Middle Tennessee - Tennessee Dirt Devil Update - IMPORTANT!!

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MagnoliaOverland

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Owens Cross Roads, Madison County, Alabama, United States
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@Teague - I'm not sure if you can tag all known OB Members in the area?

Some of you may have seen or heard about this yesterday but mostly all of you know the struggle that is the Tennessee Dirt Devil and the problems that some "Jeep Clubs" that I won't mention here cause for the landowners.

There has been a recent update that was posted originally by Scott Pope on the Mule Town Jeepers facebook page and was re posted on the Cumberland Cruisers Facebook Page (where I picked it up). There are efforts being made by those I trust verify this information is correct. It seems pretty drastic to attempt to close a county road off completely.

I don't think it has to be said here that common sense is in play. It seems that the main issue is people driving up and down the creek. I know the road crosses the creek several times but that unfortunately doesn't mean we can use the creek as a road. Please also not that South Tatum Creek is NOT part of the original dirt devil. If you need an updated map/gpx file then please send me a message.

Hopefully there will be some update soon as I drive out there with my family and don't want there to be a problem with landowners (like getting shot at). In the mean time tread carefully!!

Below is the post that was originally made by Scott Pope of Mule Town Jeepers on Facebook.

************From Scott Pope on the MTJ the page, courtesy of yet another page I follow:

"Dirt Devil Update: Complaints by residents and summary of answers provided by County Mayor, three Commissioners, Sheriff, Constable, two TWRA Officers and a Judge. (information was provided by the county road commissioner who was not able to be present at the community meeting)

Complaints: Trespassing on private property, Property damage (cutting cables, fences general land damage), Theft, Littering or dumping.

1) Tatum Creek will be officially closed by the county. It was already closed @ the 3/10th (to the best of my bad memory) of a mile mark(right at the point of the creek crossing @ the Water fall.)
2) Clarification of "Creek and Water way" ownership.
A) Water is a State Resource open to the public meaning floating traffic (Boats, kayaks, inter tubes, etc) cannot be impeded. The creek or river bed is considered as private property shared or owned by the owner or owners of the adjoining shoreline. If the landowner sees fit to press charges he or she can do so if they have proof that physical contact to the creek or river bed has been made by human, animal (horse or mule), vehicles and even fishing equipment such as sinkers or lures.
3) Residents have been encouraged to photograph and video any trespasser in act and have been educated to the processes to follow to carry the captured evidence to the local magistrates whom will determine if the evidence justifies whether a Court Summons for Criminal Trespass will be issued to the offender. There will be locals traveling with cameras at all hours and local law enforcement, TWRA and their constable will be making more patrols as time allows.
4) I requested that if any jeeps with the Mule Town Jeepers Banners are caught in the act doing something you shouldn't on camera that they send me a copy so we can post up the pics or videos.
5) County leadership will be contacting the EPA and other State Level teams for additional information and resources.
6) The residents are taking steps to form a formal "Community Watch Group" as well.

I feel like there was some "healing" with the views of some of the residents towards our club but there is a long road to go. They believed that we were the publishers of the "map", however I explained that we were not. I explained our official stance on the Dirt Devil and also admitted that we were just as guilty as many others until we learned of the damages they were suffering and that thanks to our affiliation to the Tread Lightly Organization via the SFWDA educated our membership. They also seemed very open to us coming into the area to do trash pickups. I plan on discussing this more with the Club Officers." *********
 
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AdventureWithDanan

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@OverlandLexusTN - Great message, you can send a direct message to everyone in your area by using the member map: https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/usermap?viewuser=3741/

You can send a message to just the users in the area that you are zoomed in on, or you can activate the radius filter to message everyone within the circle. You are limited to 100 users, so be aware of that limitation.Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 9.24.55 AM.png
 

MagnoliaOverland

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Owens Cross Roads, Madison County, Alabama, United States
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TNDeadHead

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Columbia, Tennessee
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Thank you for the update. It sucks that a few people have to ruin things for the rest of us. If you hear of any clean up days in the future please post it here if you think about it. I'm not a part of any Jeep club and don't use Facebook anymore so I am kind of out of the loop.
 
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MagnoliaOverland

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Owens Cross Roads, Madison County, Alabama, United States
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Thank you for the update. It sucks that a few people have to ruin things for the rest of us. If you hear of any clean up days in the future please post it here if you think about it. I'm not a part of any Jeep club and don't use Facebook anymore so I am kind of out of the loop.
I thought about trying to put together a clean up day in the future for local OB Members however it's something we need to discuss with @Dananc . My concern would be that I don't want the landowners to associate us (Overland Bound) together with the local Jeep Clubs so I'm not sure the best way to handle that.
 

eloist

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Only been on these roads once, but saw plenty of people driving in the creek. I honestly don't understand the appeal of the dirt devil route, it's almost all paved roads, but I digress...

