I am sick and tired of all the logging that goes on in our national
forests. I want to be able to drive through the Forrest without seeing the
devastation caused by loggers clearcutting entire stands of timber. It's ugly. I
don't want my tax dollars going to subsidize loggers building roads that lead to
further destruction of our national treasures." No way was I letting this one go.
"Mamm, I notice that you are reading from your notes, and have a not
inconsiderable stack of paper sitting on the seat beside you. Mamm, where
exactly do you suppose that paper comes from?" At this point the woman turned her head away, and refused to look me straight
in the eyes. Undaunted, and for the benefit of others in attendance, I carried
on...
"Mamm, I assume that you live in a house or apartment. These
buildings are made from wood. Mamm, where exactly do you suppose wood comes
from? Do you think that the "Magic Poof Fairy" just happens along,
waves her wand, and "Poof!!!" there's a bunch of paper or wood? Mamm,
don't you think you're being pretty damn hypocritical calling for "no
logging", while at the same time, literally at the same time, using wood
based products?" In response, The woman stared directly ahead, refusing to acknowledge, much
less address my pointed questions. Once again, the discussion moved on.
One of the USFS check collectors then pointed to a section of map in the Nye
/ Clark county area, and explained that "all the blank areas"
represented "roadless" areas.
Unfortunately for him, a lone man stood up and showed him to be a blatant
liar.
"I cannot believe what I'm hearing" said he. "Not one week
ago, I handed you the GPS coordinates for dozens and dozens of roads in that
area!! What do you mean that it's "Roadless"? There's roads
everywhere! What did you do with the data I gave you? Throw it out?"
The USFS employee was visibly shaken by the question, but the man refused to
back off.
"Do you intend to include that data when you submit your report to
Washington?"
"Well" said the USFS, "the report was submitted earlier this
week"
"Let me get this straight", replied the man, "We volunteered
to do weeks of work getting GPS coordinates on these roads, submitted them to
you on time, and you didn't even use it?" At this point, both USFS men started tripping over their respective frontal
appendages, trying to placate the crowd in what was becoming a very, very bad
situation.
"We suggest that you include that data in your written comments
before December 20'th". "I did", said the man, "I submitted them to you and you
refused to use them."
The USFS replied "Next question please...."
So again I piped up.
"Don't you realize that knowingly submitting false information to a
government official (I.E. your boss) is a federal offense?" This time, the brownshirts didn't ask for questions, they just changed the
subject all by themselves.
As the evening wore on, we were treated to this bit of wisdom from another
member of the green minority ....
"I thought we were here to talk about "Roadless" areas. All
I hear is "will this road get closed", and "how will this effect
me." Well I want to hear about what we can be doing to help the plants and
animals here in the (Vegas) valley. I remember when you could look out and see
the beautiful desert, but not any more. Now it's all just roads, and buildings
and casinos houses. There's no desert left!" Ever quick on the uptake, Pat Chicas replied...
"Well OF COURSE all you see are roads and buildings and houses and
casinos, you live in the city!! That's what cities are!! Do you have any idea
what you're even talking about???" Suddenly, in a moment surreal, a 60+ yr. old militant greenist began
screaming
"There's roads everywhere! I'm tired of all these roads. I'm tired of
all this development. I moved here 50 years ago and it was a desert. Now there's
people everywhere. I wish they'd get rid of'm all!" A voice from the crowd called out ,
"I wish they'd get rid of you too!" After a "group exchange" that had left the USFS lackeys with an
"Uh Oh" look on their faces, things settled a bit, and after a
presentation by the Nye county commissioner, that basically put into
overwhelming perspective exactly how fabricated, illegal, and unconstitutional
this latest land grab is, the USFS decided it had had enough "Input"
and brought the meeting to a close.
Notes of Interest In e-mail conversations with other land use advocates around the country,
Off-Road.com has found the situation to be the same. We, the off-road community
are outnumbering the green elitists several to one at these dog and pony shows..
At the Glendora CA meeting, one "peaceful environmentalist"
attempted to incite the off-roaders / land use advocates to an act of violence,
by trying to push one of our boys down a flight of stairs. Naturally the peace
loving liberal, tolerant of differing views, open minded.... punk, turned tail
and ran when the sure footed biker didn't take a nose dive - whinning as he
went.
The USFS is trying it's level best to suppress our input into these meetings
- in some cases, refusing to allow public comment, or refusing to allow the
"event" to be video taped or recorded.
Lastly, Las Vegas City Life magazine interviewed Pat Chicas and myself
following the Las Vegas meeting, along with representatives from the
"greener than thou" crowd. Overall, the two articles that followed
were fair in their coverage, which is suprising considering the very liberal
bent of the publication.
The most telling and flatly incredible thing that resulted from those
articles, was a quote from a representative of the Sierra Club . When asked
about the off-road clubs, and their clean up / maintainance on the trails he
"Officially" replied....
"They're not the problem. It's the Mom's and
Pop's taking their kids out into the woods for the weekend that's the
problem" And that my friend, should make clear to you what the Sierra Club, and their
fellow "Environmentalists" are all about. And, I might add, where the
American family fits into the Environmental Agenda.
Is it any wonder that Americans have had it with these "people"?
Take for instance this letter from Todd Davis, who after reading the alarmist
diatribe posted by the Wilderness Society at http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/orv/
, decided to fight back, and tell it like it is.
To whom it may Concern,
I am writing in regards of your website. I find some of the information on it
disturbing and very totalitarian. First of all, I would like to know just how
factual some of these reports are. I have read most of them, and tried to
corroborate the information for myself.
I find that in more than a few cases, that the information is either used out
of context, or put in such alarmist language that I am reminded of some of the
so called informational campaigns of the past. Such as the Japanese internment
camps of WW II, or some of the Nazi propagandism of that same era. I am not an
avid offroader by any means, but I am an avid camper. I have bivouacked in some
of the most beautiful and desolate places in the United States. I also have a
son who is physically handicapped.
Without my 4WD car, he would have been left out of seeing a moose cross a
marsh in Michigan, He would have missed seeing the sunrise over a butte in
Arizona, and he would have most certainly not realized that the entire world is
a place of handicapped parking, asphalt, and concrete as far as the eye can see.
I do realize that there are changes to be made, and rules that need to be
enforced. But I do promise that if these draconian rules that you are supporting
are made, they will be broken, and I also guarantee that I will be one of the
ones breaking them.
I will NOT allow my son, or any other person that is unable to walk in or out
on their own two legs to be barred from this opportunity. And I also guarantee
that a lawyer will be found to combat the unconstitutional laws that you are
attempting to foster on the public as "for their own good."
In closing, I know that what I have to say here will be put off as coming
from "someone who doesn't know any better". But even if I don't know
better, I guarantee that there will be many people who will fight you tooth and
nail on this, and I will be one of them.
Sincerely,
Todd Davis
I welcome you to join him in making your thoughts known. | 
