Do Trail Closures Bother You?

By Jerry Smith

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” – Henry Ford

Do Trail Closures Bother You?  Do you become upset and maybe even have a little rant when you learn that a trail you’ve used for years will be closed and “restored to its natural condition”?

What did YOU do to stop this?

Have you ever wondered; “How can this happen?” or “Why did this happen?”  In many cases, there WERE things YOU could have done to prevent it, you know?

How could “I” have prevented that trail from closure?  I’m glad you asked. 

There ARE some things WE can do to prevent many of the trail closures.  Some of them you have probably heard of, and some you likely have not heard before.  If you do you become upset when a local trail closes, please read on… otherwise, delete this and go vegetate in front of the TV.

Were these closures necessary?

We all have excuses as to why we either can’t or won’t DO SOMETHING about land use issues such as trail closures.  Life gets in the way.  We’re too busy and don’t have free time. You don’t know how to write a comment with substance to the land managers.  Excuses are one of the reasons that trail closed.

Even if all those excuses are valid, there is one thing you could have done to keep that trail from closing… JOIN and/or support people and organizations that DO SOMETHING.  The few dollars you offer to be a member have more meaning than you may realize.

First, when an organization like the United Four Wheel Drive Associations (UFWDA) attends meetings with land management, congressmen, County Commissioners, and others, WE represent YOU and YOUR interests.

When WE write comments regarding land use issues, WE represent YOU and YOUR interests.  We have learned from years of experience how to make an impact with land managers. 

Some comments are from a legal standpoint because we KNOW the laws and rules they must operate under.

Other comments are from the emotional standpoint telling them WHY you love this trail or area and what it means to you to be able to have motorized access.

Only comments with “substantive” arguments make an impact.  Can you or do you know how to write that kind of comment?  That is why you want and need to support those who do.

Next, attend meetings and become involved in your local area land use.  Talk to the land managers.  Ask questions about the individual trails.  What issues do they have with certain areas or trails?  What can YOU do to relieve them of those issues?

Could you or a club you belong to do a project that could remedy a problem?  Could that club find grant money to pay for that remedy?

Could that club hold a meeting of its members to discuss local land use problems and come up with some “action items” and people to perform those actions?

Even if you only take the time to write some comments about trails or areas that are on the list to be closed and send them to me, the Director of Environmental Affairs for the United Four Wheel Drive Associations.  Tell me WHY these trails or areas are important to you.  Give me some ammunition to write comments that are not just generic gibberish because I don’t have first-hand knowledge of the trail(s).

United wants to help you maintain motorized access, but your support as an ACTIVE member is vital to OUR success. 

Me, sitting in Grand Junction, Colorado, cannot relate DETAILED INFORMATION to a land manager in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and all the other states both east and west without someone locally offering some input.

The United Four Wheel Drive Associations can only be as effective as the membership makes us.  As the quote from Henry Ford says; “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”

Support from our membership is not simply membership dues.  Support comes by “ACTIVE MEMBERS” supplying us with information.  We must KNOW about your local issues before we can react to them.

We need information from a local perspective with local ideas of how we might argue YOUR side of the issue.  Otherwise, we can only give them the generic arguments that won’t have the impact of ones from a local standpoint.

United is an organization of associations.  Those associations are made up of local clubs.  Those clubs are made up of individual members.  If there is no activity from the individuals, clubs and associations have nothing to be active with.  It all begins with YOU!!

So, going back to Henry Ford’s quote, what kind of reputation do YOU want to build?  Action and activity.  Without them, nothing happens.