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Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

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  • Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees


  • #2
    Re: Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

    In other words: All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.
    Cheap, slow, half-assed: Pick three

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    • #3
      Re: Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

      I agree that you have been way out of your territory attempting to thwart their plans of forest domination, and they would have quickly rebutted with that exact statement. It's awesome that it made enough of an impression upon you that you actually wrote an article about it later on. You had even identified it as a problem and even let it go, as you had no control over the situation.

      Everyday I see these kinds of problems. The kid in the store going ape sh#t, the dog taking a dump on the neighbors lawn, the guy who has no respect for anyone else and is a loud a$$hole on his cell phone using terrible language and it's what measures courage. You really have no control over these situations, but it's where you should stand up for exactly that you consider right. People are afraid to be confrontational when needed and society breeds us thay way. There needs to be a checks and balances system for everything. You had the opportunity to express the opinion of the other side and nothing more....it would have been the checks and balances, but most likely would have damaged the real reason you were there.

      As a person in charge of "leading" a town to the future the Chairman should be aware that there is 2 sides and would not make a decision until the other side is heard.....unfortunately these kinds of things happen all too often because the people within our niche community (Hot Rodders) are not usually interested in politics or government management. I am not gonna beat on ya, but maybe saying something should have happened. I agree that more Hot Rodders NEED to become more involved in their local legislation, or the tree huggin' loosers are gonna steal your freedoms while you sleep.

      Get out there and protect your little piece of America or you may need to move to another country to enjoy your freedoms.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

        Or worse yet. Here the BLM and Forest Service (or at least one of them), was allowed to close of thousands of acre's of hunting and four wheelin land with out the input of any of the local's here. It was all done in the federal offices in the State Capital (which happens to be across the state). The original intent of Wilderness land designations (which I find Bull to begin with) was any untouched land will remain so, but now they are closing off existing trails, some of which have roots back to horse trails 150 years ago.

        Just this last summer they closed off a great place to go sledding/tubing/skiing. Calling it the water basin for the spring that feeds the city, but I can tell you that there is no proven connection between that basin and our spring water. My work has spent millions mapping out the aquifers in the area, and the source of the spring is still yet to be determined.
        Escaped on a technicality.

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        • #5
          Re: Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

          That illustrates one of the reasons why motorsports enthusiasts should be organized and active in monitoring all levels of government. Zoning and land use restrictions are one of the greatest threats to motorsports and watersports.

          If the ATV riders and other sportsmen of that town had been organized, informed and vocal, perhaps the power-mad Town Forest Board would have to take notice.

          We may think that if the powers-that-be shut down the local dirt track that it doesn't affect drag racers. Or if they ban jet skis at the lake, it doesn't affect motorcyclists. Or if they padlock more off road trails it doesn't affect autocrossers. Or if they crack down on "inoperable junk cars" it doesn't hurt us because we've got big shops to work in. And maybe these actions don't directly affect your favorite Bangshifting pastime. But every time anti-motorsports politicians chip away at our rights and our freedoms, it creates another anti-motorsports precedent that makes it even easier to "crack down" in the future on liberties that DO directly affect us.


          As I wrote back in 2006:

          Although the case for automotive liberty is inherently much stronger than the argument in favor of tobacco use, the battle for public opinion can still be lost through neglect or inaction. If we lose the battle for it to . . . the Sierra Club-types, policies oriented towards killing both the new and vintage high-performance automobile hobbies can take hold.

          * * * *
          The time to get focused on stopping this insanity is NOW! Not ten or twenty years from now when we've all been branded anti-social outlaws, the Big 6 have been coerced to abandon us, and we're all sneaking around like smokers just to get an occasional "hit!"
          http://speedzzter.blogspot.com/2006/...siasts-be.html In other words, as our founding patriots believed "We must all stand together or we will hang separately."

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          • #6
            Re: Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

            Well, to sum it all up. It's taxation without representation. The sole reason that America is a free country, and our fathers died for it. Now we consistently do it to ourselves.

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            • #7
              Re: Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

              Originally posted by Wicked Chicken
              Well, to sum it all up. It's taxation without representation. The sole reason that America is a free country, and our fathers died for it. Now we consistently do it to ourselves.
              It took me a second to catch that but yeah, using fines to raise revenue is 100% taxation.

              I live in ohio (one of the broke states) who just upped every fee and fine in the state (including dog licenses) in order to keep all those fancy folks down at the capital gainfully employed and sitting in german cars. If I don't buy tags by my birthday it's a $20 fine now, regardless of wether I was putting a windshield in it or not that week. Fees for four wheeler tags also went WAY up. The tags for my 80 c10 now cost more than six months of insurance on the beast.

