Adventurer, outdoorsman, four-wheeler, author, and defender of sustainable outdoor motorized recreational access.
Volunteers celebrate
with a work weekend
By Del Albright, Motorized Recreation Advocate
Rubicon Trail volunteers continue to kick access and keep the Rubicon alive and well for all of us. On August 18-19, 2007, Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR) gathered a force of folks to work hard, eat well, receive a grant, and celebrate with BFGoodrich Tires!
Rubicon Trail Roundup 2006 – What a Year!
By Del Albright, 2006 Trail Boss, Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR)
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This article brings back and records some history of the famous Rubicon Trail and the Friends of the Rubicon).
The "Gold Rush" of 1849 brought California to the national limelight and thousands of explorers and adventurers west to the famous gold fields. The era was wrought with exploring, trapping, gold mining, gun fights, and trading with Indians from the Pacific coast to the mountains. From those hearty souls, we now have the famous Rubicon Trail.
Do not just volunteer, but
rather up-purpose your volunteerism! In today's world, we must
stop wasting our precious volunteer time when we are all torn in many
directions by multiple jobs, kids' school games, community involvement, paying
bills, family commitments, and more. Too many of us have become trapped in the
status quo of losing ground in the long run. Herein, I will explain purposeful
volunteerism and how we need to push beyond just holding our ground regarding
access to responsible motorized recreation.
TIP 1: Embrace
the concept of "think globally; act locally." If
you want to up-purpose your volunteer time, consider the big picture before
investing your time. Ask yourself, "In the big scheme of things, will this
project I'm about to undertake make a difference worth my time invested?"
If it will, then do it. If it won't, then don't do it – find something better
to do with your volunteer time. But it must start with a serious and purposeful
consideration of the global picture – the overall future of sustainable motorized
recreation in America.
TIP 2: Volunteer
to help Association Events:
I believe that working (volunteering) at state associations or club
events does make a difference in the long run to the big picture. When the
event is geared towards raising funds to help the association/club accomplish
its mission, you are helping the global cause by being involved. The extent of your involvement is not as significant
as the purpose of your commitment. If all you can do is run the sign-in table
at a convention, which frees up other people to do more complicated jobs, then
smile proudly and do your job! You are helping the global cause.
TIP 3: Improve
our image and help cure Toenail Fungus: No, I don't think investing my discretionary
off-road time and money into curing "fungus among us" is the right
way to be a purposeful volunteer for motorized recreation. Even if you cure the
toenail fungus, you'll be lucky to get a 1/16-page blurb in the local newspaper
and a fleeting thank you in some newsletter/website that people might remember
for a week.
With this supposed image-enhancing effort, you will not cure our loss of lands and access. The trick here is to invest your time in events and causes that MOSTLY support off-road recreation and, to a smaller extent, support a feel-good cause.
TIP 4: Become
a club or organization leader: Taking on a leadership role in a club or
association is crucial to being purposeful in your volunteer efforts. The
entire motorized world does not have enough people with the time to invest in
being a leader. So if that is you, jump all over it and do it with gusto – but
also keep the global (big) picture always in your mind.
Ask yourself, for example, if being part of an ego
squabble is the right way to protect our access future. Play your own "devil's
advocate" and challenge the actions you are taking or about to take. Will
your next step really help the big picture – are you being purposeful in your
volunteerism? As a leader, this is crucial to inspiring others to do the same.
When you can influence several other volunteers' actions, beliefs, and
productivity, you have become an unstoppable force in the future of sustainable
motorized access.
TIP 5: Take
it to court: We will win the battles for access only by
escalating to more offensive strategies. This means we need a war chest that
will allow us to take it to court when required –to go legal and go strong!
Those who oppose our way of life have the funds and legal teams to file
lawsuits at the drop of a hat. They tie up land management agencies in fearful
legal engagements and threats that tie up our access in the meantime and many
times in the long run.
We must get ahead of this curve and be preemptive where
needed. Donating to the legal efforts of your favorite motorsports group is the
primary thing we can all do to take it to the next level – or at least be
willing, prepared, and able to go on the offensive. But do NOT waste your money
on dead-end legal battles. Pick the right legal battle to support.
TIP 6: Join
and Donate: Nothing is more fundamental to up-purposing
your involvement than joining, renewing, and donating to everything you can
afford that helps protect recreational motorized access. If you do nothing
else, an ongoing donation program or an annual contribution on top of your
renewing memberships is globally significant! We must unite our voices and
build our access forces and war chests to win these battles.
Summary:
Ask
yourself if your volunteer efforts are progressing towards the global picture of
saving trails or just staying trapped in the status quo of losing ground.
Remember to be purposeful in your volunteer efforts by investing your time
where the payback is worth it to the big picture of keeping our access to
responsible, sustainable motorized recreation. And let's go beyond just holding
our ground!
Learn more about volunteering, leading volunteers, land use,
and more in this easy-to-follow book here.
(Note: originally published on ModernJeeper.com, 12/9/22)
MORE HELPFUL LINKS:
DEL'S BOOKS (LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, COWBOY POETRY, AND MORE)
WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)
PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)
DEL'S ARTICLES (LAND USE, LIFE, WILDFIRE, VOLUNTEERISM, AND MORE)
More land use and volunteerism help here:
Reflecting on our Changing Sport. As I sit in Wyoming, hunkered up in our motorhome struggling to get a good WiFi connection, I find myself reflecting on our off-road sports and how they are changing -- evolving. Everything has to change, right? So it is with our sports. The picture here shows "Red" a few years ago on the Rubicon Trail -- about two rebuilds back it seems. Rock crawling competitions like Cal-Neva and W.E. Rock give us new innvovative modifications we can all use. Tire size changes more than, well, ok..my socks! "Red" started on 33's and now rides on 37's. Recently we saw Top Truck Challenge (TTC) where 54's were the tire of choice. Motors are trendy too. Name me a JK owner that does not want a Hemi??? :) So what does all this mean? Is it just change? Is it good or bad? What do we do about it?
Taco Feed and Raffle to Benefit the Rubicon Trail
Preparing for the Rubicon Trail -- packing the Jeep, getting the camping gear loaded up on the Olympic4x4 rack, making sure the lug nuts are tight, checking the tire pressure in the BFG's, and doing the once-over on old Red, when the moon decided to pay me a visit. Big work party this weekend on the Rubicon Trail with the Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR), the most famous off-road coalition in the world, dedicated to just one trail -- the Icon of Four-Wheeling!
FOTR folks are feeding us with a great dinner Saturday night and there is still time to sign up and help with some very productive trail work right here at : http://www.rubiconfriends.com/
Happy Veterans Day, you old (and young) warriors! We're still here, still standing, and still proud to have served. To my fellow...
