What's the big deal about the closures?

At Glamis there is a huge area, right in between the Gordons Well dunes, and the Glamis dunes known as The Central Closure. This is a very large area that is generally off of the beaten path. Not many duners go there. And certainly not often.
So, what's the big deal about closing it?
The enviros who got it closed in the first place are quick to point out that not many duners even go there. They don't seem to understand why we care about this area either! Why would closing this piece of sand bother the duners? NO ONE GOES THERE!
So, what's the big deal about closing it?
Well, I'm here to tell you what the big deal is, and I bet you've never even thought about some of these reasons!
For starters there's the whole EGO thing. (The enviros use that term) It's the "You cannot close any more land because ANY closure is a bad thing. We've had far too much land closed already. We closed the NORTH dunes to satisfy you in the 70's and we aren't about to give you any more."
A very valid reason, but unfortunantly all too often this argument is used against us. We are accused of being hard headed. That we don't care about anything other then ourselves. Let's face it, ego is a pretty lame reason to protest the protection of some perceived endangered species. Our argument rings hollow. It works fine within our own circles, but the world in general does not want to hear a bunch of ego driven lunatics ranting about their land.
So what other reasons are there? Are they valid?
The one that never gets mentioned but is one of my favorites is that The Central Closure is the off-roaders version of a nature hike. It is where the off-roader goes to get away from it all. You know, not all off-roaders are into rave-like parties and naked women and massive crowds. MANY of us like, at least partly, to find a quite, unmolested piece of sand to do our duning and communing with Mother Glamis. The Central Closure is ideal for this purpose. It is too far for the casual duner. Too unsafe for the uneducated duner. Too hard for the unexpierenced duner. It is OUR place to get away from the chaos which is Glamis. Our Nature preserve! At heart, most duners are nature lovers. Many of us go to Glamis as much for the natural beauty of Mother Glamis as the roaring engines of a turboed V-8. With the increase in popularity of our sport it has become harder and harder to find that nice, quiet spot... The Central Closure is that spot.
Another reason is that by closing the Central dunes the BLM have effectivly split the dune community in two. Divide and conquer. It is virtually impossible to get from the East side of Glamis into the south dunes or Patton Valley. They are doing the same thing by closing Compitition Hill. No longer can Wash Campers meet up with Gecko Campers and a convient place. We have been divided. Olds is MUCH tougher, especially on the Gecko campers.
Still another reason is the future. Most will agree that Glamis has become dangerously crowded recently. But, where are the people to go? I camp in the washes because I prefer things a bit quieter. Never before have I seen the massive crowds on Wash Road like I did last season. MANY Gecko campers have moved to the Washes because Gecko is just filling up! People are camping for MONTHS AT A TIME in order to ensure they have a camp spot. Things are getting crazy!!! So, obviously, people are gonna need to spread out. But where? Personally, I think the North dunes are the place to go. They are close to the road, it would be quite easy to put a road similar to Gecko road into there... (but It'll be a cold day in hell when that happens!)... So, where else? Well, SOUTH of course, into The Central Closure... But that will never happen as long as there is a closure or an Adaptive Management Area. We will effectivly be limited in the numbers of duners allowed at Glamis by the available camping.
There are other reasons. Those three are central to my thinking. It is IMPERATIVE that we get the closures removed. The future of our sport depends on it.

Thank you

PastorVor

Nice Sermon
I 'used' to go in this area a lot. Especially when we camp in the Ogilby area. 'That' (closed area) area streches all the way down to the top of Patton Hill which 'had' some prime bowling
This closure has had a huge impact on the folks that camp in this area.

Also we 'used' to do the ultimate dune ride from Ogilby to the Glamis Beach store.
Last ride of this kind was the day before the closures went into effect.


Open it our you will have 1000's of outlaws!

I don't believe that was a sermon as it was Gospel!

I personally miss the closed area,being a RoadRunner person we used that area alot! Soft dunes but there was some good runs down there.

Pastor,

Very well said, a beautiful post that has many great points that I have not heard before. I remember the days when we camped and duned on the north side, when there were less crowds, and more sand.

God how I miss those days

I still enjoy running the dunes as far back as we can go (without entering the closures) and stopping for a couple of refreshments, laying in the sand, enjoying Mother G's magical beauty, telling stories of years past to the newbies, or just re-living the real good ones. Talking about our current run, and the exciting action that happens on every one of them. I can do this for hours at a time, and the kids always find a way to enjoy, and entertain theirselves during these stops.

Watching the kids roll down the side of a huge dune, never tiring from the continuous long hike back up, just to do it again and again and again.

Listening to the kids laughter as they wrestle with each other.

Smile as the little ones dig tunnels, in the sand to play with their little toytrucks, and motorcyles.

Sometimes I think that my boys believe we go to the dunes because the adults enjoy riding and playing in the sand, although that is almost completely accurate, the real reason I think most of us do what we do in the dunes, is its for the kids. There is nothing I enjoy more than watching my boys play in Glamis, wether it be watching them ride, goofing around during one of our dune run breaks, or telling stories around the campfire at night about how they did a no-hander , or tried to do a heel clicker , or just talked about a run during the weekend.

My two sand rats cannot stop yakking on the way home either, drives my wife and I bonkers (I dreaded the ride home when I was a kid because I knew the weekend fun was over), but these two talk about every detail, reliving every second of the trip. When we pull into our neighborhood, they cant wait to jump out of the motorhome, and run to their buddys houses to tell them about all the excitement of the weeekend.

These are just some of the reasons I enjoy doing what all of us here on this site enjoy.

GLAMIS


Pastor, I'm sorry if it seems like I hijacked your thread, I think I know how angry you are over the closures, and I'm right there with you.
But I decided to post some positive memories, rather than let these idiot eviros get to me today.

In my opinion, I think that if and when the dunes ever do get re-opened it will make it safer for everyone, I know I will head for those big dunes, and so will a few other people with the bigger buggies, and in turn the masses will be spread out over a bigger area, making it less likely to have a collision with another duner. Imagine a long ride on a big weekend without seeing another buggy crossing your path.

What a great thread.

A strong dose of reality and Looney, thank you for reminding me of why we fight.

Vicki

Pastor, the focus has been the closure, or what Slap likes to call, "Them UGLY red closure stakes stinkin up Mother G", ever since Slap was born. Slap was conceived near one of them stakes , and he knew what his goal was in life, and that was to get them removed. Sometimes Slap gets lost in the journey, like bein kidnapped by a WhiteCoat, and then direction is lost. That place was taken away from Slap, and he misses it terribly...Mr. Red promised Slap dat he will rendezvous at da plane crash site, and Slap is holding him to it...That quiet place, my sanctuary. Beautimously said Pastor, McScrappbook bound.

Looney, you give Slap the encouragement to keep on fightin. Who is it for? The generations that right now hold that place as their magical dreamland; spoken beautifully by you. McScrappbook bound.

Two wonderful pieces about Mother Glamis, all right here in one thread. What a day it has been, oh what a day!

i say we all get together & ride straight through the closure!!!! they cant stop us all!!! that aughta learn'em!!!! lol

Amen Pastor. Amen. Peace