Posted on 11/05/2023 5:44:10 PM PST by george76
Our freedom to roam is under assault from a plan to close everything off and make us ask permission before we enjoy it..
There is a plan underway to close the great open spaces of the American West to you, me, our children, and our children’s children. The federal government — which owns most of this land — is determined to move from a “use and let use” system of accessing Western public lands to a permission-based system that will mean reservations, permits, and closures.
Just last month, the Bureau of Land Management issued a final decision to close 317 miles of historic and popular off-road trails near Moab, Utah. For decades, these trails — which are mostly old uranium mining roads — have been enjoyed by everyone from Jeep owners to dirt bike riders to base jumpers looking for a place to land. They have evocative names like Gemini Bridges, Mashed Potatoes, and Dead Cow Trail. They appear in guidebooks. Some of them are even featured in the hugely popular Easter Jeep Safari.
The plan is already being implemented, and it threatens the freedom enjoyed by tens of millions of Americans who hike, camp, Jeep, mountain bike, ATV, fish, swim, canoe, kayak, trail run, overland, base jump, raft, and backpack the millions of acres of free space that make “the West” the West.
I have enjoyed our public lands my entire life. There is nothing like a sip of coffee as you watch the first rays of dawn begin to break on the red rocks. You don’t realize how tough your kids are until they shrug off a chilly 15-degree night in a sleeping bag. And you don’t really appreciate how unfathomably vast the West is until you spend three days exploring the backcountry without seeing another human soul.
All of these experiences — and many others — take place on public lands. There is no entrance fee. There is no permit required. You just lace up your hiking boots, or jump in your pickup, or hop on your mountain bike, and you go. Simple as that. So long you don’t litter or destroy or cause a ruckus, you are left to your own devices. It is something that unites Americans of every class, creed, color, and political persuasion.
That feeling of expansive freedom speaks to everyone who steps outside to enjoy and explore America’s public lands. It feels like our birthright to enjoy them and, for hundreds of years now, it has been just that.
But now, that freedom to roam is under assault from a plan to close everything off and make you ask permission before you enjoy it. If nothing is done to stop it, one of the last, great, unifying forces in American public and private life will be fundamentally transformed and left unrecognizable before most people realize what is happening.
Zooming out, the aggressive rate of federal trail closures is part of the larger “30×30” plan that President Joe Biden announced shortly after taking office. The alleged intention is to “conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters and 30% of U.S. ocean areas by 2030.”
There is no evidence that users of these trails have been damaging them. Indeed, people cherish these lands. Go drive the trails and you will rarely encounter even a single piece of trash. That is why they have been in use for decades with no appreciable degradation.
Nevertheless, the federal government is now implementing a plan to close hundreds of miles of cherished trails. And that is why the BlueRibbon Coalition — the nation’s premier group dedicated to preserving motorized access to wilderness — has joined with the Colorado Offroad Trail Defenders to challenge the plan in court. They are represented by my organization, the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
What the Biden administration’s plan really means is an aggressive plan to close those lands to use by the public. Well, not to the entire public — crunchy backpackers and hikers are still beloved by the left. But the executive decision will limit access for the “wrong” kind of outdoorsy people — people who drive Jeeps and Toyotas and ride ATVs and dirt bikes, and who look like they might be having a good time without suffering under a heavy backpack.
This seems to be a great paradox to those who do not understand why people love overlanding, dispersed camping, dirt biking, ATV riding, and off-roading, but it is no mystery to those of us who actually engage in these activities. We love the wilderness, too. We love taking our children, friends, and family out there and enjoying fresh air and magnificent scenery. If we come across someone else’s trash, we pick it up. If we see someone breaking the rules (by, say, driving off-trail), we reprimand them.
There are very, very few law enforcement personnel on these lands enforcing the rules. Instead, the motorized travel community self-enforces an ethic of respect for public lands. We teach it to our children. That is why these trails remain so attractive as a place to recreate.
The Moab closures are a bellwether case for protecting access to public lands. The closures represent a provocative challenge to an entire way of life for millions of people in the West. If the Biden administration can close these lands, it can close them anywhere. Americans have shown themselves to be responsible stewards of their public lands, and they deserve to be able to enjoy them — freely — for generations to come.
UN Agenda 21 , 2030 , Great Reset, ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
“I heard you were hoping to do something fun. Well ... you can’t.”
The Rulers want those lands for themselves.
His destruction will leave nothing untouched.
OH H—L NO!
If we get into a war with Iran (which I predict we will), oil prices will soar and people will not be able to afford the freedom of travel by car. The Greenies will declare victory by cutting fossil fuel emissions by tons.
We need a hard-nosed, nasty talking genius like President Trump to man the wheel again.
Now all of those places, especially around Moab, are swamped with Instagrammers, YouTubers, TikTokers, etc.
I took advantage of times when few people knew of the places my friends and I loved dearly to travel to. But those times are long past.
Reservations and permits might be the lesser of two evils.
And as far as reservations go, it now seems that there are apps which will automatically sign you up for reservations in a much more efficient and effective way than you could yourself. So if a reservation system is put in place, then you will need to do more than logon to your computer and start clicking buttons at the exact time that reservations open up. You will fail to get a reservation each and every time you do this.
The way these people are carrying on you’d think the public actually owned “public lands” or that the government was there for the benefit of the people rather that the people being there for the benefit of the government.
When the family gets all the way out to Wally World, watch out.
We will see Internal Passports before too long.
And eventually you will have to apply for permission to move.
Revised Statute (RS) 2477 was devised by the United States Congress in 1866 to govern roads, routes and rights-of-way in western states. RS 2477 placed all decisions regarding roads on public lands within the jurisdictions of counties and states.
Although the Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), repealed RS 2477, the language within the new act served to “grandfather” in RS 2477.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3342529/posts
Exceptions for migrants crossing to reach a better life.
As always, it’s “for the people” with these communists. Have to preserve the wilderness, “for the people”. Can’t let people use it now, because it has to be preserved for the “people” of the future.
No more mean tweets makes it all worthwhile…,,
Sherwood Forest. Another indication of our slide back into a feudal society. This is what the Nature Conservatory has been doing for years. They get rich people or corporations to fund their purchase of wilderness areas with the quid pro quo being that those individuals or the corporate leaders are allowed access to the land and often times have large area cut out from the tract for their private hunting and fishing use.
There is a push to Federalize the Buffalo National River in Arkansas so they can restrict access. This isn’t sitting too well with the locals at all as it is a source of income as well as recreation.
Let’s go, Brandon!
PING!
More evidence this government is not by the people or of the people.
Utah belongs to the living people who inhabit it, not some bureaucratic authority headquartered thousands of miles away. Is this reminiscent of the American colonies rejecting the authority of the British parliament across the Atlantic?
Ever hear of state’s rights?
Ever hear of a nation state?
Ever hear of sovereignty?
Remember how Trump failed to stop communist BLM Antifa riots because he had no power to send the National Guard into states without their permission? What about that?
USFS and their local government pals have been closing public lands and trails to benefit the deer and elk (they say) as packs of imported, not native, Canadian , huge wolves are set to be released this winter.
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