EARTH DAY - ACTION, AWARENESS, & APPRECIATION

EARTH DAY April 22nd - THE THREE A'S OF STEWARDSHIP IN MOTORIZED RECREATION

Action, Awareness, and Appreciation

By Del Albright

🌎 Earth Day: The 3 A’s of Stewardship – A Roadmap to Keeping Public Lands Open

Every year, Earth Day gives us a chance to celebrate the incredible beauty and value of the natural world. But for those of us who live and breathe outdoor adventure—whether it’s exploring backcountry trails, camping under the stars, or kicking up sand in the dunes—Earth Day is more than just a date on the calendar.

It’s a reminder that access to these wild places isn’t guaranteed. It’s something we earn—through our actions, our awareness, and our appreciation. That’s why I live by what I call The 3 A’s of Stewardship—a simple but powerful approach to responsible recreation and trail advocacy.

🔧 ACTION – Get in the Game

Stewardship starts with doing, not just talking. That means stepping up:

• Pack out more than you pack in.

• Join clean-up runs and trail days.

• Attend public meetings or comment on land use plans.

• Support land managers and nonprofits working on the ground to keep access alive.

Our trails don’t maintain themselves, and our voice matters more than we sometimes realize. Whether you're wrenching on a rig or speaking up at a town hall, your action makes a difference.

👀 AWARENESS – Know Before You Go

Being a good steward also means being informed. Know where you are, what’s allowed, and how your activities impact the land, the wildlife, and the people around you.

• Stay up to date on closures, restrictions, and evolving issues.

• Respect seasonal access rules and cultural sites.

• Be mindful of sound, speed, erosion, and trail conditions.

Awareness isn’t just about avoiding a ticket—it’s about ensuring that these places stay open and enjoyable for everyone, now and in the future.

❤️ APPRECIATION – Respect What We Love

At the heart of it all is appreciation. Not just for the land itself, but for:

• Fellow recreationists—no matter their mode of travel.

• The rich history behind our trails and landscapes.

• Future generations who will follow in our tire tracks and boot steps.

When we appreciate the outdoors and the people who share it, we create a culture of respect that’s contagious—and powerful.

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Every Day is Earth Day When You Live the 3 A’s

Stewardship isn’t just a once-a-year act—it’s a daily practice. And if we want to keep our trails open, our campgrounds accessible, and our freedom to roam alive, then we need to lead by example.

This Earth Day, let’s commit to more than just liking a post or planting a tree. Let’s commit to action, awareness, and appreciation—on every ride, every hike, and every outing.

Because access isn’t just something we fight for—it’s something we live for.

✊

Want to Learn More?

• Del's Books – Land Use, Wildfire, Death Valley, Cowboy Poetry & More
• Home Base – Visit My Website
• Pinterest – Books, Trail Tips, and Advocacy Articles
• Facebook – Join the Conversation
• Instagram – Jeep Life, Wildlands, and More
• Del’s Articles – Leadership, Volunteerism, and Public Lands

Volunteer and Land Use Tools:

• Run a Better Meeting
• How to Write an Effective Letter
• Public Speaking for Trail Advocates
• How to Facilitate Meetings
• Find and Join the Right Groups
• Lead Volunteers and Save Trails

VOLUNTEERING IS THE HEART OF TRAIL STEWARDSHIP

 

The Gift of Time: Why Volunteering Is the Heart of Trail Stewardship

By Del Albright //delalbright.com

When it comes to preserving access to public lands and keeping trails open, one resource is more precious than all the rest: your time.

Sure, monetary donations to land use groups and off-road organizations are important. Joining these groups as a member strengthens our collective voice. But nothing compares to the boots-on-the-ground commitment of volunteering — giving your time, your sweat, and your energy to causes you truly believe in.

This photo captures a powerful moment. It's not just dirt and rocks. It's passion. It's teamwork. It's people from all walks of life coming together to rebuild a trail, protect an access route, and ensure that future generations can enjoy the same freedoms we do today.

Time is a limited resource. We can always make more money. But we can't make more time.

So, when you spend a day or a weekend helping with trail restoration, clearing brush, filling erosion ruts, stopping off-trail travel, or improving a route, you’re doing something that money can’t buy. You're making an investment in the land, in your sport, and in your community with your personal time.

Want to make a difference?

• Join a local trail cleanup or work party.
• Bring a friend and make it a day to remember.
• Support the organizations leading these efforts with your dues and donations.
• But most of all… show up.

