nea4wd.org

Clubs please do not post trail ride info on your websites.
Please code name or say Trail ride Jeep run etc.
Please do not list real name of trail Town or location.
I sent a E-mail to one club and CC Scott on this.
Why are we having problems this is why. You have just told the World where the trails are. Now not only the good people know also the bad.
I'd like to make a montion that we talk about this ASAP.
Now maybe that web guy did not know not to post this type of info
but we can't have this out there.

I know this is a pet peeve of your Rich and I agree with limiting information when the posting about trails.

When it comes to private land and in particular NEA private land I would ask people to only post the code name of the land like Carnage Hill or Cemetery Hill.

4800 pages. Let me know when you're ready to start...

On the BSJ forum OR the website itself we don't even use code names. It's a "Club Run" in the public section.
As far as telling the world, I have read in several mags like, Low Range, Crawl, JP etc. Trail name's and also in some instances locations. If you ask me this is just as big of a problem.

I agree Scott that this is an issue, one that I makes me cringe everytime I see it in a national mag. For instance in the new 4WD and Sport Ut there is a write of the FJ on the cover and its lists the owners favorite trails with the name and town its located.

Its Pandora's box, once the information is out there its going to spread even if its in an innocent manor.

I made a motion on the motion section please go there. I'd also like to see this talked about at the next meeting. I will be in AZ sorry. But I can call in on from my cell phone.

Do you think that using code names and not mentioning a town would have saved Coy Hill?

I think you're fooling yourselves if you believe that people don't know where this stuff is. How many pics and videos are there of people on MaBell, The Gutter, Coy, Gutter, etc. It hasn't worked to date, it's not going to work, find another way.

How much better do you think it would be for trails if the load got distributed to all of them and proper maintance, patrol, and signage kept people where they were supposed to be. I'm not refering to privately held, NEA parcels of course.

Do you see the people in the west hiding the location of the Rubicon? You can buy a book with DIRECTIONS to it for crying out loud. And now how many people jump in to "Help Save the Rubicon" when there's trouble? You've probably done it yourself and odds are you've never even been there. I know I have.

If no one knows what the trails are and their situation, no one will know when they're in trouble. Break the Cycle, please...for the longevity of the sport.

I've been over both sides of the argument more times than I can remember and I agree with points on both sides.

How many trails can really be considered public though? How many areas that are public rights of ways are abused with ignorant behavior, trail braiding, and overuse? Coy Hill was closed from overuse and irresponsible activities.

I'm pretty sure most of the sites have varying levels of security, public, registered and paid member sections if you will.
I still don't think it's up to the NEA to regulate what a club posts on it's site but it is responsible behavior for the clubs to sort of control where things are posted and who can see them.
Locusts know where the spots are. Ignorant people will wheel where ever the see a dirt turn off and not care about the legality. Perhaps if a wheeler who wants to do the right things stumbles across a clubs site mentioning a trail they will discover the battle to keep it legal and join the fight.
Either way, with nearly 20 clubs and each having it's own site thats too much for us to monitor every one.
Clubs need to use common sense and if someone asks a question about why they do something, don't take offense, just explain why and realize we are out for the good of the sport.

I agree that the NEA should not try to control what individual clubs put on their sites. It's impossible to do and we have better things to focus on.

My point about the trails is that trying to hide them hasn't worked yet, and it's not going to work. I'd rather sign the snot out of a place and make people aware of what's going on then trying to hide like a ostrich with our heads in the sand, ignoring the problem because we "can't see it."

You're right Scott, Coy Hill was shut down due to over use and abuse. Did using a code name for it, or hiding the town it was in prevent that? No. It was apathy, lack of action, and perhaps even ignorance. And I would bet that it saw more use from unaffiliated wheelers than it did from clubs, just like the other "public" trails.

Most people that wheel want to do the right thing, they're just unaware that they're doing the wrong thing in some cases. Does that mean we should call them out, repremand, and admonish them? No, I don't think so. Look at the header of your browser right now. See that little blurb next to the NEA logo. That's what we should be doing, educating and protecting.

If you try to hide and discourage responsible use of the trail except for those you think are "worthy" (i.e. clubs) aren't we doing to ourselves what the greenies are trying to do to us, saying you can use the land as long as you do it our way. That's the message we're sending.

strong words roger, but i guess i have to say im on your side. im finding that legitimate 4wheelers are so used to laying low that the public dont even know legitimate 4wheeling exists, many havent even given it thought.

the toy drive was my first effort in trying to get legitimate wheeling into the spotlight, and i'd like to continue on that path. i was thinking about organizing a FOCH blood drive for the red cross, and a clothing collection for salvation army. im due to give blood and clean out my old clothes from the closet and thought maybe others are too?

both could easily get in the paper like the last event and are steps toward forwarding our credibility. what do you guys think?

oh yeah.. here is the article from yesterdays springfield republican, "grilling for a good cause."
http://www.masslive.com/republican/stor ... thispage=2

Scott Hatch wrote:I agree Scott that this is an issue, one that I makes me cringe everytime I see it in a national mag. For instance in the new 4WD and Sport Ut there is a write of the FJ on the cover and its lists the owners favorite trails with the name and town its located.

Its Pandora's box, once the information is out there its going to spread even if its in an innocent manor.

Yeah, I've been waiting to hear about that one.

Fact is our members do all they can to keep things on the down-low but you can't control the words of every person around you (nor should you) and even less so the media outlets. No one is deliberately trying to increase locust traffic to public (or private) trails, or sabotage the work of the NEA.

Does the NEA wants to ban all media at events? Because you can't expect someone who's rig is being highlighted in a national magazine to not answer the question "What are your favorite trails?"

It's unreasonable.

I think I'm with rblank on this one. I don't pretend to have the answers, but we seem to be having this same conversation now as we did 5 years ago when I first got involved with this hobby. The NEA do an immense amount of work which we all appreciated, but is the tide really turning or are we just treading water?

That's not a criticism, it's a question.

I think it depends on the area, but overall I think more people are becoming aware of the situation and the importance of becoming organized.

i definately agree with that.

FTR?s policy has always allowed open discussion of publicly accessible trails? private trails are never openly discussed in our public forums? I?ve never believed in the public trail ?Code Name? crap, a bit too draconian for my taste? on that note, FTR will not agree with coding public trails however it will revise its location reporting policy when announcing public invited runs? that is all?

This Association is a Democracy, not a Dictatorship.

The NEA is not an organization that should enforce on its clubs what they post on their websites unless its defamatory in nature towards the NEA

Scott Hatch wrote:The NEA is not an organization that should enforce on its clubs what they post on their websites unless its defamatory in nature towards the NEA