Del Albright

Collaboration (the collaborative process) is getting more and more popular with government agencies stuck with tough political decisions involving public lands.

Imagine a huge diesel powered locomotive lumbering steadily down the railroad tracks with that big headlight beam pointed right in your eyes as you watch it coming closer and closer.

Ty Davis on a Yamaha WR400F takes Overall! Just seconds ahead of Team Honda. Scheeler nails first, 4-wheeled vehicle.

Our forefathers did not want to compromise with our liberties. They didn&t want our country founded on compromise. To compromise means to give up something. In their case, they were building something, not giving up something (other than oppression). But if you&re new to the land use and access battles, then the idea of compromise might have a significantly different meaning to you.

"We have room for but one flag (in this country)...and we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that is a loyalty to the American people," said President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907. Teddy was big on every American being just that - an American. He was strong on equality and fairness to everyone, regardless of creed, religion, birthplace or origin. But he also said, "this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here."

Do you think we're going to be riding, biking, sledding, wheeling, jumping, playing, and otherwise enjoying our public lands in 10 years? Do you hope that the Bush Administration can unravel everything the previous crowd did to motorized recreation and public land access? Are you convinced that we (users) are no longer the target of choice for radical protectionists? If so, then this article might not appeal to you. However, if there's any doubt in your mind about your answer to those questions, then read on.

For those of us who&s recreation depends on some sort of wheeled vehicle, there is little more important that your tires. I've seen a lot of trail and highway breakdowns related to inadequate tire selection and maintenance, that I thought I'd share a few thoughts in this article. And believe it or not, I get nearly daily emails from folks asking about choosing the right tire for their wheeler or their tow vehicle.

It's encouraging to see so many recreationists getting involved these days in the land use/public lands access battles. In fact, now we face a time when some of us old land use horses are starting to sag under the burden of doing this so long. We can't afford to lose any of our activists to burnout, so I've come up with a cure to keep our fighters fighting.

Most of you interested in reading this document will be familiar with the ?CDCA Lawsuit? filed by the Center for Biological Diversity. Interest in this suit has risen again with the filing of a ?new? stipulation on February 28, 2002, and a provision in that document indicating BLM?s intent to institute an ?emergency? closure on motorized access to the Western Rand ACEC. I am lead counsel representing the Desert Vipers Motorcycle Club, the San Diego Off-Road Coalition, the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs and the BlueRibbon Coalition in that suit. Our group is the only defendant-intervenor in the lawsuit. There has been a flurry of e-mail traffic and rumor about the status of the case, the ?new? settlement, and the ?intervenors? participation/wisdom, or lack thereof, in these latest developments. I am writing this document in response to a call by some in the OHV community for updated information.