Trail Ethics and Common Courtesy

[jeepndel]

BUILD YOUR CLUB A TRAIL ETHICS/COMMON COURTESY LIST AND HELP SAVE OUR SPORTS!

By Del Albright

One primary way to save our sports and keep our trails open is to always set a good example for others...especially for those who are not members of organized recreation and might not know the rules of the road. Your club or group should have a list of rules/ethics to play by. It's not a hard thing to build (the list) and it just takes education to get folks to follow along. Well, some folks might never get it and they just need to be busted by the law if needed.

But for most of us, given a simple set of common sense rules (trail ethics), we will follow them. If you don't want to build your own, use something like these samples. If you want to build your own and adapt it to your specific area, just sift and sort through these and pick the ones that make the most sense to your club.

Let's bring in the kids too! Don't expect public schools, for the most part, to teach your kid common sense or even common courtesy....let alone manners. It's just not happening in most places. Seems like a lot of schools would rather indoctrinate your kid into hugging a tree or loving liberalism. Be that as it may, include your kids in the ethics you use for your club/group. Teach them young.

A lot of what folks think about us comes from our "image." And image is perception sometimes....what people perceive; they believe. So be careful when it comes to our image. The minute we get lazy and don't stop for some trail trash, there will be someone who wants to blame that trash on us!

Here are some links to great Trail Ethics and some common courtesy stuff that will help you find the best list for you and your club/group.
Some Basic Training Rules for Life:
http://www.delalbright.com/Articles/basic_training.htm

More on common sense and courtesy:
http://www.delalbright.com/Articles/merging_traffic.htm

BRC Recreation Code of Ethics:
https://www.sharetrails.org/about/ethics

About the Image of Recreationists:
http://www.delalbright.com/articles/image.htm


Set the example; help save our sports and trails.


Del Albright

[Uncle Cracker]

i agree with all of the "BRC rec. rules.
simple, common sense rules

[Lake_v2]

Welcome Del, good advice above and I hope all members listen....

For the the people that havent met or know of Del he is the most dedicated trail advocate for offroaders through his efforts and inspiration many trails have been saved.

[Desert Dog]

Whats up Del!!!

Nice to see you over here!

How is Stacie doing


This club is different than any other club you are used to dealing with. We all have our opinions on what is appropriate and this club does donate to pressing land use issues (we just donated $1000 to save the hammers). But we don't get involved in politics, have almost no rules, and have no affiliation with ANY other clubs or groups - and it will stay that way. We have seen many organizations, like CORVA, support legislation (like the desert protection act) that we disagree with. We also hate the politics associated with Cal4wheel. So we support issues that directly effect us without sponsoring groups that do dumb shit.[b] [u]We also refuse to walk on eggshells everywhere we wheel for fear of pissing off the tree-huggers, which is a proven strategy of failure IMO[/u].[/b] We do what we are legally allowed to do and are not afraid to tell those who don't like it where they can put it. We worry more about having fun and doing our part to support litigation against the antis, than we do about fostering an "image" that appeases the land-grabbers. We are a slice of people from all walks of life - oilfield roughnecks to college professor - fast food worker to doctor - business owner to stay at home dad - senior citizen to 16 year old - gays and straights - stock XJs to comp buggies - millionaires and practically homeless.

This club is composed of many people who don't like organized clubs, people who were banished by other clubs, and people who just want to wheel and not deal with the political BS that most clubs and organizations bring. Many of us are loud, crazy, condescending, over-the-top, direct and unfiltered assholes that share the common bond of not giving a crap what other people think. This club hates being told what to do and how to do it. We truly are "Pirates" of the off-road community.

We respect the trails, clean up after ourselves (and others), Donate $ to land issues that concern us, and help other clubs maintain trails. But we do not have a list of "rules and regulations" for members to follow. If they do something stupid, we tell them to stop doing stupid shit. If they aren't breaking any laws, they are free Americans and can do as they wish. Sorry, but this has been this Club's opinion since a couple of guys sat around with some beers and decided to form it.

You have much respect from myself and most of the off-road community for what you do Del. Living in California, we are being bombarded by attacks on our freedoms from every angle (guns, speech, hunting, fishing, 4x4, raising your kids, doing business, taxation, private property rights). Its sometimes hard to concentrate hard on one issue when the whole constitution is crumbling around us. Thanks for staying focused on the issue of land use and fighting the good fight