The Official Publication of the Toyota Land Cruiser Association. Since 1976 and Still Going Strong.

KEEPING TRAILS OPEN...

Greg Mumm is the Executive Director of the Blue Ribbon Coalition and a long-time TLCA member. Send him e-mail at brgreg@sharetrails.org.

March/April 2008

THE OPEN GATE

by Greg Mumm
TLCA's Land Use Expert

There are a lot of public land use issues going on right now and for many, those issues are challenging. Plans for revised management of OHVs on Forest Service and BLM managed lands are showing up across the country. Many of those proposed actions reflect significant potential for closures and it has a great many enthusiasts asking a great many questions.

Interestingly, there are a lot of people "waking up" to the recognition that this whole travel management planning process is real and it's going to affect them. All too often, that enthusiast "awakening" is coming when the proposed action for their area hits the papers. Tensions in many areas are beginning to run high and blame is starting to be thrown around. There are a couple of quick things to say relative to this about what you shouldn't do when the tensions begin to run high in your area.

First, you shouldn't turn the blame back on enthusiasts or enthusiast groups for causing this. Nor should you turn the blame back on groups like BRC, UFWDA or the TLCA for not having done enough to prevent whatever. The fact is, travel management changes on public lands are inevitable. You cannot have the sustained growth in the OHV sector of recreation that we have seen without managing it. Many of those people and groups you might accuse have been there working to get your attention. I know I often have felt and still feel like the voice of one crying in the wilderness, warning that this was coming, that if you snooze, you lose—and that you need to get involved.

Second, think before reinventing the wheel. Getting "hip" all of sudden to what is going on does not an expert make. There are individuals and groups out there who have been working on land use issues for a lot of years and you need to draw from that experience. In fact, in most cases it would be far better to get with those groups—local, state, and national—and join in their efforts rather than go off trying things that perhaps have already been tried to no avail. More often than not, you may even hinder progress and splinter group efforts. I (and others) have often said that we are our own worst enemies and this is textbook to how we wind up being that way.

For example, why start an entirely new action alert system when the more effective action would be to start paying attention to and forwarding the information from existing networks through your own network of communications? The information from well managed and well informed action alert systems from groups like UFWDA and BRC has already been vetted and is very accurate. Work smart. Make wise use of existing resources.

You may have a perfectly good idea that you believe should be implemented. In some cases, you may find that it is already being done or has been tried. Why start over? Why make all the same mistakes and waste all that valuable time when you could simply pick up and improve on what is already happening? In other instances, with just a few questions, you might find that a perfectly good idea you have may have been tried but wasn't executed properly. Ask the questions and learn from that experience. Don't be insulted or discouraged. See it for what it is and keep working together toward solutions.

I am not saying that everything we are doing is right and there isn't room for improvement. I am also not trying to say there isn't more that we could be doing and that anyone's ideas aren't valid. What I am saying is simply that our most effective effort comes from people looking for places to plug into what is being done and helping to grow the unified effort rather than unplugging someone else so you can plug in instead. The truth is, these truths apply to those long involved as equally as they do for those just getting "hip."

Contact us—at the BlueRibbon Coalition, we want to help get you plugged in... www.sharetrails.org.