Volunteering your time is the heart of trail stewarship, and is the most powerful statement you can make. 

Learn all you need to know about volunteerism, landuse, and keeping our trails open in my book now available on Amazon here.

MORE HELPFUL LINKS:

DEL'S BOOKS (LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, COWBOY POETRY, AND MORE)

WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)

PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

DEL'S ARTICLES (LAND USE, LIFE, WILDFIRE, VOLUNTEERISM, AND MORE)

 More land use and volunteerism help here:

• MEETINGS:
• RUN A BETTER MEETING
• LETTERS: 
• WRITE A LETTER
• SPEECHES:  
•  GIVE A SPEECH
• FACILITATE: 
• FACILITATE MEETINGS
• JOIN:
• JOIN THE RIGHT GROUPS
• LEAD:   
• LEAD VOLUNTEERS

#landuse #stewardship #conservation #motorizedrecreation #jeep #jeeplife #volunteerism #volunteers #leadvolunteers #delalbright #BuiltOnBFG #cloakedrepublic #savetrails #leadership

STEWARDSHIP: OUR LANDS IN OUR HANDS!

🛻🌲 Land Stewardship = Trail Access!

Whether you're in a Jeep, SxS, or dirt bike, our access depends on how we treat the land.
Let’s lead by example with responsible motorized recreation.
🚧 Stay on trail
🗑 Pack it out
🔧 Help maintain

💪 Our lands; in our hands!

#LandStewardship #MotorizedRecreation #StayOnTrail #TreadLightly #KeepTrailsOpen #JeepLife #OverlandResponsibly #DirtLife #PublicLands #DelAlbright

BEING STEWARDS OF OUR MOTORIZED ACCESS MEANS KEEPING IT AVAILABLE

Land Stewardship is the key to keeping our lands in our hands.

What does "land stewardship" really mean? 

In simplest of terms it means caring, responsible management and use of our lands. If we do not take care of our playgrounds, "they" will be glad to take them away from us.

There is no better way to keep motorsports alive and trails open than to be a good steward of whatever lands you have to play on. 

Enjoy yourself; have fun; challenge your rig; ride hard; ride smart; wheel with friends; pack out your trash; set the example; and remember -- Our Lands; in Our Hands.

More about pack it out and a Date with a Paper Plate: 

http:/

/www.delalbright.com/Articles/paper_plate.htm

More about leadership and stewardship, and a Horse Harnessed Before All Others:

http://www.delalbright.com/Articles/leadership.htm

All you need to know about land use, stewardship, conservation, and keeping public lands in public lands - our hands; our lands in my book on Amazon.

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Del

• RUN A BETTER MEETING
• LEARN MORE ABOUT NEPA
• WRITE A LETTER
• GIVE A SPEECH
• LEARN TO FACILITATE MEETINGS
• WHY JOIN A CLUB
• ORGANIZE A CONVOY
• JOIN THE RIGHT GROUPS
• GET VOLUNTEER TRAINING
• LEAD VOLUNTEERS
• CHOOSE THE RIGHT JOB FOR YOU

THE TRUE STORY OF NIBBLERS!

 

The True Story of the Nibblers

A Historical Commentary on Land Use

By Del Albright, Sustainable Motorized Recreation Advocate

By Del Albright

The "nibblers" are after your freedoms the same way you eat an elephant – one bite at a time. "They" want to nibble away at everything you hold precious if it doesn't fit in with their radical liberal agenda. They have many names, but more importantly, they have influence and are instituting daily changes in your life – that you may not like at all. Check it out.

Let's take landuse and access to our motorized trails as an example. If "they" don't like a trail we're doing, they will find an endangered species, an invasive species, or some archeological site to use against us. And they nibble.   One bite at a time is all it takes. 

It's easy to succumb to the one-bite approach. It doesn't seem like much if we give up a section of trail or re-route a trail over just one itty bitty endangered frog. Right? Nibble. Then comes the arch site—another nibble.

Anyway, you get the picture. There is always some nibbling going on around our sports that include motors. So what do organizations and groups do? Well, let's form a committee and study it. For sure, that is government. But let's get into what happens with committees.

In this day and age, most resource-oriented efforts strive to attain long-lasting results. Currently, "sustainable" is America's most significant buzzword (especially with government and anti-access groups). And who can argue with that – if we can't sustain it, we'll for sure lose it.

And the nibblers love that word. It's easy to throw up a roadblock to show that something may not be sustainable. Then we have to study it in committees – more.

