Get Serious about our public access!

[lisa]

  I waded through some of the thread about protesting. In the first page someone hit it right. The ATV community must ban together and get some credibility.

  First off, do something about the injuries and fatalities. When you are out riding on the weekends, start policing yourselves. If you see kids riding alone, without helmets, or a pair on an ATV, let them know the rules, point out how it is harming your sport, and if they don't abide, they could get fined or worse.

  Second, join a club/organization. Start letting the other 'wheeling groups know how much you care and that you (as a group) want to add your voice to theirs in keeping our lands.

  Third, when the call goes out to send emails, letters and phone calls do it. Fourth, attend meetings in your area, get to know who is your friend and who the group are that are working to close public access.

  Go visit your congressmen/women during the summer. Let them know you are a real person. Let them know your concerns. Let them know what your interests are and what they can do for you.

  We can turn the tide it is not too late. Just realize this is not a localized problem, but a national one. The important thing is to gain credibility with the public and the politicians. That is not going to be easy with all the bad publicity out there, but it can be done.

  There are a lot of folks out there working to keep public access open to all. You are not the only ones losing out. The anti-public crowd has gained so much because they all work together. They seperate the ATVs from the Jeeps, from the other 4x4s. The sport fishermen are seperated from the commercial fishermen. The personal watercraft crowd is seperated from the boaters and the Air boaters, etc.

  If we all ban together, what kind of voice would we all have? Hunters, hikers, horseback riders, ATVers, 4x4s, Jeepers, campers, fishermen, divers, snorkelers... the opposition wouldn't stand a chance would they!