Moab trails closed.

[MtnAddict]

Yea when folks like SUWA have 10’s of millions at their disposal, a billionaire backer and have infiltrated San Juan, Moab City, and Grand County official positions, and who knows when it comes to the BLM, it’s almost like we let that one slip and gear up for a legal war for the next round. I donate pretty religiously to the BRC, but we won’t have the backing we need until we convince a major brand like Polaris, Toyota, Jeep…. Etc to get on board and start fighting with us. Hell ask anyone in Oil & Gas how tough it is to battle SUWA or the Sierra club.

Sucks… I think your use of “infiltration” is accurate: activists…

 

[Inukshuk]

grrr

 

[BritKLR]

I can only imagine the congestion this will cause on the remaining trails.....resulting in overuse....resulting in justification for further closures. Slippery slope.

 

[J1000]

I can only imagine the congestion this will cause on the remaining trails.....resulting in overuse....resulting in justification for further closures. Slippery slope.

That's a feature not a bug.

 

[J Kimmel]

That's a feature not a bug.

Almost like it’s “designed to fail,” feels like I’ve heard that before.

 

[BritKLR]

That's a feature not a bug.

Like many things today, they're thinking objectively 5-10 years down the road, where many are just thinking emotionally about today.

 

[ScaldedDog]

Is there a complete list of trails closed by this? The sites I thought would have it - RR4W, BRC, etc - don't seem to. I've seen reference to Metal Masher staying open, but what about nearby trails like GBR, Rusty Nail, etc?

This is really disappointing, but not at all surprising, and a relatively minor issue in the grand scheme of things. We can no longer access our own lands, choose our own stoves, and our cars are designed by unelected bureaucrats who've never held a real job in their lives, but who control how we move about with an iron fist, all in the name of their religion. It will get much, much worse.

We've been "educated" by government owned union operated schools for many decades, and our "4th estate" is simply an extraordinarily effective sales force for that same government. Both have taught us to despise our own freedom, and when we do that, we elect those who are only too happy to relieve us of it. Our grandchildren will long for the freedom we enthusiastically relinquished.

As I've mentioned before, I'm glad I'm old, and got to live when I did. Being young right now would suck.

Mark

 

[jps8460]

I like this thread, it’s spicy.

 

[Hulk]

The Bureau of Land Management Kicks A Hornet's Nest In Moab - CleanTechnica

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! The Bureau of Land Management’s office in Moab, Utah, recently announced that it’s closing a significant portion of the trails in the area. This, of course, is a decision sure to enrage the off-road...

cleantechnica.com

 

[MountainGoat]

The holes in your knowledge will be filled by reading and understanding @ScaldedDog Mark's post number 27 above.

 

[Cruisertrash]

The holes in your knowledge will be filled by reading and understanding @ScaldedDog Mark's post number 27 above.

I read it. It’s an opinion and that’s fine - we’re on an online message board having a discussion. I’m looking for facts though.

Receipts of donors, studies of trail use on public land, SxS sales over time, etc. I haven’t dug up anything definitive yet so I was reaching out to see if perhaps somebody had already come across anything like that.

 

[J1000]

I got a couple questions...

How and why do organizations like SUWA have greater funding and better resources (like legal staff) than organizations like BRC? 2021 is the most recent year available for BRC's 990 financial disclosure so I matched that with SUWA's 2021 990: BRC had roughly $750K of income and SUWA had just shy of $9M. Quite a difference. BRC received about $40k in "government grants" while SUWA received $600k. Disclosure of individual donations is not mandatory on a 990, so the granular data is obscured. I work for a non-profit that has to file a 990 and it's the same for us.

I can only find limited data, but it seems that OHV trail use (road-going vehicles and UTVS/SxS, etc) has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years. From that assumption, how much of the activity by orgs like SUWA is simply a reaction to new and uneducated OHV users not using trails correctly? That can encompass everything from not following posted or non-posted speed limits on FS/BLM land, to going off-trail or creating new routes not on management plans or MVUMs, to leaving trash behind. The follow up question is what can "we" as OHV users/wheelers/people who use public lands in a motorized way do about it? Obviously orgs like Stay the Trail are engaged on this front, but they are small and can't be everywhere at once. As a single data point I will say that every time we go onto public lands, whether in a motorized way or not, we see somebody breaking the established rules or evidence thereof. Usually it's an active situation. In my opinion, most of the rules are basic and reasonable.

I'm trying to form and clarify my own 10000 foot view of this situation and these are questions I keep coming back to that feel like holes in my knowledge.

SUWA and the like (Greenpeace, Sierra Club, etc etc) have equated their goals with fighting "big oil" and climate change. So they are "the good guys" and if you are against what they stand for you are just a big meanie who hates the environment, don't ya know. They also have megadonors for all the same reasons. Don't know if you noticed, but climate change etc is a big talking point these days and cars are bad.

