Reuters report of Bundy supporting ATVers riding on protected land in Utah:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/10/us-usa-utah-showdown-idUSBREA4903920140510


Now, I don't live out west, only visit there 1-2 times a year to primitive camp/backpack/climb. Am I missing something? It seems like these ATVers are proving their "point" by needlessly destroying fragile desert. Aren't there's already places for them to ride? I'd hate to see more Great Basin dust dumped on W Colorado.

It's an old argument.

Ever since the establishment of the Wilderness System (or maybe earlier), some folks have claimed that the government was "locking them out". The theory is something like old folks and those with handicaps can't walk, so motor vehicles should be allowed to access pristine lands.

The faults to this theory are several:

I'm old (58) and I hike. My father (83) and I climbed the South Sister in Oregon last year.

Folks with a handicap that prevents them from walking on a trail are probably not going to be riding ATVs or motorcycles.

Pristine lands will not be pristine after a motor vehicle uses it. After a couple ATVs turn a nice hiking trail into a road, I'm not likely to find that an attractive hike.

For more about this theory and others, visit the website for the Blue Ribbon Coalition. Note that like many of these types of groups, their website is "share trails". They don't dare put forth their real agenda.
https://www.sharetrails.org

And here's what they mean by "sharing trails":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9vbxqMMWsk

If you find issues with the theory that motor vehicle access should be universal, please write your congressmen. Our natural lands need all the help they can get.

My response to the local newspaper covering the event:

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I am a long time visitor to the area and have been visiting for decades. Apparently you don't have any rights if you enjoy nature. The only ones who have "rights" are the ones who claim the right to destroy it.

It is so sad that people don't realize that when you share something, you are supposed to take good care of it and at least try to return it in the same condition (or better) that it was given to you.

It's a sad state in which the world is coming to. More and more, people just care about themselves.

Fewer and fewer people care about others or nature, or to take care of something so their children and grand children can enjoy it.

People in general are getting lazier and lazier as well. Why walk to something if you can just rip through on an ATV without less effort? Of course the disability claim will be made, but if that is the main reason, why are no ATV trails that I know if ADA compliant (at least some hiking trails are, but yes, we need more)? I have worked as a civil engineer for much of my life and if disability is truly the main issue, I'll be happy to provide ADA requirements for any of the new tracks. Free of charge, I will help design them and provide legal ADA requirements for anyone that needs them.

Yes, motorized recreation is very important. They should exist as well. Roads are important too (I worked as a highway engineer for many years). Yes, oil is even very important. Mining too. So are wild places as well. There is enough room for all of these without having to wreck it all. Some people don't care about others or about nature. Obesity is a huge problem in the US. The wild areas are the only places I know of where it's reasonable to exercise for an entire day. No one I know of goes to the gym for an entire day, let alone for days on end.

I'd say at least 90% of ATVers are "good citizens" and obey the rules. Some are dumbasses who want to go somewhere... simply because someone says they shouldn't. The are high altitude meadows, in Utah, which are fragile when the snow is melting, and these areas are often gated till dry; most ATVers keep off them, but it takes just a few malcontents to make a muddy mess.

It doesn't end with ATVs. A while back I commented that the Grand Canyon NPS was requiring black webbing for all new rap slings (many last raps are visible to people rafting down the Colorado River). While many BLM rules make no sense to me, I think this is one rule that is reasonable and easy to obey. Yet there are people who defiantly insist they will use whatever color webbing they want, to a point of being explosively angry.

It's some primal territorial urge, most common in males; it's like pissing on the corners of a yard.

So many bundys There was once ted(who passed though utah), Al from chicago i guess and now cliven.