LAND USE AND THE "ONE FOR
ONE" PROPOSALBy Del Albright, Sustainable Motorized Recreation Advocate
Let's see what our choices are:
four-wheeling or writing a letter. Snowmobiling or attending a meeting?;
mountain biking or a scoping session? Fishing or fighting the feds? You get the
picture. Ugly choices, but it doesn't take a rear-end specialist to figure out
that playing is ALWAYS a lot more fun than meetings, letters, and bureaucracy.
There is a catch here, though, and you know in your heart what that is.
The (relatively) small vocal minority
groups (mostly radical protectionists) are trying to exclude recreational
activities (and, for that matter, commercial activities) from public land. It's
that simple. They want us off. Hiking and photography will
be allowed in the future, as well as smelling and limited breathing. But who
knows what else?
So what are our choices? What can we
do about it? Well, if you've read this far, then there's a small chance you've
attended a few meetings and maybe even written a couple of letters. It's all
about politics, and that's how we win. It's all about YOU and ME taking that
little extra effort to make our opinions known. I do have a simple proposal I'd
like to offer you.
I never ask anyone to give up playing
for political involvement. All I ask is that you CONSIDER the importance of
keeping our public lands open and ASK yourself if you've contributed something
to the effort. Heck, I believe even a simple letter to your congress critter
explaining how much you enjoy a local trail is better than nothing. Express
your opinion and let the love of your sport be known.
Yes, we've got to continue going to scoping sessions and meetings, writing to our elected officials, and sitting through boring presentations now and then. And yes, we must let folks
know what and why we believe in enjoying our public lands. In the meantime, get
out and ride your trails. Teach your kids to enjoy the great outdoors. Pass on
your love of your sport to friends and family.
I also tell folks not to burn out on political involvement. You can get in so deep that your
sport is no longer fun, or you don't have time to really enjoy it. I don't
suggest that. I say for every time you ride a trail, write one letter or attend
one meeting. Simple trade-off: One for one. If you go out for a day in your
rig, on your horse, or atop your mountain bike, make one call to your
congressman or write one email or handwritten note about YOUR priorities for them
for this upcoming year. On the other hand, if you are the kind of person who sits through meetings or writes letters, make sure you give yourself equal
treatment on the play side of things. Get your one day in the field, too.
In Thomas Jefferson's words when
speaking to John Hancock, "Come on, John, it's just a signature!"
Let's put our John Hancock's on a few letters in return for a few trail rides.
Heck, get brave and attend a meeting or two. Start out sitting in the back,
then gradually find your way to the front section. Make a difference.
If we all did it, our voices would be
heard across the land. Please support my proposal: One for One!
Get my book on Amazon for all you need to know about landuse, one-for-one, and volunteerism. You can click here to get the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Shortcuts-Landuse-Volunteerism-Volunteer-Leadership/dp/B0CVXL345P/
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MORE HELPFUL LINKS:
DEL'S BOOKS (LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, COWBOY POETRY, AND MORE)
WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)
PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)
FACEBOOK
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