They have an army of useful idiots on the streets with clipboards getting signatures, walking around with signs, and otherwise active. 4x4 guys are busy enjoying the outdoors, doing their jobs, or just living life in general.

 

[nuclearlemon]

anti access orgs have donors with bucks. that's the biggest issue. and we spend money at places like rei and buy things like northface jackets and big agnes tents, and those profits go towards shutting us out.

 

[Cruisertrash]

@J1000 @nuclearlemon

Ok, like I said above I’m asking who these big donors are and where there’s a record or evidence of that.

 

[J1000]

@J1000 @nuclearlemon

Ok, like I said above I’m asking who these big donors are and where there’s a record or evidence of that.

SUWA says 80% of their funds come from members, so people with clipboards on the street signing people up.

1% for the Planet - Patagonia

Patagonia pledges 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. We've awarded over $140 million in cash and in-kind donations.

www.patagonia.com

https://www.rei.com/newsroom/article/rei-cooperative-action-fund-invests-4-million-in-nonprofits-working-to-create-a-more-equitable-outdoors

Business Members

SUWA’s Business Membership Program is a great way for your company or small business to support the protection of Utah’s redrock country. If you own a business and care deeply […]

suwa.org

Finances

Since our early days as a small, locally-based advocacy group, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has remained a lean, issues-focused organization with low overhead costs and a commitment to on-the-ground wilderness […]

suwa.org

https://www.thenorthface.com/en-us/about-us/outdoor-exploration/about-the-explore-fund

Also SUWA is celebrating their 40th anniversary so UTVs have little to nothing to do with it.

 

[Hulk]

Here's the complete list that REI donates to. SUWA is not on the list.

Grantee Community

The REI Cooperative Action Fund is a community-driven nonprofit that supports organizations creating a more equitable outdoors.

www.reifund.org

 

[J1000]

None of it happens in a vacuum, all of these environmentalist groups are working together in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Hulk]

The North Face isn't donating to SUWA either. Here is their current list:

• Adaptive Climbing Group
• Black Girls Trekkin
• Black Outside
• Blackpackers
• Brown Folks Fishing
• City Kids Wilderness Project
• Climbers of Color
• Disabled Hikers
• Diving With a Purpose
• Greening Youth Foundation
• Hike Clerb
• The Hood Hikers
• Justice Outside
• LandPaths
• Latino Outdoors
• Memphis Rox
• Native Women Running
• Native Women’s Wilderness
• Outdoor Afro
• Outdoor Asian
• Queer Nature
• Rezduro
• Soul Trak

 

[Cruisertrash]

SUWA says 90% of their funds come from members, so people with clipboards on the street signing people up.

1% for the Planet - Patagonia

Patagonia pledges 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. We've awarded over $140 million in cash and in-kind donations.

www.patagonia.com

https://www.rei.com/newsroom/article/rei-cooperative-action-fund-invests-4-million-in-nonprofits-working-to-create-a-more-equitable-outdoors

Business Members

SUWA’s Business Membership Program is a great way for your company or small business to support the protection of Utah’s redrock country. If you own a business and care deeply […]

suwa.org

Finances

Since our early days as a small, locally-based advocacy group, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has remained a lean, issues-focused organization with low overhead costs and a commitment to on-the-ground wilderness […]

suwa.org

https://www.thenorthface.com/en-us/about-us/outdoor-exploration/about-the-explore-fund

Also SUWA is celebrating their 40th anniversary so UTVs have little to nothing to do with it.

I did find the finances page on SUWAs website and read through the 990, but missed that they’ve been around 40 years. That’s interesting. I could be barking up the wrong tree with exploring a possible uptick in SxS and road-legal vehicles trail use, but an org’s mission and action can morph over time as well.

To be clear I’m in no way condoning or supporting what the BLM chose on this. Karen and I were out in that area last year, near the start of 10 Mile Canyon, Cow Canyon, etc, and generally romping around on the plethora of [legal] trails west and northwest of Moab, between the highway and the Green River. We saw one other vehicle in 6 hours. We saw no evidence of illegal trails or tracks, we didn’t even see any trash! It was pretty refreshing versus what we typically see here in Colorado. It seemed like responsible users had come before us and that the area was well managed. To lose that is sad.

 

[Hulk]

Doesn't look like Big Agnes is donating to SUWA either.

Partnerships | Big Agnes

Giving to and actively supporting causes we believe in is a year-round initiative at Big Agnes. We realize our social impact is greater than just the gear we manufacture so we partner with organizations that are looking at the bigger picture in conservation, sustainability, and equality both...

www.bigagnes.com