- Joined
- Apr 18, 2005
- Location
- Greensboro, NC
When is the last time you contacted your elected officials about the Rescue Tellico issue?
Unless you are writing, emailing or calling weekly, you are hurting rather than helping our position. Unless our elected representatives hear our voice, our interests in this matter will go unheeded! Email your U.S. Senators and Congressman today!
Simply go here: http://www.votesmart.org/
Enter your complete 9 digit zip code to find who to send it to.
If you do not know what to say, here is what I sent today. Copy and paste it, editing to suit your needs, and send an email TODAY!
Senator Hagan,
I am writing to you as a user of OHV trails in the U.S., as an American citizen and as representative of the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association.
I know by now you are aware of the attempt of my government, acting through the Forest Service, to deny my access to my land. I am referring to the Forest Service closure of the Upper Tellico OHV area public lands! Though this is a “temporary” closure, Forest Service Supervisor Marisue Hilliard has stated that her preferred option is a permanent closure!
I hope you are also aware of the long standing relationship the Forest Service and the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association have with each other. In fact, SFWDA was created in 1986 to fill the need of the FS to partner with a public group to help them manage the existing OHV trails. Now, through mismanagement and misappropriation of funds, the FS finds itself in a position where distancing, even dissolving, that relationship seems to be it’s agenda!
Instead of working with ALL stakeholders to find a way to provide recreation opportunities for all users, they are taking the unethical and immoral route of excluding one group of stakeholders, a long time partner, permanently.
REPAIRING THE AREA IS THE BEST SOLUTION:
.OHV enthusiasts spend 4 times more money on lodging, food, and gas than other outdoor sportsman
.$4.8 million annually in tourism revenues by OHV users
.Repairing contributes $1.5 - $2.6 million in OHV revenue annually
.Repairing would create more than $1.4 million in local jobs.
.Nearby streams are currently healthy
.Nearby streams have excellent water quality per North Carolina Standards?
.Nearby streams are capable of sustaining viable, reproducing native trout populations.
.Nearby stream channels are very stable
.Nearby stream channels convey stream flows without streambed erosion.
.The trails are repairable and very much maintainable/sustainable after repair.
CLOSURE IS A BAD SOLUTION:
.Closure creates ZERO OHV tourism revenue.
.Degradation of water quality and degradation of aquatic habitat in Upper Tellico is non-existent.
.Historic clear-cutting of land in Upper Tellico has contributed more to the off-site sediment transport than the trail system.
.Closure of trails is neither warranted nor recommended by USFS trails experts!
I would like to know exactly how you are representing my interests in this matter and how you feel about a government agency operating in opposition to known and accepted moral and ethical constraints!
Thank you for representing ALL North Carolinians equally!
John Craven
Unless you are writing, emailing or calling weekly, you are hurting rather than helping our position. Unless our elected representatives hear our voice, our interests in this matter will go unheeded! Email your U.S. Senators and Congressman today!
Simply go here: http://www.votesmart.org/
Enter your complete 9 digit zip code to find who to send it to.
If you do not know what to say, here is what I sent today. Copy and paste it, editing to suit your needs, and send an email TODAY!
Senator Hagan,
I am writing to you as a user of OHV trails in the U.S., as an American citizen and as representative of the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association.
I know by now you are aware of the attempt of my government, acting through the Forest Service, to deny my access to my land. I am referring to the Forest Service closure of the Upper Tellico OHV area public lands! Though this is a “temporary” closure, Forest Service Supervisor Marisue Hilliard has stated that her preferred option is a permanent closure!
I hope you are also aware of the long standing relationship the Forest Service and the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association have with each other. In fact, SFWDA was created in 1986 to fill the need of the FS to partner with a public group to help them manage the existing OHV trails. Now, through mismanagement and misappropriation of funds, the FS finds itself in a position where distancing, even dissolving, that relationship seems to be it’s agenda!
Instead of working with ALL stakeholders to find a way to provide recreation opportunities for all users, they are taking the unethical and immoral route of excluding one group of stakeholders, a long time partner, permanently.
REPAIRING THE AREA IS THE BEST SOLUTION:
.OHV enthusiasts spend 4 times more money on lodging, food, and gas than other outdoor sportsman
.$4.8 million annually in tourism revenues by OHV users
.Repairing contributes $1.5 - $2.6 million in OHV revenue annually
.Repairing would create more than $1.4 million in local jobs.
.Nearby streams are currently healthy
.Nearby streams have excellent water quality per North Carolina Standards?
.Nearby streams are capable of sustaining viable, reproducing native trout populations.
.Nearby stream channels are very stable
.Nearby stream channels convey stream flows without streambed erosion.
.The trails are repairable and very much maintainable/sustainable after repair.
CLOSURE IS A BAD SOLUTION:
.Closure creates ZERO OHV tourism revenue.
.Degradation of water quality and degradation of aquatic habitat in Upper Tellico is non-existent.
.Historic clear-cutting of land in Upper Tellico has contributed more to the off-site sediment transport than the trail system.
.Closure of trails is neither warranted nor recommended by USFS trails experts!
I would like to know exactly how you are representing my interests in this matter and how you feel about a government agency operating in opposition to known and accepted moral and ethical constraints!
Thank you for representing ALL North Carolinians equally!
John Craven