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TNDIRTDEVIL

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Tennessee
I support these local landowners 100 percent for protecting their property. This area has been private since 2008 and has never been part of the map and has always been labeled as a private area. There is over 200 other miles that is made up off about 75% dirt that is great riding. There is no need to enter private areas to enjoy the true Dirt Devil. These are all public roads and great scenic riding. It really sux that you choose to give out GPS files because this is the root of the problem. Not only is it a direct copyright violation it definitely does put liability on you. Anyone who purchased the map sees the legal loopholes that has to be embedded for liability protection. Overlandlexus if you have given out gps files you are part of the problem. There has been a lot of hard work put into the map and a lot of money to protect the name as well as the map. For you to just give out the files without clear instructions as to where private areas are is completely irresponsible. My attorney will certainly direct any legal issues that may arise from this to directly fall on you.
 

MagnoliaOverland

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Owens Cross Roads, Madison County, Alabama, United States
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I support these local landowners 100 percent for protecting their property. This area has been private since 2008 and has never been part of the map and has always been labeled as a private area. There is over 200 other miles that is made up off about 75% dirt that is great riding. There is no need to enter private areas to enjoy the true Dirt Devil. These are all public roads and great scenic riding. It really sux that you choose to give out GPS files because this is the root of the problem. Not only is it a direct copyright violation it definitely does put liability on you. Anyone who purchased the map sees the legal loopholes that has to be embedded for liability protection. Overlandlexus if you have given out gps files you are part of the problem. There has been a lot of hard work put into the map and a lot of money to protect the name as well as the map. For you to just give out the files without clear instructions as to where private areas are is completely irresponsible. My attorney will certainly direct any legal issues that may arise from this to directly fall on you.
While I do appreciate your input and agree that private landowners are in the right when it comes to private areas I don't agree with your stance on a gps file. I've purchased the map to support the map maker and his efforts. The .gpx files I choose to share with friends of mine were recorded by either myself or someone else I ride with. They are not and would never be intended to be taken as gospel. I'm free to record a route and share it with whomever I wish so I'll be looking forward to that conversation with your "attorney". It is the landowners responsibility to clearly mark private areas and it's each individuals responsibility to stay out of said area regardless of what gps file or map they use.





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eloist

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1,135
Nashville
I ran these roads last Saturday. Every local we saw smiled and waved.
No one used a creek as a road, and we averaged 15mph.

No birds fell from the sky. No shots were fired at us. No issues at all.

Ben Fly Rd however has been graded up at the top.
I was afraid the descent down to the creek would be smooth now, but nope... the newly graded section disappeared and the descent was as rough as it has ever been. That's really the best part of all of these roads in my opinion.
 
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MagnoliaOverland

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Owens Cross Roads, Madison County, Alabama, United States
First Name
Mike
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Johnson
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I ran these roads last Saturday. Every local we saw smiled and waved.
No one used a creek as a road, and we averaged 15mph.

No birds fell from the sky. No shots were fired at us. No issues at all.

Ben Fly Rd however has been graded up at the top.
I was afraid the descent down to the creek would be smooth now, but nope... the newly graded section disappeared and the descent was as rough as it has ever been. That's really the best part of all of these roads in my opinion.
I've never personally had any issues but I try to be as courteous as possible like you mentioned. IMO the problems arise when you have a club of 20-30 vehicles coming through. I hate to hear that about Ben Fly Rd. That is my favorite section as well.
 

TNDeadHead

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1,479
Columbia, Tennessee
Member #

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I ran these roads last Saturday. Every local we saw smiled and waved.
No one used a creek as a road, and we averaged 15mph.

No birds fell from the sky. No shots were fired at us. No issues at all.

Ben Fly Rd however has been graded up at the top.
I was afraid the descent down to the creek would be smooth now, but nope... the newly graded section disappeared and the descent was as rough as it has ever been. That's really the best part of all of these roads in my opinion.
That's disappointing... It's kinda boring if you aren't taking small arms fire on the trail.

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BLKcalibra

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Gallatin, TN, USA
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@Teague - I'm not sure if you can tag all known OB Members in the area?

Some of you may have seen or heard about this yesterday but mostly all of you know the struggle that is the Tennessee Dirt Devil and the problems that some "Jeep Clubs" that I won't mention here cause for the landowners.

There has been a recent update that was posted originally by Scott Pope on the Mule Town Jeepers facebook page and was re posted on the Cumberland Cruisers Facebook Page (where I picked it up). There are efforts being made by those I trust verify this information is correct. It seems pretty drastic to attempt to close a county road off completely.

I don't think it has to be said here that common sense is in play. It seems that the main issue is people driving up and down the creek. I know the road crosses the creek several times but that unfortunately doesn't mean we can use the creek as a road. Please also not that South Tatum Creek is NOT part of the original dirt devil. If you need an updated map/gpx file then please send me a message.

Hopefully there will be some update soon as I drive out there with my family and don't want there to be a problem with landowners (like getting shot at). In the mean time tread carefully!!
Bouncing for update on any Dirt Devil news since the last post on this tread. Or, am I bouncing up the wrong tree?
 
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