Help get the word out

[Kent R]

 

[MidOH]

SXS chumps as usual.

Cliff notes: Stick to trails, stay off unmarked ĺand.

Lol at the lady complaining about desert road dust. That whole area is a dust bowl.

Is there really ranching in AZ?

 

[Del Albright]

This is more dangerous than you can imagine -- having this kind of negative publicity will kill our sport. Just ask those of us who started saving the Rubicon Trail 20+ years ago. All the anti crowd needed was numb-nut behavior or just plain ill or uninformed users doing dumb stuff.

 

[Sparksalot]

Hundreds of thousands ….


uh huh.

 

[Ubiety]

Makes me sick and grumpy. I see this a lot in the Seattle-ish area - the closer to town the worse the behavior - the more accessible the worse the behavior. This weekend we traveled an offroad mountain pass, in the flatlands on either end we saw "softroaders" and OHVs ripping it up, in the less accessible places between the behavior was much better. But enough whining - what can we do? How do we effectively reach out without confrontation? Yahoos are gonna be yahoos and I don't see how a quick trail chat with an already aggressive driver is going to go well... In a very populated region like my area how do you reach those who want to play Dukes of Hazzard for the weekend? What can I do?

 

[Del Albright]

Makes me sick and grumpy. I see this a lot in the Seattle-ish area - the closer to town the worse the behavior - the more accessible the worse the behavior. This weekend we traveled an offroad mountain pass, in the flatlands on either end we saw "softroaders" and OHVs ripping it up, in the less accessible places between the behavior was much better. But enough whining - what can we do? How do we effectively reach out without confrontation? Yahoos are gonna be yahoos and I don't see how a quick trail chat with an already aggressive driver is going to go well... In a very populated region like my area how do you reach those who want to play Dukes of Hazzard for the weekend? What can I do?

It is not easy nor is it a quick fix. It boils down to what I call the Four E's: Engineering (signage), Education, Engagement (getting more volunteers working on the area/trails) and Enforcement -- cops. I'll find that particular article and post it here.

 

[Del Albright]

What can we do about bad or illegal behavior?
Del Albright: Four E's of Protecting Access

 

[Ubiety]

A quick perusal of several brand's advertising shows that bad behavior is glamorized. I wonder if we can work with the manufacturers to shift their advertising away from destructive behavior to responsible behavior? Possibly glamorize Treading Lightly and the karmic goodness of keeping the wild places open for all for generations to come?

 

[Kent R]

A quick perusal of several brand's advertising shows that bad behavior is glamorized. I wonder if we can work with the manufacturers to shift their advertising away from destructive behavior to responsible behavior? Possibly glamorize Treading Lightly and the karmic goodness of keeping the wild places open for all for generations to come?

I know TL is working on this very issue. I have a call with them within the next week or two and will try to get some info.

 

[Ubiety]

Can we leverage YouTube personalities in the offroad segment to push the principles of Treading Lightly?
Does OB have a bootcamp-ish article on trail etiquette / treading lightly? If not I can put some words together to get the ball rolling.

This issue has been gnawing at me for quite some time; watching the video that @Kent R posted above kind of pushed me over the proverbial edge ;)

 

[Del Albright]

Can we leverage YouTube personalities in the offroad segment to push the principles of Treading Lightly?
Does OB have a bootcamp-ish article on trail etiquette / treading lightly? If not I can put some words together to get the ball rolling.

This issue has been gnawing at me for quite some time; watching the video that @Kent R posted above kind of pushed me over the proverbial edge ;)

You might review this post here in our forums:
"Share and Care" to Save Overlanding Recreation | OVERLAND BOUND COMMUNITY

 

[grubworm]

 

[grubworm]

there are a lot of uneducated folk out there when it comes to this... and companies, not just auto manufacturers, are making it worse by seeing a cash cow and marketing the Great Outdoors to these people and making it into a cool and hipster thing to do. there are tv commercials now showing the chrysler pacifica as "van life" and how it even has a built in vacuum, etc. now i doubt the pacifica will be going offroad reaking havoc, but it is being promoted as "van life", which will have its own set of unique problems as those buying them will be trying to camp in walmart parking lots and leaving trash, getting buried driving on the beach, etc and creating more problems and conversely, more regulations. the really funny thing about that commercial is a young couple in the new pacifica van pulls up next to a grungy couple in an older van and the guy in the older van steps out holding a mason jar with a duct tape label with 'Kombucha' on it. they are actually shitting on the older established folk and promoting the younger crowd as more hip and more intelligent and that is why dumbasses like us are not going to be able to tell them anything...

as far as subaru goes...i like them. i owned 2 subaru Brats back in the 80s. i rolled one and crushed the cab and it still drove. very tough and well built machines.
HOWEVER...they are getting a stereotype now. step-daughter moved to denver last year, dyed her hair blue and bought a subaru.
it is now open season on subarus....

