As an avid back country user I had been given serious though to joining Blue Ribbon Coalition. I have always been conservation minded and I used to look at 4wd organizations as wanting access to all open lands. I have seen the damage that ATVs and 4X4s can do and I tended to lump them all together.
I have been a mechanized off road user for over 20 years as a mountain biker and I have been hiking in the Colorado Mountains since I was a young child. In the past 4 years I have started driving more of the back country roads in the 4 corners region and I have come to understand why representation is needed.
Not all off road users are out to tear up the country side. The majority off the users want to preserve the country side just as much as I do. Considering the multiuse nature of our public lands and the rights of all users has lead me to reconsider my position.
I feel that we do need wilderness but that new wildernesses should not be created that excludes current users. All user groups should be involved in the process of deciding land use guidelines. Placing more restrictions on mechanized users will concentrate the use to specific areas and will do more damage than good.
Blue Ribbon Coalition represents mechanized users and works to preserve access as well as promote responsible use. Last week I became a Blue Ribbon Coalition member and look forward to their continued representation as a mechanized user.
Blue Ribbon, despite being dissed endlessly by radical environmentalists, is actually a fine organization that works hard to be inclusive and diverse (though they are predominantly a mechanized/motorized recreation advocate).
We really do not need more legal wilderness that excludes nearly all forms of recreation. Instead, backcountry land can be cared for under other management systems to prevent excessive development but still allow managed backcountry recreation that’s both mechanized and muscle powered. Don’t get fooled by the lie that legal Wilderness designation is the only conservation option. Our backcountry can be preserved — and enjoyed.
Check out the ideas: http://www.sharetrails.org/backcountry/