Re: ATTN 4x4 DRIVERS-BEACH ACCESS THREATENED!!

From: fawcett@uism.bu.edu
Date: Sat Feb 26 2000 - 19:04:52 EST


Thanks for the post! I'll be putting my letter in the mail tomorrow.
Tom

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: DML: ATTN 4x4 DRIVERS-BEACH ACCESS THREATENED!!
Author: <dakota-truck@buffnet.net> at smtpout
Date: 2/26/00 2:58 PM

Ok everybody, I need your help in a letter-writing campaign. The eco-nazis
are trying to shut down 4x4 (OHV) access to all beaches run by the National
Park Service by using FALSE statistics...DON"T LET THEM TAKE AWAY OUR
ACCESS!! PRINT OUT the form letter at the end of this message and mail it to
the address given...you may not live near a beach but if they shut down one
part of National Park access they will certainly try to shut down more!! TWO
MINUTES is all it takes! YOU CAN make a difference!

____________________
Dave Kilian -- Clayton, NC
'96 Dakota CC Sport 4x4 3.9L 5-spd
4" TM susp. lift, 2" Body lift, 33" BFG MT's etc...

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Boucher <toynrnd@home.com
To: Chris at home <toynrnd@home.com
Date: Friday, February 25, 2000 4:54 PM
Subject: beach access alert

Hi everyone. The following alert and form letter is particularly important
to the Virginia Four Wheel Drive Association. The alert involves a petition
by environmental groups to the National Park Service to place a complete ban
on OHV use, including OHV use on national seashores, such as Cape Hatteras.

Please, please do all you can to get your club members to send this form
letter to the director of the NPS. Also, you should send a copy of the same
form letter to the NPS office in Hatteras at the following address:

Superintendent
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Route 1, Box 675
Manteo, NC 27954

For all Tidewater Fourwheeler's and VLCA members: I will be bringing a copy
of the form letter addressed to the Cape Hatteras office to the meetings in
March so you only need to the send the one to the NPS director.

Thanks for all your help.

Carla

----- Original Message -----
From: C Boucher <ccboucher@home.com
To: C Boucher <ccboucher@home.com
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 4:10 PM
Subject: United alert 1 of 1

 NOTE: Some of you may never have been four wheeling on National Park
Service managed lands. Areas which are jeopardized by this threat are not
only traditional four wheel drive roads and routes, but the beaches that our
friends and members who sportfish on NPS seashores use. We need everyone's
help. Please send this form letter if you would!

 MEMO TO: United Four Wheel Drive Associations
 FROM: Carla Boucher
 RE: Legislative Advocate Special Report (3-00)
 DATE: February 25, 2000

 As always, this form letter is available at
www.wi4wda.org/carlaboucher.html

 WHAT: The Bluewater Network, along with 67 other environmental
groups,petitioned the National Park Service to completely ban OHV use in
National Parks. Information about the petition is available at the Bluewater
Network website at: http://www.earthisland.org/bw/ (click on "Bluewater
petitions Park Service to ban off-road
 vehicles" - prs.release and report).

 HOW IT EFFECTS UFWDA: The petition is full of inaccurate accusations to
entice the public into believing that OHV use is a major problem within the
National Park Service. However, statistics from the NPS show that OHV use
occurs on less than one-half of one percent of the total NPS lands.

 I have prepared a form letter to educate the NPS and the public regarding
the truth surrounding OHV use in National Parks. Please send this letter to
the Washington, D.C. Office as indicated on the form letter, but also please
send it to NPS offices in your
 area.

 As always, please send the letter by U.S. Post if possible rather than via
e-mail. I believe that we make more of an impact with letters than with
e-mail.

 WHO TO WRITE:
 Robert Stanton, Director
 National Park Service
 1849 C Street NW
 Washington, DC 20240
 e-mail: Bob_Stanton@nps.gov

PRINT THE FOLLOWING (copy and paste to Word editor if necessary)AND MAIL TO
THIS ADDRESS:
____________________________________________________________________

Robert Stanton, Director
National Park Service
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240

February 22, 2000

Dear Mr. Stanton,

The National Park Service received a petition by Bluewater Network and other
environmental organizations calling for a complete ban to OHV use on National
Park Service units. I am writing to request that the National Park Service
continue to permit OHV use within our park units.

- There are 378 NPS units (see www.nps.gov/legacy/index.htm and click on
parks). 59 units have OHV use on them, which equals 16% of NPS units. The
Bluewater petition stated, "ORVs are being used in more than half of all
possible park units, or a total of 59 units (55%)". They use this statistic
to try to make you and the public believe that OHV use is at a some critical
level when in fact, use occurs on only 16% of NPS units, not 55% as Bluewater
would have you believe.

- There are 378 NPS units. 38 units equals 10% of NPS units. The
Bluewater petition stated, "38 parks (35%) acknowledge serious damage to
resources..". They use this statistic to try to make you believe that OHV
use is at a critical level, when in fact serious damage is alleged to occur
on 10% of NPS units, not 35% as
Bluewater would have you believe.

- The Bluewater petition stated, "Over 30,434 miles of four-wheel drive
routes are legally open to off-road vehicles". This statement is intended to
lead you to believe that OHV use occurs at an alarming level. In fact, 30,434
miles of four-wheel drive routes (approximately 100 feet wide) are equal to,
or comprise 368,860 acres of land. The NPS total acreage equals 80.7 million
acres. Therefore, roads comprise less than one-half of one percent of the
total NPS acreage (0.46%).

It may appear that Bluewater Network and its environmentalists partners are
concerned with park ecology, however they are addressing use on less than
one-half of one percent of all
our National Parks and are doing nothing to educate users on proper land use
techniques. I could not find one instance on Bluewater Network's website
(www.earthisland.org/bw/) where they educated the public on proper practices
when visiting our National Parks. No
link to TreadLightly!, no information on how to "pack it in, pack it
out", no Keep America Beautiful education. This lack of educational
information should lead you to question their sincerity in protecting
ecological sustainability of our National Parks. This, coupled with their
failure to provide accurate statistical information, should lead you to
question the validity of anything Bluewater Network publishes, including
their claims of OHV damage.

Although the alleged problem with OHV use occurs on a very, very small
percentage of NPS units, I am interested in working cooperatively with the
National Park Service to find solutions to site-specific problems.

Please continue to permit OHV use on National Park Service units. I look
forward to hearing from you in the coming weeks regarding this important
issue and your response to the inaccuracies of the Bluewater Network petition.

Sincerely,



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