Any of y’all hiked in the mountains around Los Angeles? Never seen so much trash in my life. Graffiti on rocks 3 hours into the hills, too. Far more than I’ve ever seen in Colorado - although any trash is bad trash. All users are guilty of these things, but non-motorized advocacy orgs can effectively spin it to being a motorized user problem … and here we are. Whatever “agenda” they the non-motorized orgs have, the trash piece is easy ammunition for them - even if non-motorized users are just as guilty. The reality and the spin can be totally different, but if the spin is working then that’s a real problem no matter how much you can cry about hikers littering. I’m on the side of thinking we need to do better as motorized users (and when we’re out hiking too). This is preaching to the choir within this club, but we can take that approach and inform other users we meet on the trail. We can influence motorized orgs like BRC to play up our responsibility and “good user” aspects so that the motorized users are a little more bulletproof when defending against the type of argument that we trash the trails.
Fully agree with
@Burt88 that if the current approach isn’t working, then it needs changed.
An example, lots of wheeling clubs adopt trails - we go out to clean up, inform other users of proper etiquette, and generally set a good example. We don’t do it to brag, but maybe bragging about it starts to change the image of 4WD vehicles and their users. Maybe orgs like BRC can highlight the vast network of clubs and all the work they do collectively. Maybe BRC partners with some of the traditionally SUWA-friendly orgs like REI, etc. imagine you’re a hiker waiting in line to check out at REI who has a negative view of four wheelers, and you see a big display from BRC about all the good things clubs are doing to keep wild lands clean and how they are responsible users. Maybe it changes somebody’s mind. It could be one point among many in the quiver, maybe it pulls more donations. Who knows. Something has to be different though.
I know there’s some folks who think the “trashing the wilderness” is a non-issue, but it’s all over the marketing for SUWA and other non-motorized orgs. It’s a reality that it’s being used against motorized users and does need addressed from a public image perspective. Right now the onus is on us and the orgs that represent us to do something that works, and hopefully multiple things that work.