Now to complicate things more, let's bring in organizational turf battles and who's boots are filling with liquid. Sure, we can form a committee and study it, but we go into it "walls up" and are ready to fight to defend our turf, sometimes to the detriment of getting something positive done. Personalities and egos set in.

Ok, no worries. Let's find cool names that sound very important and problem-solving-like and keep studying them. But doesn't it look like we're doing something if it's "in committee?"

California came to land use life on October 31, 1994, with the loss of 8 million acres to the Desert Protection Act. Immediately we started to form committees and groups to fix stuff.

1994: Land Use Network (LUN), the first significant land use email and internet group.

1996: North American Motorized Recreation Council (NAMRC), a national multiple-use motorized group.

1997: Resource Education Network (REN), CA's first multiple-use group.

1997: Multiple Use Shared Trails Workshop (MUST), CA's first hands-on multiple-use land use workshop.

1997: BLITZ 1997, a massive marketing effort to engage motorized users nationwide under the umbrella of the LUN.

1999: Sierra Nevada Framework, CA forest plan amendment efforts (stemmed from same folks in REN).

2003: Multiple Use Summit, CA's first organized gathering of all aspects of recreational leaders in backcountry uses.

And I'm sure I left out a few. But my involvement started in 1981 when I completed a Master's Thesis in Coordinated Resource Management and Planning (CRMP), trying to bring diverse interests together for a common goal. CRMP was part of the founding principles for the start of the REN and NAMRC.

Now we have names like Cross-Jurisdictional Collaboration to Advance Sustainable Recreation, Sustainable & Accessible Recreation, Responsible Recreation, and so on.  For example, in California, we implemented the California Motorized Recreation Council (CMRC), a direct and state-specific spin-off of NAMRC.  But, while always hopeful, it never ends.

We keep finding new names for the same idea with similar slants/missions.  SO WHAT??? Follow-ups and actions that accomplish something are more important than having more meetings (and committees). Committees produce reports. Reports get passed around and filed. But not enough gets done to save trails or keep our sports alive. We MUST change that and ensure whatever committees and groups we have working for us have the ability to get something done!

The nibblers are winning, bite by bite. And it's all because we aren't doing enough – we aren't engaged enough. We don't insist on more actions and less talk. Further, we don't support our organized recreation groups enough to fight back. Worse, we don't feel the gate closing on our butt – yet.

It is my humble opinion that, yes, we have more than enough committees, and yes, we need to be part of them – to ensure we get ACTION out of these cool-named entities that leave open doors for the nibblers. But we need to bolster our organized recreation groups (who make up the committees) to the point that our fight-back is strong, solid, and sustainable.

Allow me to say that again; we need to ensure our fight-back is sustainable.

Join, donate, and volunteer your time to those organizations  and groups you believe in to help keep the nibblers away from our dinner table.

This book gives you the whole story in shortcut form on how to save trails and keep our sports alive and well.  Get it here.

HELPFUL LINKS:

DEL'S BOOKS (LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, COWBOY POETRY, AND MORE)

WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)

PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

DEL'S ARTICLES (LAND USE, LIFE, WILDFIRE, VOLUNTEERISM, AND MORE)

TRAIL CLEANUPS HELP THE CAUSE

 

       Any Day Spent Cleaning Up a Trail or Riding Area 

is a Good Day!

                                                             By Del Albright

 One of the easiest activities for a club or group of off-roaders is to pick a trail or riding area and conduct a cleanup.  Gather trash bags, pick-up tools/tongs, gloves, and hand sanitizer/cleaner and go for it.

If necessary, organize into small teams with 2 to 3 rigs each. Assign areas to each team. Make sure you have receptacles or trash bins at the rendezvous location. If you can, find a few "rewards" to give the teams with the most trash collected. Make it fun.

Keeping our trails open starts with keeping them clean- even if it's not our trash!
Del

Learn more about land use and keeping trails clean and open in my book here.

More land use help here:

• RUN A BETTER MEETING
• LEARN MORE ABOUT NEPA
• WRITE A LETTER
• GIVE A SPEECH
• LEARN TO FACILITATE MEETINGS
• WHY JOIN A CLUB
• ORGANIZE A CONVOY
• JOIN THE RIGHT GROUPS
• GET VOLUNTEER TRAINING
• LEAD VOLUNTEERS
• CHOOSE THE RIGHT JOB FOR YOU

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