The meeting will be this Saturday, 01-10-2004 at 10 am at:

Richard's ATV
Formerly Duner's ATV
355 S. Arizona Ave
Chandler AZ
480-786-4858

-Extreme Performance Sand Car will be there
-Latest info on the closures and dune safety
-Fun!

Will this get the closures lifted - Not


Sorry, I know all of you are tring thier best, just fustraiting, thought the closures would be lifted by now!

JUST SEAMS IT'S ALL

It might not get the closures lifted by having info meetings, but it sure helps to get more people involved and informed. The more people we have who are informed and the more people who use that information to contact the land managers and politicians, the better chances we have of getting the laws reformed so we do not have problems like this in the future.

Most of the closures will be coming down eventually, but it has to be done properly as the GAGs (green advocacy groups) have already said they would immediately file an injunction to close the entire dunes if the closures come down. If removing the closures is not done properly, which takes time, we can lose a lot more then what is already closed.

The ASA has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and biological studies. As a result, the ASA has filed a petition to delist the milkvetch. If, and when, the milkvetch is delisted, there would be no reason for the closures.

BUT, all legal battles with the governement takes TIME! The GAGs took several years to sue the government to win the closures, this did not happen overnight, but hardly any duners had heard about this before the closures were announced. This occurred BEFORE the ASA was formed and no one was there to stop it.

The ASA formed to INFORM duners in hopes to MOBILIZE duners to get together and fight against unreasonable restrictions, as we have learned that with no opposition to GAGs gives them the upper hand.

There are many other issues involved in the ISDRA that can cause restrictions and/or closures then environmental issues. The ASA, along with other groups, are working hard to cover all the issues and to prevent further restrictions and/or closures due to these other issues.

Or, we can just give up, let the GAGs win, stop supporting you favorite dune advocacy group (DAG) and sell your dune rides!

I'm not giving up!