Trespassing on private property

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southerncruiser62

southerncruiser62

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Due to a few occurence we have had in the last few months I would like to reiterate the following:

Olde North State Cruisers has discussed with it's members on numerous occations the topic of traveling on trails you are unsure of, whether it be Power Line trails, Utility Company trails, or just land in which you are unsure of it's ownership. Olde North State Cruisers in no manner accepts responsiblity for a members actions should they be trespassing on Private Property, however I will reiterate again, should you be trespassing on Private Property in an area with a "POSTED-NO TRESPASSING" sign, the BOD will access the situation and decide on a course of action.

This is taken from the ONSC By-Laws:

"Any member who shall conduct themselves in an irresponsible manner that, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, is not in the best interests of the club or when such actions brings discredit upon the club, shall be subject to suspension at the discretion of the Board of Directors."

I am making it a point to discuss this issue because as a whole the actions of our members respresent Olde North State Cruisers, and as a club I want to see positive re-inforcement of the disturbance we cause on the land/trails will travel across. What I do not want too see is a case where the public acknowledges who we, as a club, are from the actions we as members take. Just remember this is your club and your actions can effect the club and others within this club.

Please respect land rights and only travel on land you know is set aside for OHV Access or land in which you have permission.

Thanks,
Greg
 
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Great post, Greg, and I agree 100%. We all represent the club and more importantly we ALL have a duty to promote a positive image of offroading.

I am going to be a jerk and say that if I am called for help and it's determined to be on private property w/o proper permission to be there, I will decline to help.
 
I'm also a fan of this concept. Just a quick story which might reflect how a sticker can cause an issue...

While at the FJCruiserSummit II this past summer, one of the vendors was giving out free stickers. Nice thing for those with good intentions. As we passed another group comprised of vehicles of a different make/type (aka Jeeps), one of their group commented that you F'n FJC's suck and quit putting stickers all over the place. Being familiar with the organizers, I doubted such a thing was occurring and could help myself to ask what they were talking about. Being that my rig hosted the same sticker, I became some sort of lightning rod for the group to vent on. This didn't go over well with me even though I did all I could to temper the situation and make sure this group knew that one idiot with a handful of stickers didn't represent the whole group.

Well, someone with bad intentions decided to paste these stickers on signs along one of the trails in Ouray where the event was located. This became an issue over the CB radios with some lively banter, trying to find out who it was. It turned out to be another competitor who decided it would be funny to do but it turned into quite an issue. I had arranged for the "leader" of this other group to meet with our organizers so that they could come to a meeting of the minds on this issue. It turned out the "leader" was completely understanding having hosted events of similar size and have similar issues.

Thus, the result became that vendor were restricted from giving away free stickers.

What's the point. I "wear" my ONSC sticker with a sense of responsibility in that I want the club to be reflected in a positive way. There are many ways that one can cause a negativity toward off-road clubs, being on private land would be pretty high on that list of ways to get people pretty grumpy...
 
A side note on how this can get you up a creek without a paddle.

My 16yo nephew is in a situation right now because he failed to heed a no trespassing sign. He lives in Charleston otherwise I would have beat him about the head and neck. He and some friends went "muddin" (remember 16yo) and he got stuck. The property owner found them and called the police. He was issued a ticket for willful damage to private property and trespassing. He had to cough up 200 for the recovery and the tickets are going to cost 450. The property owner is now pressing charges and he has to appear in family court at the end of the month. I am hoping they will slap him on the wrist, but at this point who knows.

I am heading down there this weekend to have a little "Uncle Bill" talk with him. Point of the story is a few minutes of reckless fun can cost a lot on the back side.
 
It is possible to get permission to pull someone out of being stuck on private property. I was called to pull a guy out once when he was trespassing. The Sheriff's Department had been called by the land owner and was on the scene. The Deputies and land owner gave me permission to go in and pull him out. I would not have gone in without getting permission first though.
 
nesnaitsirhc said:
A side note on how this can get you up a creek without a paddle.

My 16yo nephew is in a situation right now because he failed to heed a no trespassing sign. He lives in Charleston otherwise I would have beat him about the head and neck. He and some friends went "muddin" (remember 16yo) and he got stuck. The property owner found them and called the police. He was issued a ticket for willful damage to private property and trespassing. He had to cough up 200 for the recovery and the tickets are going to cost 450. The property owner is now pressing charges and he has to appear in family court at the end of the month. I am hoping they will slap him on the wrist, but at this point who knows.

I am heading down there this weekend to have a little "Uncle Bill" talk with him. Point of the story is a few minutes of reckless fun can cost a lot on the back side.
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The older I get, the more I realize a lot of things aren't worth the trouble/or potential troubles. Hope it works out well for your nephew, sure he's learned his lesson... although I was pretty thick headed when I was that age;)
 
I second... or maybe third the sentiment of no trespassing..

with that said, i hate it when a land owner goes overboard on pressing charges ect.... They can make a point, call the police, yell, ect... but man pressing charges against a 16 year old is a bit much (unless they really did a number and destroyed someone's property). We have all been 16 before.

NO TRESPASSING!
 
Screw that. Free country, last I checked... I'll :steer: wherever the hell I feel like it.





































J/k - That's just asking for trouble. :D

:beer: R
 
concretejungle said:
I second... or maybe third the sentiment of no trespassing..

with that said, i hate it when a land owner goes overboard on pressing charges ect.... They can make a point, call the police, yell, ect... but man pressing charges against a 16 year old is a bit much (unless they really did a number and destroyed someone's property). We have all been 16 before.

NO TRESPASSING!
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I agree. When I spoke to him on the phone I asked him how he would like it if I came down there and tore up his front yard with the FJ. He didn't sound too enthused. Peyton is a good kid. He plays varsity football, has a job, and gets A's and B's in all AP classes. I'm sure we will be successful in getting the charges dropped. This is the only time he has ever been in any trouble. I cannot remember him ever being grounded.

I am heading down there this afternoon. I come back Monday and have a full report on what it looked like.
 
Juan, no-one is faulting you - I should have asked him some questions when I called.

On a trailride I was leading in Ohio, I took a wrong turn and wound up on private property. We stopped to get our bearings and check the map when the landowner came straight at me, pointing a gun at me. Things turned out well, but that was one hell of an experience.
 
Not only do actions like this reflect poorly on the club, they also reflect poorly on 4wheeling in general. As we fight to keep access to the trails that are currently open, the last thing we need is an image of not respecting trespassing laws.
 
Fort Knox said:
Not only do actions like this reflect poorly on the club, they also reflect poorly on 4wheeling in general. As we fight to keep access to the trails that are currently open, the last thing we need is an image of not respecting trespassing laws.
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Well put! but as a side note I think we are going to see more and more illegal wheeling as the feds close more and more public land. There is not much public land set apart for wheeling and it is shrinking every year. I see almost all public land going away and wheeling clubs starting to pool money just to buy land to go wheeling on. Damn shame.

This is very familiar to what was happening in the late 90's early 00's in Southern Cal (where I used to live) Street racing was a huge problem back then and instead of reopening some drag tracks that where just being used for major events they ended up closing more due to residents of the tracks complaining of the noise. (who buys a house near a race track and then complains that it's loud) And so with less places to legally race more people turned to side roads and industrial areas.
 
Hey Rich! How you doin' bud? How does the Cruggy do in the snow? :flipoff2:
 
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