Please read and respond to this.....

[phxtlc]

Money rules...thus when one cause, "environmental protection" out sells another, "public access to land" more people will join the first group. More people that join = more media coverage, and the cycle continues. Just compare the "typical over the counter" 4x4 magazines vs. backpacker. The 4x4 magazine will show so much mud slinging and tearing up trails it's sad, however do the backpacking mag show idiots going out and carving up trees or spray painting structures, or worse? Nope.

I always thought if we as off road people could market the ability to reach beautiful places that would be too far for for someone to reach on foot or bike we would really garner more support especially in our own state. If for instance we could get Arizona Highways to run a monthly article on such a place and show serious off road travel (not just a dirt road) in a good light we'd be moving in the right direction.

 

[Brian Macgyver]

phxtlc,
Bravo! Good answer!
Magazines sell by glorifying mud-throwing, trail eroding behavior the way that newspapers sell by profiling social deviants. Normal behavior doesn't sell any media. Serial killers and sexual wierdos do.
I used to backpack. Then I turned 16, and got a car. I discovered that I could travel further and see more on wheels. I hung up the old backpack. But I still have it. I no longer walk where a good truck can travel. I save the walking for places where the truck won't fit.
With a good vehicle, I am able to see more places. I can help more to clean up the mess left by others. I am better able to help some who go unprepared. Even some who wreck quads in the middle of the night!
I still hike a lot, but only after the road fizzles out. There are many unique places, but most can only be reached by driving as far as possible, and then walking the rest of the way.
One of my customers recently said that most problems are caused by people without a leg to stand on, who yell really loud. They win by making the most noise. The rest of us are too busy being normal to take the time to tell them to sit down and shut up! Maybe we should call their bluff now and then. We who want open forests are the quiet majority. We need to make a bit of noise.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Just had to get it all out....

Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
Towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
And she's gone.

{CHORUS}

Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain,
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies.
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers,
That grow so incredibly high.

Newspaper taxis appear on the shore,
Waiting to take you away.
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds,
And you're gone.

{CHORUS}

Picture yourself on a train in a station,
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties.
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile,
The girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

{CHORUS REPEATED AND FADED}


The turth behind the song - HERE

Hi-jack over

 

[Brian Macgyver]

Isn't there a political forum for this? That would be aside from Phil's acid-rock reference. I tried that myself, and found it too disorienting.
The original complaint that started this thread was that Off-highway vehicle users are idiots. She may have a valid point.
Land Cruisers are mostly highway vehicles, at least in the later generations. We can go off-highway at any place and time, and we can do it well. We modify the trucks to make them formidable off-road machines. But we mostly travel on highways to reach our trail start point. Then we go off-road. Our people are mostly responsible. We treat trails with great respect. Why are we being so defensive? We are mostly responsible users of both paved and unpaved roadways. Where is the problem? Why should we get so upset about this?
It is true that that users of unlicensed OHV's are involved in the majority of highly intoxication-related incidents in off-road areas. They are also predominately represented in stupid accidents. The attitude that the lack of a license plate is a license to be an idiot is far too common.
As much as I hate any increase in government, I may have to give some ground on this.
As a group, we have seen some people almost killed on unlicensed vehicles.
Do I have to remind anyone of the rescue mounted by the club at Fossil Creek when two well-beered guys drove a quad off of a cliff? That was an all-night FUBAR at best! But we took care of it.
In the Prescott area, quads, off-road carts, and motocross motorcycles are a common part of the street traffic. They are licensed. These vehicles are commonly used for quick trips to the store or post office. They get far better gas mileage than even hybrid cars, and are convenient to use. They also do double duty as transportation on mountain roads. It is not a problem. The majority of supposed "OHV's" in the area are street licensed and are used for errands between weekends. There are always some of them on the road every day.
So why don't we require a license on all of them? It might solve a lot of problems. It seems to around here. Many of the "OHV's" in the area are used for grocery runs between weekends. They have license plates, and the owners don't act like they are immortal when they drive them in the back country on weekends. They don't even drive them off of cliffs! They are amazingly responsibile. I have never had to rescue a single one of the local OHV people off-road, nor have I ever seen any of them involved in a street accident. I have had to winch a number of truck and Jeep drivers, but never an OHV. Drivers of OHV's have a real sense of their limitations. It is a good idea to be smarter than your machine! 4WD does not mean that you can defy the laws of physics.