Trail Access and Land Use – Join the Conversation
\nAs the popularity of overlanding and vehicle dependent exploration has grown, so has the discussion around land use. More and more people are turning to the great outdoors to seek solace and balance from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind. With our population growing quickly, proper land use is paramount to healthy and sustainable recreation in our lands and waterways. <\/p>\n
We sat down with Todd Ockert (President) and Del Albright (Executive Director) from Blue Ribbon Coalition\/Sharetrails.org<\/a> to discuss land use and land access. Blue Ribbon Coalition Sharetrails.org Listen to the Podcast in its entirety below! And Todd is quick to point out the simple reason for becoming involved. Fun. \u201cWe want to make sure we have good forests and good public lands that are maintained so that they are sustainable\u2026 It\u2019s responsible use of our public lands so that we can continue to recreate and go have fun.\u201d Get involved. \u201cOverland Bound is just a start. Get online and learn more about the clubs and organizations in your area and contribute\u2026 If I can donate, fine, but if I can give a day of my time? That is the value right there.\u201d There are problems that can\u2019t be fixed with money.<\/p>\n Contribute. Consider setting $100 year aside to state and national organization memberships. In addition to the national reach of Blue Ribbon Coalition\/Sharetrails.org, Del mentions CAL4WHEEL<\/a> and\/or CORVA<\/a> as examples local to California.<\/p>\n Del has an acronym he came up with to make it easy remember: This is the most important action to take according to Del. You can join \u201cnationally with BRC or if you want to start locally, whatever, start somewhere and join. Whatever makes sense. State. Regional. National. Local. Find the ones that make sense and throw some joining money their direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocate<\/p>\n \u201cTalk it up. When you\u2019re talking to someone, share your passion. Why do you love exploring? What makes you so excited about driving around in the backwoods?\u201d<\/p>\n Include<\/p>\n \u201cIf you ever get the chance to take a politician or someone that wants to learn more, give them a seat. Include them so they understand us.\u201d Del definitely walks this talk.<\/p>\n Letters<\/p>\n \u201cWrite those letters when asked.\u201d Most importantly, stay informed and active. When a post goes up asking for support, follow through and contribute.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, we are all working for the same end goal. Del adds one more thought, \u201cThe respectful consideration\u2026 Cleaning up, trash bags, trail work, all those things make up that magic word of \u2018land use\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the popularity of overlanding and vehicle dependent exploration has grown, so has the discussion around land use. More and more people are turning to the great outdoors to seek solace and balance from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind. With our population growing quickly, proper land use is paramount to healthy and sustainable recreation in our lands and waterways. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":34583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1260","footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/34583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.overlandbound.com\/marketing-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBlue Ribbon Coalition Sharetrails.org
\nPresident<\/p>\n
\nExecutive Director<\/p>\n
\nAs Del explains, BRC\/Sharetrails.org has been working for 30+ years both regionally and nationally to help \u201cpreserve our resources and public lands for the public. Not from the public…That\u2019s really part of our (BRC\/ST) culture is to explore, have the adventure, share the land – there\u2019s places where we don\u2019t belong, places that we do belong. That\u2019s part of our mission and vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhat does someone who\u2019s new to overlanding and exploring in the US need to know?
\nDel sums it up easily. \u201cBe Responsible. Setting the example. Carrying a trash bag. Volunteer for a club project. Writing a letter… \u2018Land use\u2019 is a package of persevering the adventure, the steps that we take to keep that adventure alive\u2026 It\u2019s complicated and there\u2019s a lot to it, but in reality it is that simple.\u201d
\nHere are a few key takeaways from the conversation:
\nHave the right gear. \u201cAnybody who doesn\u2019t have a trash bag hanging on the back of their rig or accessible isn\u2019t doing their part. Do you have to fill it up every time? No…but carry a trash bag.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nJAIL – How to keep our public lands out of jail and what can the individual do:
\nJoin<\/p>\n