1. Donate to Utah Shared Access Alliance

USA-ALL is the legal defense team that fights the courtroom battles with environmental archivists to keep our roads and trails open.

Please consider making a donation to the USA-all to assist in this great effort.  Unlike our adversaries we are just everyday people with no endless resource of donations.  Only when everyone participates will we be successful in fighting off those who have so little respect for the people who live and play here.  Please make your donation today.

To find out more about USA-All please click on this link.

You may make your donations directly to that organization and therefore no funds are lost in the administration and transfer.

Please help us keep our roads and trails open by joining and donating to USA-All.
 

2. Let people know when trails are closed.

Take pictures of the closed roads.  Submit information on the closed roads to this web site and we'll publish them so that others won't go there, and also to demonstrate that closures are happening without all the required public approvals.

3. Participate in the Forest Management Plan comment process.

You can share your opinions before the final decisions are made.  The more people who express opinions in favor of motorized use of the national forests and BLM lands, the greater our opportunities will be of keeping these lands open for use.  You can write an e-mail AND attend the public comment session October 16th at Skyline High School from 5-8 PM.  The more specifics you offer the greater chance we will receive what we want.  Tell of specific places that you would like to have open for motorized use.  This opportunity has now passed, but it never hurts to let the public land managers know how you feel about keeping trails open.

4. Write Letters to the editor of your local papers.
Let people know the consequences of the potential for closed roads and trails.  You are entitled to your opinion on this matter, go ahead and express it for all to hear.

5. Write/Call/Fax your state and federal representatives and senators.
You can't expect even the finest politician to represent your views if you have never made them known to them.

6. Join or create an ATV or OHV club.
Unfortunately, power is only recognized when it comes in the loudest voices.  As much as individual effort is valuable, the true influence is wielded when people join efforts in making their voices heard.

You can do this by joining or creating your own ATV or OHV club.  You may already be a member of a club and you don't know it.  These are the people you go riding with.  Just give yourselves a name and find out through the state of Utah how to become recognized as a club.

Government ($$$) grants are available for organizations to help create trails, bridges, and signs, even internet education sites, such as this.  You must do this as an organization, not as an individual to get the money.  Information is available on how to do this at the State of Utah Outdoor recreation web site.
 

7. Invite and encourage those you know who have OHV's to become trained and participating members of our community of interest.

One of the biggest problems facing our sport is the fact that the greater percentage of our fellow enthusiasts has no real training and orientation to the safe practices and preservation techniques.  This brings a wave of wrath against us as a sporting community.  People do stupid things when they don't know any better.  Ours is the challenge to train and educate our fellow sportsmen about the safe and wise use of our machines on public and private land.  Training is available through the ATV Safety Institute as well as the State of Utah.

You could also volunteer to train others.  Right now the State of Utah is in need of volunteer safety course trainers.  Call 1-800-OHV-RIDE to volunteer.
8. Participate in the Governor's Trail Initiative.
Governor Michael Leavitt has organized a committee to coordinate available trails throughout the State of Utah.  You can participate by taking a survey of what your recreational needs are.  This website will tell you more about it.

9. Visit the web sites of the public land archivist organizations

Learn what they would like to do with our public lands.  Just search for "SUWA" on your browser, they have links there to many other organizations who have similar archivist ideals.  Just be prepared to let your blood boil when you see the areas they would like to close to OHV use.

10. Convert an Archivist to a Shared Access Supporter

Many who support the "environmental" movement do so purely out of a healthy social conscience.  This is not bad.  After all, who would not be in favor or protecting our beautiful surroundings?  In fact, we are all in favor of that, there is no question about that.  When we happen upon someone who expresses support for the archival movements, let us take the opportunity to chat with them, one on one.  We will quickly discover that many who have popularly joined their allegiance to these "green" causes have done so in great ignorance of the implications of such issues.   I have been happy to share information with others about the affects of "saving" our canyons, forests and deserts, upon the people who live here.  To my great pleasure I have discovered that MOST people who hear the other side of the story are dissuaded from their former misplaced allegiance.

• Few if any realize that creating wilderness means that one must first be "permitted" to access these areas, and that such access must be limited to groups of less than one dozen people.  This would eliminate a great many, if not most, Utah families from use of the forest.
• Few if any realize that roadless means the physical destruction of existing roads, not simply allowing the weeds to grow over them.
• They simply don't understand that even emergency vehicles are not permitted in wilderness to save a life, without special permission that must be obtained in instance with each vehicle.
• Sadly the loss of human life is not enough of a threat to permit such access when Wilderness is designated.
• Few if any realize that it is the restriction of motorized vehicles to limited areas that cause the greatest use and popularity of those areas.
• If a more natural distribution of motorized use areas were to occur, there would in fact be less "impact" to deal with.
• Only rarely is it known that militant environmentalists will seek to set traps of danger and destruction for motorized users of public lands.  This includes cutting trees into trails, placing nails and tire damaging objects in trails, stringing wires, including barbed wires across trails where OHV's frequent.  How can flagrant disregard for human life and property be a valid means of supporting ones cause?  This is the same terrorist mentality that left the World Trade Center in rubble.
• Those who believe that solitude cannot be obtained if they are aware of the presence of any other living being in the forest are simply attempting to live in a reality that does not exist on this planet.
• Forests are filled with the noises of birds, flies, jets, helicopters, motorcycles, ATV's, horses as well as the wind in the trees.  There are presently more than 280 Million Americans.  If they choose to go to the public lands and forests at the same time, it is their right to do so.  Our constitution does not guarantee us "solitude", only the pursuit of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
• A person who wishes to restrict the use of motorized vehicles is perfectly able to do so on property that they own personally, but this does not and should not apply to "Publicly Owned land."
• Recreational Fatigue, as the archivists call it, does not apply to "mother earth" as they have implied.  Mother earth may show signs of use, but she also shows sign of wind, rain, fire, hail and all other natural occurring events.  Man and machines are also "naturally occurring events".  After all, we are Gods creations also.  Keep in mind that we are here on earth to subdue it and use it for our best advantage.

When these points are understood, most will find a new allegiance with those who support a shared access approach to management of our public lands.

Sadly, there are those who are militant to their cause and will go to any extreme to promote it.  It is not likely that anyone will convert such misguided souls.  Nevertheless, it is worth the effort to test their resolve by asking them to explain their position so that you can understand and appreciate, but not necessarily support, a new point of view.