Hidden Gems trying to lock down more wilderness

[GnarShred]

I signed up for their email list a few months ago to keep tabs on their progress. Some of the stuff really makes me sick, but we need to have the same effort here as a community to protect the forests from their conservation. These hypocritical bastards are trying to restrict and remove existing access to the forests, the term 'conservation' being the key word. Of course this will impact all motorized users and has the potential to shut down our riding areas forever!

I think the mindset should be to promote 'preservation' of the existing forests, roadways and primitive roads, allowing all means of travel, including motorized and bike. These old mining grades and forest roads were designed for access and EVERYONE should be able to use them.

What we can do is use the form they provided to send out letters to the editor supporting multi-use access and EXPANDING the amount of usable acres for public access instead of restricting it. We need more people from the community to get involved and put in our say or else we'll be lumped in as a worthless group of motards that trash the forests! I hope some of you are as pissed off as I am at this possibility of losing more terrain.

Click Here to use their contact form

http://www.whiteriverwild.org/ - hidden gems site
http://www.greatoldbroads.org/ - another crazy advocacy site

IT'S TIME: Letters/emails of support needed!
Please write to your local papers, county commissioners

Melanie's writing her letter in the wild!Now's the time to express your support for the Hidden Gems wilderness proposal!

For more than two years, the Hidden Gems Campaign has been patiently working at the grassroots level - building awareness, enlisting supporters (like you), getting our ducks in a row before formally taking the proposal to our elected officials.

Many of you offered at various times to write letters of support, and we said "not yet." We promised we'd let you know when it was time. THE TIME HAS COME!

In the next several weeks, our organizers are set to make presentations to the county commissions of all the main counties affected by the Hidden Gems proposal. Obtaining resolutions of support from these counties is crucial for securing Congressional sponsorship and introduction of Hidden Gems legislation.

Write & send an email in support of the Hidden Gems proposal!

Background

The Hidden Gems proposal identifies more than 40 parcels deserving the protections afforded by the Wilderness Act. They range in size from a few thousand acres to over 100,000 acres. We've met with numerous stakeholders, making countless boundary adjustments and accommodations to craft a proposal that makes sense for our community and the environment.

Please write a letter to your local newspaper(s) and your county commissioners now to help build support for the Hidden Gems proposal. You can write and email the letter through our Action Center.

The Hidden Gems proposal is teed up to be the next big push for wilderness in Colorado (after the Northern San Juans wilderness bill, which is currently moving in Congress), and has the backing of the state and national wilderness community. Unlike the smaller, area-specific wilderness bills that have predominated in recent years, it's an ambitious regional package that we hope will set a new trend at the state (and perhaps even national) level, swinging the pendulum back to the big, visionary conservation efforts of the 1970s and '80s.

Our Congressional delegation will be looking closely at the level of local support in deciding whether to introduce Hidden Gems legislation and how hard to push for it. Your email is the first step in helping them understand that as a community we want to protect our backcountry from gas drilling, road building and other damaging activities.

Write & send your email now!

 

[Mnt bound]

Wrote my response

 

[mtnxr]

Hidden Gems Wilderness campaign

Wow. We attended a meeting put on by these folks up at Thomasville last night where they were there to review maps with the locals in the area. If you ride the White River National Forest or know anyone that enjoys "mechanized" travel....or for that matter the ability to run a chainsaw here I encourage you to take a look at the website and take action!

In my mind, for the snowmobile community especially, this is a HUGE WILDERNESS LAND GRAB and they are looking at some of the best riding in the area. This is not going through the normal forest service review etc...They are putting together their ideas and going straight to congress with it....and wait....theres more....they are preparing to do this by this OCTOBER with maps and ideas that they are scrambling to put together without consideration for the impacts it will create on all the various users of the forest.

The time to get involved is now while you can make a difference and not later when you are sitting in the parking lot at your newly formed wilderness area wondering where the heck you are going to ride because your favorite area has been taken away.