can someone PLEASE..

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
..tell me what the HELL is going on? i'm in full rant mode so beware...

i've been an outdoorsman my entire life. whether i was biking, fishing, hunting, jeeping, hiking, whatever. i love to be outside, and b/c of that, i've been pretty close to the pulse of a lot of different sports. in each one of these sports, access to "public" land has been THE major issue...trail closures, park closures, and now....FAWKING RIVER CLOSURES???? river closures. i can't believe it.

from where i'm sitting, it seems that we, as in people that actually want to use the outdoors for pleasure and recreation are under a full blown attack by those who, under the guise of "environmentalism", are looking to preserve it under glass. the only groups that seem to be immune to this are the horse people (gee, wonder how that happend <cough, cough MONEY>) and hikers.

we need to, as a group of "outdoor enthusiasts", band together and use the collective power that we have to turn the tide. raise awareness. fight the fawking rich and/or bored, self-righteous pricks that want to protect us from ourselves and keep us from our given right to use this land.

i, unfortunately am just one man with an idea. that idea, would be to unite groups like NORBA, the NRA, Trout Unlimited and last but not least, Tread Lightly! to fight the aristocratic hipocrites that want to hunt quail from THEIR four-wheeler in THEIR national, state and county parks.

i'm sorry, i'm usually not political at all, but i'm just really pist off. i don't hunt anymore b/c why? hunt where? sh!t, my father, who has been hunting his whole life has been cursed out and worse by people who casually commute to work by themselves in thier eight passanger SUVS. not to mention the fact that THERE IS NO FREAKING LAND LEFT IN NJ TO HUNT ON.

we're next folks, and not just mountain bikers, but all of us who love the outdoors. those of us who want to spend time with our families or friends and enjoy life. i don't know what the next steps are but i'll be damned if i'm going to sit around and let all that i love go away.

rant over.

jake
 

hardtale70

She's Gone From Suck to Blow
Shop Keep
Just remember, there is no law in the woods. Only in the parking lot you use to get there...........
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
hardtale70 said:
Just remember, there is no law in the woods. Only in the parking lot you use to get there...........

hardtale, i have no idea who you are, so please don't take this the wrong way, but....

....that attitude is reason #1 why we're all fcuked. really.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
bonefishjake said:
hardtale, i have no idea who you are, so please don't take this the wrong way, but....

....that attitude is reason #1 why we're all fcuked. really.

How do you figure? You play by the rules and they close parks anyway. The people who broke the rules in the first place are going to break the rules after.

Having said that, that one illegal trail in MD is freaking great. Loved it!
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
that's my point. even when people play by the rules trails and parks close. access is denied. what happens when some just don't play by the rules. take it into their own hands. i don't know...unshoe a horse or something.

i'm just as guilty as the next guy of riding where i'm not supposed to...fishing in a private lake...four wheeling illegally. i'm no saint by any stretch. but when i read in two completely different publications (4wd & Sport Utility and Fly Fisherman) within the same publication month talking about how access to land is vanishing, well, i get kinda worked up.

sorry, i know a serious post is usually not in my nature. but this is all happening in our back yard.
 

Shaggz

A strong 7
caveat: i have recently gotten involved with a group fellow mtbers to become orgainzed in maintaining trails at mahlon dickerson. Someone like mergs or bob w is more qualified than me to be up on this soap box, but lack of qualification has yet to stop me from pontificating:

jake: do you ever watch "my name is earl"? there was an episode several weeks ago, where earl tries to right the wrongs he did to a mega-stoner (played by Christian Slater). he eventually finds him in a commune living a drug-free lifestyle in harmony with the environemnt. Well anywaze - earl takes up residence at the commune and learns about pollution, fossil fuel emissions, etc, and wages an all out crusade to save the environment, which ultimately leads to a nervous breakdown. eventually, he comes around to the realization that if you just clean up your backyard, every little bit helps.

as you know, there are several of us in the process of adopting trails in mahlon dickerson (half of us don't even live in morris), with the ultimate goal of showing unity and credibilty, and becoming an organized and recognized group of trail stewards, simlar to the way Bob W does at in the mooch. We are working through several avenues to achieve this, and are getting guidance from groups such as jorba and the mctp.

Why did I waste precious bandwidth on a sitcom review? your concerns are very legitamite, and the consequences of the actions of oragnized user groups with high paid lobbyists can be devastating to our access (a.k.a, sierra club). if enough people begin to act locally rather than throw their hands up in the air, there will be a point when we reach critical mass, and have some leverage to influence these changes.

we are only in the infant stage of this, and have been told that our goals may take some time. however, the steps we are taking will help us gain traction in creating a more unified voice for the park. get involved - think globally, act locally.

ok - i just put down the joint. back to thread jacking and general mayhem.
 

Shaggz

A strong 7
normZurawski said:
Having said that, that one illegal trail in MD is freaking great. Loved it!

if you are referring to the one with the orange flags, most of that trail is on wma land, which makes it mostly not illegal.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Here's my dime Steve:

One of your goals is to stop the guy currently doing TM at MD from using all those branches as trail runners. They ultimately lead to trail erosion because they act as barriers to water drainage. This is one of those IMBA trail building guide no-nos.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Shaggz said:
if you are referring to the one with the orange flags, most of that trail is on wma land, which makes it mostly not illegal.

