CodePoet said:
Ok fine...then shut it down to hikers, bikers, and horses as well. They polute, leave trash, disregard posted trails etc. and can cause more damage than a 35" tire.
Close them all to protect them! right?
I put in well over a hundred miles a year on mountain trails often closer to 200 miles on my poor feet and boots.
I wander from highly used forest service trails to forgotten fishermans/miners/possible game trails.
You are right when you say that hikers and campers can make a hell of a mess. It is unfortunate and disgusting. However it's not as bad as you would expect, because for every fool their is one who will clean up their mess like me. Realistically a backpacker can't make that big of mess anyway unless he is the hulk and can actually hike with a hundred pound pack.
A couple years back I bought the Explorer to help me explore some of those roads the VW Golf broke breaks, CV's, and finally the front crossmember on. I have explored numerous areas such as these, and occasionally I have to fill my truck up with some ***** trash. At every possible obstacle or mud hole along the way the earth and vegetation is torn to shreds, the hillsides scared permanently and rapidly eroding because of some dip **** thinking he's got him a "tough truck".
As I built the Ex I had to try it out in ORV areas for testing. I was completely and utterly appaled.
My first trip to Tahuya.....The land has been completely raped by logging. Now they have a ORV park through it. It was sad to see a woodland environment utterly destoyed by 35" tires and chainsaws..........Overall though the park was relatively clean thanks to the Quadrapaws?.
Reiter Pit is a place I have wandered a couple of times. Here we see once again a woodland environment raped and scarred by 35". The other element to reiter though is what will eventually get it closed. As you drive through there are hundreds of bypasses to stuff willy nilly, and throughout it all is trash, and more trash, and more, and an occasional carcass of a car or rig........
This summer Albino 94 LTD and I spent a fair amount of time on the trails around the salmon le sac area. This is obsolutely gorgeous country!!!!!! All of the trails are mostly old mining accesses and provide easy to moderate wheeling popportunities with absolutely gorgeous country. This area is well managed by the ranger district, and most respect it......however there are many virgin alpine meadows with 100-200 year old heather groves that have been torn to shreds by a jack ass in his 4x4. Hillsides that have been ripped to pieces by people seeing if they can make it to the top only to slide down again. I myself went up with people that I met through the internet. I was disgusted! Is it fun to tear things up just because no one has gone that way before?. Just because their is a bit of mud should a meadow that only sees the sun 1 or two months out of the year be torn up so you can have a muddy trophy to drive back into town? Just because the lake is dry for the first time in years must we go race around in the moist bed or race down the remaining streams. Obviously I left early.......
Back to the point in no way could a hundred pair of boots used recklessly do the amount of damage that 4 35" tires could when used recklessly. Now obviously I enjoy engaging my transfer case, though what I really enjoy is seeing what is around the next bend. The ride in, challenging or easy, is just the ride. I do not seek challenges for my X unless testing I merely seek beauty and solitude.
For all of you that I know through this site, for the most part you see this the way I do, though you also seek the challenbge of the trail. The difference between those seeking the challenge of the trail merely rest on their level of responsibility. To run the Rubicon must be amazing both for the sights and the challenges, if used respectfully it will remain for many years to enjoy. This is true of our own neighborhood wilderness as well, and I know most of you treasure it as well.
However the point is this.
No matter how we treasure it. Others not so responsible are going to desecrate it in the name of "fun" and then we get to lose our responsible access as well........
Why is it always those few who cause the issue. They could just be executed and we could have free access, but that is just to bloody, so access has to be restricted/regulated for everyone.