The following piece be deserving Slappy's Best A Da Month Award for the month of May. Slapptacious piece jhitesma, keep it up...

Posted by jhitesma—5-29-2003

You're right Vicki, I have been slacking lately

Too busy digesting things and trying to get my words in line to make any of my usual posts

My feeling is that we need to do what we can during the current protest period - but not because I think it will actually make any kind of difference. Go read Appendix A of the FEIS that came with the RAMP and it's more than clear that the BLM won't even bother to try and respond to OHVer comments, there were quite a few valid issues brought up by various organizations and individuals that were simply not responded to - while almost every comment from enviros was responded to. The slight silver lining to this is that the BLM treated their comments about the way I expected them to at least treat ours - with responses that basically say "We're going to do what we're going to do and you can suck eggs if you don't like it" I had expected that we would at least receieve equal treatment.

I don't know whether to be happy they didn't insult our inteligence with the kind of replies they did give or if I should be upset that they didn't even bother to reply to most of our comments.

I also think it's imperitive that the OHV groups start lining up the lawyers to stop this thing if the protest period goes as I expect it to. The RAMP as it currently stands is groundless and arbitrary not to mention outright contradictory in many ways. Their stated goals and their means of achieving them are completely incompatible. But I also think that needs to be somthing worked up in the back while we continue to "Play the game" instead of the saber rattling that we see coming from the CBD at this time. That's all part of playing the public which is something that I think everyone agrees is VERY important.

We've gotten the short end of the stick from the press and public at large due to a lot of unfounded accusations and outright lies over the past 20+ years. The tide is starting to turn and the pro-access folks are starting to get more fair treatment from the press and hopefully as a result the public. In that respect I say this editorial is a MAJOR step forward.

It's a sign that we're starting to attack the body of the hydra instead of flailing at the heads like we have been for 20+ years. The news about growing support for fixing the ESA, this kind of editorial and some of the other things I've heard about happening with our side talking to the press are all very good signs.

Delisting the PMV is a great step - but it's just fighting a head. There will always be another animal or plant thanks to the way the ESA is written and they bad science going into identifing species by some people. Getting the ESA fixed is going after the body and fixes the cause of the problem instead of just bandaging the symptom.

There's still a prevailing attitude by ohvers that we just need to win this fight and then we can relax. Sorry but that's never going to happen. This is a fight that will never end - espically if we keep fighting the symptoms of the problem instead of going after the source.

It's time to start exposing the CBD in public for the hucksters they are to cut off their main source of funding. It's time to get the ESA rewritten to reply on good science and stop the abuses it's currently creating.

And finally it's time to start building national support for getting the BLM out of recreational areas and bringing in an agency solely dedicated to supporting recreationalists. Let the BLM and FWS have their wilderness, that's what they're good at. And give us a new agency dedicated to promoting and managing recreation areas for recreational and not preservational use.

But even then - the fight would not be over. And that's something everyone needs to accept before more progress can be made. It sucks I know. But it's the truth and we need to dig our heads out of the sand and accept it once and for all.
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Jason Hitesman - N8INJ
YumaDuners Member

Woah, thanks Slappy. Still want to thank Vicki for making a joke about my long posts that inspired me to finally put my thoughts on the whole RAMP issue down

Just this week someone said to me that they hope the ASA can keep it's momentum up now that the fight is over. I can't believe that anyone still thinks the fight will EVER be over...and this was from someone heavily inovlved in fighting for OHVers since before the CBD even existed

As long as we continue to recreate they're going to continue to try and lock up our lands. The fight will never be over, and that is hard to accept...but until we all accept it we're just going to keep loosing again and again and again.....and I say it's time to put a stop to that!

An awesome post, and really not much longer than normal... :wink:


I do think you should make one minor editorial change before it goes into the archives...


[quote]I sucks I know. But it's the truth and we need to dig our heads out of the sand and accept it once and for all. [/quote]

R, Steve

:shock: :shock: :shock: Yeah, I'd like that one corrected before it's etched into the immortal McScrapbook!

I suck is spoken frequently around here. Great post. Peace

fixed