Clark Collins

I've told the story many times of how a politician once told me, "motorized recreationists are politically insignificant." His challenge prompted me to prove him wrong. And I think we have!!! Why is a whole other story, but that process of political awakening evolved into the BlueRibbon Coalition of today.

The May issue of OUTSIDE magazine's lead cover story is, "The Power List; Anti-enviros have the clout. And they are winning." The article is introduced as, "EARTH SHAKERS: THE COUNTER-ENVIRO POWER LIST." The introduction ends with, "In the pages that follow, we examine the 20 men and women who have seized the initiative, confronted main-stream environmentalism, and left it reeling, demoralized, in disarray."

Any reader of Off-Road.com knows the emphasis we put on the importance of land use issues. After all, if we forfeit our right to public land, we forfeit our collective sport right along with it. No land, no sport; it's that simple. You are likely aware as well, that Off-Road.com is host to the sport's largest advocacy group, "The BlueRibbon Coalition". Their site has been amongst our monthly "Feature Pages", and we have directed a good many of you to www.sharetrails.org to learn not only about the issues we OHV users face, but what to do about them.

The BlueRibbon Coalition is a nationwide organization representing over 500,000 motorized recreationists and resource users (This figure represents the combined memberships of our member organizations.Our paid membership is 5,000). We work with land managers to provide recreation opportunities, preserve resources, and promote cooperation with other public land users.

1998 is another election year. Our democratic form of government is the greatest, but a Government "by the people for the people and of the people" only protects the interests of those who participate in it. It is ironic that at the same time federal land management agencies are touting the importance of the recreational opportunities they provide, some are still catering to the green advocacy group (GAGs). In some areas recreational opportunities are being lost, not enhanced, due to pressure from these anti-recreation extremists.

The 1998 elections are fast approaching. Next year we will be dealing with a new U.S. Congress, new state legislatures and many new Governors. Grass roots dealer and motorcycle user organizations can have a big impact on the election. Grass roots political activism has really come of age.

The so-called environmental movement is in trouble. After a performance review at the Audubon Society, their radical leader Peter Berle was canned. Berle has said that the concept of private property is outdated.

April 21, 2003 (POCATELLO, IDAHO) -- BlueRibbon Coalition Public Lands Director Bill Dart will be the featured speaker at a University of Utah Earth Day celebration April 22nd. Dart was invited to speak to the students by Steven Nielson, founder of the Multiple Use Club at the University. Dart will stress the importance of real - on the ground - environmentalism.

I just returned from my first trip to Washington D.C. since the recent elections. One of the purposes of this trip was to participate in a Forest Roads Working Group (FRWG) meeting to represent our views on U.S. Forest Service roadless area management. The FRWG is composed of several wildlife advocacy and sportsman groups, a paper company, and a group representing the non-motorized recreation industry. I was joined by Deborah Napier of the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) and Patrick Holtz of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in representing motorized recreation interests at this meeting.