🚀 go-pugleaf

Eric Mankin (mankin@mizar.usc.edu) wrote:
: I don't know where he lives, but there's an off road vehicle area off
: highway 5 south of Gorman, you can go to the Guadalupe dunes, or to
: Ocatillo Wells. 

Are you saying that all of these places have been entirely destroyed by 
ORVs?  If so, what exactly do you mean by that?

: There are more. Sorry you don't have one on your
: doorstep: if this activity is really important to you, perhaps you
: should consider moving closer to one of these parks, or buy some 
: land and establish a private one.

As a matter of fact, there is one (and only one) private park for 
motorcycle use near me.  It is closely monitored by Marin County's 
various agencies and commissions that are concerned about the ecology and 
habitat values in the largely undeveloped two-thirds of the county where 
the park is situated.  Although many of the staff members leave no doubt 
that they dislike the park as a matter of principle, they have been 
unable to document any environmental damage that would warrant further 
restrictions or closing it.  In fact, they just forked over several tens 
of thousands of gas tax dollars that are earmarked for maintaining the 
trails in the park and mitigating damage to the surrounding environment.

Your presumption that riding motor vehicles off-road is something that I 
wish to do is entirely misplaced.  I don't own any such vehicles, and I 
don't have any desire to use them.

The point of my request was to focus attention on the cavalier attitude 
of the previous poster who was quite certain that there were ample 
opportunities for off-road motorists to do their thing.  That is the same 
sort of nonsense that anti-environmentalists spout off: there's plenty of 
wildland left, so go somewhere else and let us cut trees, mine minerals, 
dam streams, build roads, etc., here.  Sometimes it helps to inventory 
these imaginary resources instead of simply assuming that they exist in 
ample quantity.  

It helps, too, to be reminded that none of us have a right to run public
land as though it were our private property, ignoring the wishes of other
segments of the public.  If it's public, it needs to be managed with the
broad range of public interests in mind.  Cooperation, rather than
coercion, is the key to longterm protection of our varied interests. 

: But I'm disturbed by your attitude. You don't deny that ORV's are
: destructive to the desert. 

I don't believe I said that they were, either.

: You're saying that, because this 
: product (an ORV) exists and you have bought one, 

I'm quite certain that I never said any such thing, because it is 
patently false and does not reflect anything I believe to be true or 
relevant to this issue.  Why don't you just say what's on your mind 
instead of trying to twist what I have written into something that I 
never expressed at all?

: you have inherent right to go 
: destroy land that belongs to all of us, all for the sake of a momentary
: adrenaline rush/General Rommel fantasy. I can't help feeling this is
: selfish.

And I can't help but believe that you are projecting your own selfishness 
and narrow mindedness onto me.  Who the hell are you to tell other 
members of the public that your preservation and privacy issues are more 
important than their ways of enjoying the environment?  Why should they 
(or I) respect your wishes at all if you are unwilling to extend the same 
respect and understanding to others.

I am selfish.  I what the whole damn planet run my way, and I don't want 
some whiney, selfish, self-righteous twerp like you getting in my way 
when I want to enjoy _my_ public land.

I'm also respectful of the Golden Rule, and I know better than to expect 
to have my wishes honored, or even to be able to enjoy my life, if I cop 
a self-righteous attitude and try to force my selfish interests on 
others, especially when I want to act them out on _our_ public land.  I'm 
disturbed by your sharply contrasting attitude.  To be blunt, I think it 
is childish and rude and likely to draw strong opposition and disrespect 
for the very things you would like the public at large to respect and 
protect.

I am consoled by Ed Abbey's suggestion, however.  I'm on my way out the 
door to enjoy myself on some trails--something I do quite frequently.  
Rest in peace.