News
Opinion
DATELINE: The near future.
LOCATION: Our local national forest or BLM land.
SITUATION: Trail has a locked gate across it with sign “Closed to Motor Vehicles.”
PROBLEM: Back-country land abuse rears its ugly head in the form of ignorant, uncaring people!
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I am angry. I can no longer venture onto all the 4-wheel drive roads that my wife, Rachel, and I have hiked on in the past due to some of the sickening things we have seen — trees with deep cuts around their circumference from yahoos not using tree straps for winching; trash and empty bottles tossed everywhere; burn scars and errant fire rings, to name a few.
How hard is it to buy and use a tree strap? Why do you have to hurt the trees? How hard is it to bring along a trash bag? Why can't you take your trash home and put it in your trash can? How hard is it to use an existing fire ring (or stove, for that matter)? Why can't you bring in firewood from the store instead of ripping our trees apart?
Why do you have to ruin it for everybody?
I am so angry that my first thought was that these offenders ought to be forced to watch their own truck getting beaten to a pulp with a large hammer, until the truck is in pieces and can't be driven. Because that is what they are doing to our public lands and they don't care.
Television commercials add to yahoo-ism by setting up the “splash and crash syndrome.” Commercials peddle sensationalism in the form of racing, puddle-jumping, and mud-splashing SUVs. By the time they put their disclaimer at the end of the commercial, if they even bother to do it, it's too late. The subconscious mind of the 4WD adventure machine owner or soon-to-be owner is already at work! But what they're really selling is trail closings.
Take the yahoo test. Do you:
...go around the challenge instead of dealing directly with an obstacle on the road right-of-way, creating “ghost trails,” “volunteer trails,” and “braiding” (going around obstacles)?
...get bored with the easy track and look off the 4WD road to create your own tough obstacles?
...go faster than necessary on an innocent road?
...spin tires helplessly on hills and fragile wet meadow areas?
...wrap winch cables around a tree?
...not know how to use a map and compass and then get lost?
...rip trees, leave trash, roll over, crash?
If you answered yes, then you, too, are a yahoo and you are the one who is ruining it for those of us who want to see the roads stay open and enjoy the untrampled wildlands! You are the one who getting the trails closed.
The finesse of 4-wheeling is to keep all four tires on the ground and to keep them from spinning loose, either going up or down, especially on challenge sections. The common sense of 4-wheeling is to stay on the road, pack your trash out, and camp using Leave No Trace ethics.
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Bill Burke of Grand Junction is a professional guide and an internationally recognized trainer who teaches backcountry driving techniques, winching/extrication methods, vehicle preparation and maintenance, land navigation and woods' skills through classes, private training, trainer and trail leader courses, and backcountry trips to individuals. Environmental awareness and trail etiquette are taught on every outing. For more information, visit www.bb4wa.com.
LOCATION: Our local national forest or BLM land.
SITUATION: Trail has a locked gate across it with sign “Closed to Motor Vehicles.”
PROBLEM: Back-country land abuse rears its ugly head in the form of ignorant, uncaring people!
-----------------------------
I am angry. I can no longer venture onto all the 4-wheel drive roads that my wife, Rachel, and I have hiked on in the past due to some of the sickening things we have seen — trees with deep cuts around their circumference from yahoos not using tree straps for winching; trash and empty bottles tossed everywhere; burn scars and errant fire rings, to name a few.
How hard is it to buy and use a tree strap? Why do you have to hurt the trees? How hard is it to bring along a trash bag? Why can't you take your trash home and put it in your trash can? How hard is it to use an existing fire ring (or stove, for that matter)? Why can't you bring in firewood from the store instead of ripping our trees apart?
Why do you have to ruin it for everybody?
I am so angry that my first thought was that these offenders ought to be forced to watch their own truck getting beaten to a pulp with a large hammer, until the truck is in pieces and can't be driven. Because that is what they are doing to our public lands and they don't care.
Television commercials add to yahoo-ism by setting up the “splash and crash syndrome.” Commercials peddle sensationalism in the form of racing, puddle-jumping, and mud-splashing SUVs. By the time they put their disclaimer at the end of the commercial, if they even bother to do it, it's too late. The subconscious mind of the 4WD adventure machine owner or soon-to-be owner is already at work! But what they're really selling is trail closings.
Take the yahoo test. Do you:
...go around the challenge instead of dealing directly with an obstacle on the road right-of-way, creating “ghost trails,” “volunteer trails,” and “braiding” (going around obstacles)?
...get bored with the easy track and look off the 4WD road to create your own tough obstacles?
...go faster than necessary on an innocent road?
...spin tires helplessly on hills and fragile wet meadow areas?
...wrap winch cables around a tree?
...not know how to use a map and compass and then get lost?
...rip trees, leave trash, roll over, crash?
If you answered yes, then you, too, are a yahoo and you are the one who is ruining it for those of us who want to see the roads stay open and enjoy the untrampled wildlands! You are the one who getting the trails closed.
The finesse of 4-wheeling is to keep all four tires on the ground and to keep them from spinning loose, either going up or down, especially on challenge sections. The common sense of 4-wheeling is to stay on the road, pack your trash out, and camp using Leave No Trace ethics.
-=====================-
Bill Burke of Grand Junction is a professional guide and an internationally recognized trainer who teaches backcountry driving techniques, winching/extrication methods, vehicle preparation and maintenance, land navigation and woods' skills through classes, private training, trainer and trail leader courses, and backcountry trips to individuals. Environmental awareness and trail etiquette are taught on every outing. For more information, visit www.bb4wa.com.
