I have heard some blurbs of info here and there but I dont have a clear idea of where the ASA stands in perspective to the drags. I have heard they want to support the BLM in closing them. Am I mislead or on the right track here?

Aaron

If you don't get an answer here you can possibly get one HERE

I'm not answering for the ASA... but I do want to clarify something from my perspective.

The BLM has made it clear, from bottom to top, that they do not want to close the drags.

And the ASA has also stated they do not want to close the drags.

The only concern I have seen consistently aired is that by applying focused pressure to make the drags "safe," the BLM will be backed into a corner and will have to close them and there are some in the duning community that do not support that tight focus.

Vicki

Pretty much what Vicki said. ASA has published info in their newsletters encouraging 'safe' practices around the drags (one-way traffic flow, 50' buffer zone between racing vehicles and spectators), you'll never get anyone to say their official position is to support closure. The people making the closure accusations are the ones that feel any attention pointing out a fault to duning such as danger is a negative thing.

Speaking for myself, that's not my concern at all.

Man oh man, has the message ever been lost in translation... I blame myself for not making it clearer.

Pointing out danger at the dunes is part of educating. If we do not educate ourselves, we will become extinct.

Safety at the drags is also not the issue... I have not heard one person (including myself) say that safety at the drags does not need to be addressed.

What I have been trying to get across, and what, as far as I can tell, has been the concern of others, is that the safety at the drags should not receive more attention than any other safety concern at Glamis.

There is a very real fear that if constant pressure is applied to the BLM (pressure that reached DC level), the only response the BLM will be left with is eliminating the drags.

I don't much care for the drags, personally, and I rarely go and never stay long when I do. But I do not support forcing them closed, either.

And I do get concerned that a concentrated effort on safety at the sand drags, which is not the most "dangerous" area of Glamis will take manpower from other areas that could surely use the attention.

PSD -- do you understand what I am trying to say?

Vicki

OK thanks for the clarification. I for one love to sit at the drags for a couple minutes and enjoy the show. Then I scurry off and enjoy the empty dunes for a couple hours. However I am not for closing anything without one hell of a good reason. The times I have been there it has been alittle scary with quads ripping by me at break neck speeds. But that is my fault for getting so damn close.

I hear you, Vicki. I think what I was trying to express was that the standard attitude of the ASA members I've heard defending their agressive stance on the drags goes something along the lines of "The recklessness of the drags is bad for the sport because it can and has been publicized and used against us by the greenies trying to define us as lawless and negligent." That response to me, while expressing a valid concern, seems to go right to the heart: the drags' simple existence. It doesn't however, state that directly...maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Just to clarify my own position, I'm entertained by the drags for 20-30 minutes every 3-4 dune trips, usually we just go to show a noob what it's like. I don't like them personally, but I think the opportunity to have them should be there, because obviously lots of people get a kick out of them...

Ah. Sorry... it was your message I missed.

And I have to agree... Public Relations is the justification seen and heard most often. Nothing to do with statistics showing they are more of a safety concern than anywhere else, nothing showing they are a conservation nightmare. Just a very tight focus.

I guess it's all a matter of priorities.

Vicki

This thread started off great, a pointed and direct question posed here at GD.com for those that wouldn't visit the ASA site and thus wouldn't have the answer should it arrive.
Excellent job Vicki, you have asked the question many are concerned with as well as myself, I DO enjoy the drags both from the sideline and down the middle and would hate to see it go away. I can only assume the ASA is bringing the issue to BLM because of a concern that the BLM will get fed up the situation and knee-jerk into closures of the activities. Now of course if the BLM has NO agenda regarding the drags this could be bad for the issue as opined by many on the boards.

And Pastor.........Your post really seems to be threadjacking but what do I know.

It is my view the BLM does not want to close them .

And the ASA does not want them closed