In the last 30 years, the amount of protected wilderness in the Golden State jumped from 2 million to 14 million acres, while off-roading, an activity in which drivers take their vehicles into areas where they can drive more adventurously, has become wildly popular there, leaving the remaining open space contested.
California's Imperial Sand Dunes, the largest mass of sand dunes in the state, are designated as a recreation area, but environmentalists consider the land a unique and fragile ecosystem that needs protection.
The reason the greenies want to protect this land is because on it grows the milk vetch. Also inhabiting this arid region is the desert tortoise.
This is the latest version in a battle that has been raging between environmentalists and
the recreation-seeking public for decades now. Every year more and more of our lands are closed down to public access for some evironmental reason or another. Once this land has been closed down, very rarely is it ever opened again to public use.Peope all enjoy the outdoors differently. Some like to crawl through the brush in search of obscure plants, others like to ride off-road vehicles. The problem arises when the environmentalists, in typical liberal fashion, refuse to respect the rights of people who think differently then themselves. Lobby groups like the Sierra Club often fight battles to have lands closed even though the majority of taxpayers would like to see the lands open to use. They use manipulative propaganda and obscure science to force lawmakers into closing lands against the wishes of their constituents. No politician wants to look like he or she doesn't care about the environment.
In my recent post about hunting, I noted how many different classifications of protected land there is, just in North Dakota. The laws governing these lands get more and more confusing every year
which in turn causes more and more citizens to just stay home.Off-road entusiasts and hunters are often painted as ignorant rednecks not capable of caring about the evrionment. While there are some bad apples among the ranks, for the most part these people do care a great deal about the lands they use. They're obviously passionate about their recreational activites, why would they want to destroy the lands where the perform that activity? In fact, many of them are even active in preserving it.
Many hunters belong to organizations like Ducks Unlimited or Pheasants Forever who are very active in protecting wildlife and lands. Many off-road enthusiasts form themselves into clubs which in turn participate in land reclamation projects along with many other eco-friendly tasks.
Its time these people stood up for their right to utilize land. While nobody wants to see plants or creatures endangered, neither should we be forced into giving up outdoors activities.