              In these economic times, with people being as alert as they are about every dollar, fees and fines that bypass the ballot are the only way some of these little 'burgs can soak us so that they don't all have to go get real jobs and worry about annoyances like "profit" or "due by" or even "qualifications."
              Cheap, slow, half-assed: Pick three

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

                The scary thing is that the vocal minority are gaining control of the country. Some actually believe that they are the ones who have the taste and they are here to ensure the rest of their world share their vision. Others act strictly out of prejudices and dislike for certain groups. I'm betting if you asked that lady in the town hall what she thought of ATV's and the people who ride them you'd get a controlled tirade of how such people and machines are scum that need to be stamped out.

                I've lived in larger cities in California the last 20 years so I've been out of the loop in the off road truck, bike, atv and such markets and the people whose hobbies include them. I didn't think that market was that big until I recently drove to Arizona on a three day weekend. Stopping in Quartzite, AZ really opened my eyes to the scale of that hobby. Both sides of the freeway were nothing but desert, but the desert was literally littered with white trailers and mobile homes as far as I could see in all directions. Quartzite must've increased in population ten fold that weekend. If you were to point out to a politician what I saw that evening, would he see an abomination destroying the environment, or would he see the thousands of dollars being spent in that tiny town? Dollars that would become tax revenue. As I said earlier of the lady at the town hall meeting; it would depend on his personal prejudices.

                One person may see that 100 acre forest and see a place to go and be one with nature. They would sit down on a downed tree to watch and listen to the wildlife. That would bring peace to their soul. Others would see that land of trees and they see a place that they can push the limit on some kind of powered machine. Flying by tall trees so fast they are just blurs and feeling the wind on their face caused by the speed of their movement is peaceful to their soul.

                Somewhere there has to be a middle ground. A place for both bambi lovers and machine riding speed junkies. If there is one thing that this country still has in plenty is land. Enough land for both.
                BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

                Resident Instigator

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                • #9
                  Re: Barnstormin': The Problem with Town Forest Committees

                  It's two problems at once.

                  The first is a fundamental lack of understanding of the concept of property at a constitutional level. What is public is just that. This applies to the people who enforce the laws, who are apt to not challenge things such as this simply because they do not understand how wrong it is. It also manifests itself at the Federal level, in the example of our National Parks and Forests, which are becoming increasingly more inaccessable as part of a group mindset led by...

                  Eco-elitists. They read "The Population Bomb" by Paul Ehrlich in school and buy in wholesale. They believe that the internal combustion engine was the MOST destructive device ever invented by man. Including the Nuclear bomb. They believe that people (and by extension their inventions) are the natural enemy of the planet and will ultimately be struck down by some global catastrophe that they will save themselves from with a little luck, and a lot of good karma earned by nominating themselves to be the stewards of the planet. They believe they know better, care more, and are uniquely qualified to make decisions on what is best for Mother Nature, and they believe that if you are not one of them, then you are part of the problem.

                  This did not start yesterday. It started decades ago, and has been going on that long. It took a long time for them to learn to organize and wield political clout, but they've figured it out in spades. They are loud. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in decibels. They are the woman at Brian's town committee, they are the eco-terrorists from Greenpeace who you see on TV, justifying any action in the name of mother earth, they are the wolves in sheeps clothing in mass media, newspaper editors, columnists, reporters, and when you take your family on summer vacation, they are the Park Rangers at Yellowstone or any of the other National treasures that we have who lobby to limit access, close roads that have existed for decades, and close off for future generations what we may have enjoyed as kids.

                  As hot rodders and car enthusiasts, we may well represent one of the most absolutely abhorrent and offensive subcultures on earth in their eyes. They see us as self indulgent, uneducated, unwashed filth that is beneath them and worthy only of their contempt. There is no possibility for reconcilliation or reasoning with these people, their zeal has all of the hallmarks of a religion, and all of the dogmatic rigidity of one as well.

                  You have to oppose these people, as loudly as they oppose you. In the same forums and arenas. In the editorials, at the town meetings. Wherever. They became emboldened by a lack of opposition. But they don't fight well. They don't like conflict. They shrink when you get in their faces. They go silent when YOU shout.

                  It's simple. If there is to be any future for motorsports at a personal level. If you want to own a hot rod or performance vehicle. An ATV. A boat. Any power toy; You have to learn who these people are, what they want to accomplish, and how to oppose them. California has been the canary in the coal mine on all of these things for years, and it keeps slipping away, little by little. SEMA has been the closest thing to a representative body for enthusiasts that there has been, but it seems their efforts have been tactical retreats as much as anything.

                  Be active personally. Or lose.

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