The overlook trail (heady? headly?), actually. We skipped it on our ride there but last week we rode it. I later learned that it's illegal, though they don't exactly mark it as such on the trail.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
i know all that. believe or not, beneath this finely tuned marketing mind is the heart of a tree hugger. you're talking to a guy who, in college, swore off outside magazine b/c i was too commercial. fawking outside magazine? i want to kick my 20 year old self in the head for being stupid. so, what did i read in all my earthy, crunchy, enviro-wisdom? earth. yep, earth magazine. know what's in there? neither do i. lots of stuff about carbon, plate tectonics, r and k strategists, fossil fuels, bla, bla, bla.

my point is i've been thinking globally and acting locally for a long time. granted, that local acting has been off the last three years with a pregnant wife and now two kids, but it'll come back around. i'm too pissed off for it not to. you know i'll do what i can with you guys...
 

Shaggz

A strong 7
normZurawski said:
Here's my dime Steve:

One of your goals is to stop the guy currently doing TM at MD from using all those branches as trail runners. They ultimately lead to trail erosion because they act as barriers to water drainage. This is one of those IMBA trail building guide no-nos.

i think what you are saying is that one of our collective goals should be to stop...

it is also important to note that we are talking about mahlon dickerson proper, and NOT the surrounding wmas.

we are not in a position to contemplate stopping anyone from doing anything. our goal is to maintain, and (eventually) build or have input into the design of sustainable trails for all user groups. the park itself is undermaintained, and if you search some previous threads, you will see reference to official maintenance being the parks department or contracted entities, dumping fresh gravel on the fire roads through out the park.

sean has more experience AND education in trail design and maintienance, and is probably better equipped to speak about proper building techniques. our official maintenance program will fall under the jurisdiction of the morris county the parks department adopt-a-trail program, and we have been offered support and education from jorba and i *think* gregg murray from mctc.
 

SpartaBard

Well-Known Member
bonefishjake said:
i know all that. believe or not, beneath this finely tuned marketing mind is the heart of a tree hugger. you're talking to a guy who, in college, swore off outside magazine b/c i was too commercial. fawking outside magazine? i want to kick my 20 year old self in the head for being stupid. so, what did i read in all my earthy, crunchy, enviro-wisdom? earth. yep, earth magazine. know what's in there? neither do i. lots of stuff about carbon, plate tectonics, r and k strategists, fossil fuels, bla, bla, bla.

my point is i've been thinking globally and acting locally for a long time. granted, that local acting has been off the last three years with a pregnant wife and now two kids, but it'll come back around. i'm too pissed off for it not to. you know i'll do what i can with you guys...

Why don't you do your local work at Split Rock... if you are not too afraid.
 

Shaggz

A strong 7
bonefishjake said:
believe or not, beneath this finely tuned marketing mind...

is that what you call it? whatever makes you feel good about yourself.... :p

i know it was a rant, and that you'll support how you can. one of the things that really got me involved in this is that meghan and i kept saying that we needed to give back to the community, especially NOW that we have children. outdoor access is very important to me, and quite frankly, my mountain biking expenses are cheaper than therapy, so it was a no-brainer for me to throw my hat into the tm arena.

sean has been the interface man with gregg and janet for our little group, and we are waiting to hear back from them.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Sparta Brad said:
Why don't you do your local work at Split Rock... if you are not too afraid.

actually, being that i'm in succasunna, MD is pretty local...as is KVSP, 'mooch and LM. that's why i told shaggzz i'd do whatever i could at MD with you guys.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Shaggz said:
is that what you call it? whatever makes you feel good about yourself.... :p

i know it was a rant, and that you'll support how you can. one of the things that really got me involved in this is that meghan and i kept saying that we needed to give back to the community, especially NOW that we have children. outdoor access is very important to me, and quite frankly, my mountain biking expenses are cheaper than therapy, so it was a no-brainer for me to throw my hat into the tm arena.

sean has been the interface man with gregg and janet for our little group, and we are waiting to hear back from them.

maybe that's why it really hit me differently this time. b/c of the girls. actually, i'm in a much better mood now. i just found out my little girl riley is finally getting her hearing aids.

i'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy i can't even begin to tell you!!!
 

heythorp

New Member
bonefishjake said:
maybe that's why it really hit me differently this time. b/c of the girls. actually, i'm in a much better mood now. i just found out my little girl riley is finally getting her hearing aids.

i'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy i can't even begin to tell you!!!


Wow! i did not know that was going on. Its hard to say I am glad she is getting them, but yes I am, should make life a lot easier for all involved. I am sorry you guys had to go through that. One of my nephews is deaf in one ear.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
dude, you wouldn't believe the story about her if i told you.

i'm deaf in one ear too, so i know the drill.
 

SpartaBard

Well-Known Member
bonefishjake said:
actually, being that i'm in succasunna, MD is pretty local...as is KVSP, 'mooch and LM. that's why i told shaggzz i'd do whatever i could at MD with you guys.

That's great, the more the merrier. I was just poking you about your fears of Split Rock. We will definitely need help once we get going. Anrothar is our unofficial leader.
 
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