The Pirate 4x4 Land Use Crew Needs Your Help
Dear Motorized Enthusiasts,
Pirate4X4.com needs to make a personal request to all OHV enthusiasts everywhere. We would never make this kind of request unless it was extremely important, and unless your response had a good chance of making a difference.
Here is the situation:
Years ago, key staff from the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as leaders from some of California's radical anti-recreation groups, made a commitment to keep the historic Furnace Creek Road open. Well, guess who has not kept their promise? The anti's are going back on their word and trying to close this trail forever. The Forest Service, politicians, and other land management agencies are going back on their commitments to the OHV community.
Not only that, now they are asking for even MORE Wilderness in that area! U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and U.S. Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon are proposing a bill that would designate 400,000 acres of Wilderness in Mono County, CA along the CA/NV border.
40 years ago the Wilderness Act was passed to protect land from development and things like mining and commercial clear-cut logging. This act is an OUTDATED act, and NONE of these things are happening in this specific area. There are many other ways to manage this land than to shut it down to everyone.
While some routes would remain in this "roadless" area if the bill passes (supposedly to keep the OHV public satisfied) this bill would close many others, including the Furnace Creek Road, a popular 4x4 route which has been in existence since BEFORE Inyo National Forest was even created. The road was used at the turn of the last century for ranching and mining, but there is evidence of use since the mid to late 1800's!
Here's the kicker: Years after the federal land managers and the radical anti groups made a commitment to keep the Furnace Creek Road open, they want to use this Wilderness bill to go back on their word!
We REALLY need your help on this one. We have a GOOD chance of making a difference and, at the very least, saving this historic trail if we get a big enough response.
This is a tremendous opportunity. If we ALL team up to fight for each other, we can pack a huge punch. PLEASE take 5 minutes to join enthusiasts from across the country and send a letter! We've modified our letter generator so that the job is easy. We've even provided a sample letter to help you in writing your own.
Here is what YOU can do:
Step 1:
Go to the letter generator at www.pirate4x4.com/letters and click on the Boxer and McKeon Wilderness Bill link. That will take you to the letter page.
Step 2.
Follow the directions on that page. Either write a personal letter (the preferred method) or copy and paste the sample letter.
Step 3.
Click , then PLEASE forward this letter on to your friends and family.
One more thing:
Pirate4X4.com has made an agreement with the BlueRibbon Coalition that if we can get 2,500 letters from the generator, BRC will print them all out, go to Washington DC and HAND DELIVER the stacks of letters to Senators and Representatives. That way we can maximize the impact and they can't just "delete" an e-mail from us...
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!
The Pirate4X4.com Crew
www.pirate4x4.com
PS - BRC's Executive Director, Greg Mumm, has been on several trips to Washington DC lately and he reports that the anti-recreation lobby has been very active! BRC has submitted written testimony in a House Subcommittee hearing on OHV use, and last month he testified in person at a Senate Subcommittee. BRC has also been involved in a new General Accounting Office (GAO) study on OHV use. The anti-recreation zealots are setting the stage for a very aggressive legislative and regulatory strategy for 2009.