 

[MOAK]

A quick perusal of several brand's advertising shows that bad behavior is glamorized. I wonder if we can work with the manufacturers to shift their advertising away from destructive behavior to responsible behavior? Possibly glamorize Treading Lightly and the karmic goodness of keeping the wild places open for all for generations to come?

Yup, that sort of advertising has gotten me grumpy since jeep started it way back when, a long time ago, using the theme, “conquering nature” .. this kind of corporate marketing sickens me. One of them, probably jeep, now has a theme about “ make your own trail “ . I’m a big advocate of permits and what hurdles should be required to obtain a permit, then oversight. Horrible words, permits & oversight, sooner or later our favorite organizations that are working hard to keep public lands open to responsible motorized traffic will have to work with our local governments and not against our local governments to find a solution. Compromise, another horrible word, must happen. Or?

 

[KonzaLander]

A quick perusal of several brand's advertising shows that bad behavior is glamorized. I wonder if we can work with the manufacturers to shift their advertising away from destructive behavior to responsible behavior? Possibly glamorize Treading Lightly and the karmic goodness of keeping the wild places open for all for generations to come?

I keep seeing this Tundra commercial on TV and I just cringe every time it comes on.

 

[bgenlvtex]

ATV/UTV/SXS as is illustrated by the video are the principal offenders, this audience constitutes "preaching to the choir ". You won't reach the knuckleheads doing this on this forum.

I have personally dealt with atv trespassers/hunters (and won) but it wasn't because I was polite,respectful or courteous and maintain a seething hatred for them generically.

 

[Ubiety]

ATV/UTV/SXS as is illustrated by the video are the principal offenders, this audience constitutes "preaching to the choir ". You won't reach the knuckleheads doing this on this forum.

Preaching to the choir, yes - but a convicting sermon has to start somewhere. ;)

Maybe the OB founding principle of "it doesn't matter what you drive" should be amended to "it doesn't matter what you drive - but it does matter how you drive" followed up with trail etiquette and Tread Lightly requirements.

 

[MOAK]

Preaching to the choir, yes - but a convicting sermon has to start somewhere. ;)

Maybe the OB founding principle of "it doesn't matter what you drive" should be amended to "it doesn't matter what you drive - but it does matter how you drive" followed up with trail etiquette and Tread Lightly requirements.

He’s correct, the buttholes that operate like that are not on these forums, they’ve no clue what tread lightly or leave no trace means, for that matter. Not to run a stereotype into the ground, but the pinnacle of their collective lives was probably had in high school. Some people have no understanding of anything other than their own self indulgent hedonism. The only way to deal with those kind of people is to regulate them with stiff laws and stiffer penalties. Require at the very least, a license to operate, obtained after only educational courses have been passed. Require at the very least, registration, licensing and insurance. Require, at the very least a permit to operate on public lands. Then Strict Enforcement. Set an example with Big fines and impoundment of vehicles. It’s sad that yes, just like in school, there are always idiots that will spoil it all for the rest of us. Those idiots need to be dealt with harshly. Many years ago, a couple of families up in central Pa was made an example of, jail time, stiff fines, they lost their homes, ( albeit a double wide on a mid slide) they lost their jobs. Harsh? Yup. But ya know what? It’s very rare these days to come upon any household trash along any dirt roads in Pa. These people, that will destroy our access to the backcountry must be dealt with even handedly and harshly. What’s wrong? Hey, little Johnny no longer gets five cracks with a board for being an asshole in class, that’s what’s wrong. These people that will take our sport away need to be given those five cracks retroactively.

 

[Ubiety]

He’s correct, the buttholes that operate like that are not on these forums, they’ve no clue what tread lightly or leave no trace means, for that matter. Not to run a stereotype into the ground, but the pinnacle of their collective lives was probably had in high school. Some people have no understanding of anything other than their own self indulgent hedonism. The only way to deal with those kind of people is to regulate them with stiff laws and stiffer penalties. Require at the very least, a license to operate, obtained after only educational courses have been passed. Require at the very least, registration, licensing and insurance. Require, at the very least a permit to operate on public lands. Then Strict Enforcement. Set an example with Big fines and impoundment of vehicles. It’s sad that yes, just like in school, there are always idiots that will spoil it all for the rest of us. Those idiots need to be dealt with harshly. Many years ago, a couple of families up in central Pa was made an example of, jail time, stiff fines, they lost their homes, ( albeit a double wide on a mid slide) they lost their jobs. Harsh? Yup. But ya know what? It’s very rare these days to come upon any household trash along any dirt roads in Pa. These people, that will destroy our access to the backcountry must be dealt with even handedly and harshly. What’s wrong? Hey, little Johnny no longer gets five cracks with a board for being an asshole in class, that’s what’s wrong. These people that will take our sport away need to be given those five cracks retroactively.

If we can crack this nut and make a difference maybe we can avoid more government. That’s my hope anyway.

 

[Kent R]

I am looking for more videos like the one I posted at the top, so if you see something please forward it to me. Thanks!!