Many of you probably heard that John Edwards was in Portland, Oregon this past week. I have no problem with any political party carrying their message to the public. I have a problem the position local sportswear and outdoor product manufacturers took during this visit. Our local newspaper, The Oregonian, published the fact 21 manufacturers like Columbia Sportswear and Leatherman participated in Edwards visit by conveying their support for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. I am sure you are all aware that the Kerry/Edwards campaign firmly supports legislation to change the zoning of many of our National Forests and public lands so that we can no longer enjoy many of our outdoor recreation. This legislation not only affects our sports, it discriminates against the handicapped by not offering free access to those who cannot physically hike into these remote regions and enjoy the many precious gifts these lands have to offer. What this means is the local sport manufacturers are spending the money they earn from your purchases to close our local National Forest and public lands to activities like Hunting, Fishing, Snowmobiling, All Terrain Vehicle and Motorcycle riding, to mention a few. In my opinion, these manufacturers are biting the hand that feeds them.

These companies will not realize the repercussions of their decisions unless we stand up and take action. I am going to do more than simply ensure my voting in the poles this November supports those who believe in my sports. I will no longer buy any products from Columbia, Leatherman, and Recreational Equipment Inc. I have contacted GI Joe’s to get their formal opinion on this matter. As far as I am concerned, if GI Joe’s does not contact their suppliers like Columbia and Leatherman and request them to remain politically unbiased then they fall into the same category as the manufacturers. I will no longer buy products from GI Joe’s unless I get a satisfactory response. I will inform everyone GI Joe’s position.

I ask that everyone take on a battle similar to mine in support of their sport. We can no longer sit back and assume these lands will remain open for our sports. We must all take steps not only at the poles and by supporting our local organizations, but in the products we purchase and the letters we write to our politicians. I ask that you inform your friends and local Hunting, Fishing, Snowmobiling or ATV organizations of these manufacturers too. I ask that all of you take a small portion of the passion you have for your sport and reflect that in your daily activities before we no longer have access to the lands necessary to enjoy our wonderful outdoor sports.

David B.
9/17/04
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SledAddict unfortunatly your request for all of us to get involved will fall on deaf ears. Many want to help but don't want to get thier hands dirty. I will drop a line myself to leatherman and columbia. A lot of people complain about what has and will happen to our lands, but won.t spend the time to do so. Good luck with G I JOES. Also a lot don't even care to help and thier the ones that keep riding on closed lands, vandalizing, tresspassing, damaging peoples property and leaving trash.

 

Not so cut and dry,

They want to keep certain trails open for ATVs so the handicapped card is not accurate. They also need ATV trails for maintenance workers and also for hunters.

The problem stems from people who want to use the trails as race tracks that give them the ammo to fire at us.

No way will they get to close all the trails, it won't pass. However they could limit the amount of sound your machine can produce and even possibly the type of tires you run but that would be a stretch.

Worst case is that the lands won't be free anymore. You will have to pay to enter certain areas.

ATVs and the environment can live together, and eventually they will. Certain areas will be closed, there's nothing we can do about it. And the problem is far deeper than who is in office or who supports them. A lot of ATV DO NOT repsect the land they ride on in any way and that screws the rest of us.

We have no one to blame but our fellow riders and that's the sad reality. It's so much easier to point the finger and act helpless, but the truth is we've done the damage ourselves. All we can do now is stop the bleeding with smart actions being taken through proper channels.

 

I see these claims a lot, yet no one ever has a source for them.

What source are you using to say Kerry wants to close parks or riding areas? I suspect we are about to get the default "liberal" as an insult, and generic "The Democrats are eeeeevillll!!!!" replies.

 

http://www.snowmobile-alliance.org/
http://www.sharetrails.org/

Look at the above websites to learn more about land closures the Kerry/Edwards campaign. There are plenty more references in his many speeches on these topics as well as other websites.

I just thought everyone would be interested in the formal opinion from Leatherman, Tim Leatherman himself. Tim has no intent of supporting any other political party, I say boycott Leatherman products. You can see how mistaken Tim is regarding REI. I have contacted Columbia Sportsware and GI Joe's, will get their responses too. I hope everyone gets informed and takes the next steps as others have identified above. Email below from Tim Leather in reply to mine:

-------------------------------------------------

We are all entitled to our opinion. I stated mine, and now I get to live with the consequences. I didn't anticipate that you and others would refuse to buy Leatherman tools because of my political views, but that's your right. I'm sorry you are going to make my employees suffer, but that too is your right.

Why you are going to make G.I. Joe's and its employees suffer for my views, or the author of the document you attached feels REI (which has expressed neutrality) has to suffer for my views, I have no idea.

Whatever happens, I'm still going to do my absolute best to make great tools and hope that all Americans, of any political affiliation, will find them of value.

Tim Leatherman

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 4:20 PM
To: Mktg-1
Subject: Are You Supporting The Closure Of Our Public Lands?

I would like to formally hear back from Leatherman regarding their recent support of the Kerry/Edwards campaign and my thoughts below. Every individual and every company thankfully has the freedom of expression and the opportunity to take sides on political issues, just as we consumers are free to decide whose products we wish to purchase. I think the recent move by Leatherman crossed the line, I will no longer purchase products from Leatherman and I will do everything possible to inform others regarding Leatherman's political position.

What I find exciting is there is a growing number of people who feel the same way. I contacted 3 local ATV and 4 local Snowmobile organizations and all of them have the same beliefs as I do. This will be a topic in their upcoming meetings. I was at Tri-County Gun Club this morning and the GI Joe's representative was astonished at Leatherman's move. I look forward to hearing back from GI Joe's. Everyone I spoke to said they will not wait for GI Joe's reply, they are simply going to stop buying products there.

The article below has been a great success on the internet in the last few hours. I would be overjoyed if Leatherman would simply back out of their support for the Kerry/Edwards campaign and remain nuetral politically since I previously enjoyed your products. Look forward to your response.

 

Short-sighted,

I think boycotting anyone for political backing is totally 100% anti-American. The fact that we can coexist while backing different political parties for different reasons is what makes America great and unique.

And I can't even get into how silly it is to vote for a President because of something so insignificant and trivial. Our World is in need of so many things, so many problems need to be corrected and people are worried about a few trails getting close enough to sway their voting right? This is so unfathomable to other countries that we would be laughed at. We would be laughed at for being so flippant with our voting ability.

We are but a little voice in the dark, packed in a small box in a mammoth room. Bush is a horrible environmental President, but a seeming majority of ATV riders do not care about the environment as long as they can rip up the trails. And don't even kid yourself that if Bush wanted to protect some lands in Texas that he would in about one second.

I love to ride as much as anyone. Enough that is was a major point in moving my family 150 miles north because there were no more places to ride in NJ. But I also love nature, and without it there would be no places to ride in the woods at all.

I have no problem with preserving lands for nature, I have no problem with saving the environment. Sometimes, and sometimes too often, I admit that the environmentalists go too far and take more than they should for no good reason. But the fact remains that we ATV riders need to respect the land we ride on. If we give them the chance they will take it away, not to protect nature, but to protect nature from us.

 

I am pleased that ss97 has an opinion on this matter, as everyone should. I could list the many pros and cons between candidates but that is not the focus of this posting. Rather, my opinions are intended to inform those who have a concern about keeping lands open for snowmobilers, ATV's, handicapped, hunters, fishermen, etc., while still protecting the environment. The idea is to let others know there is something they can do to make a difference if they have a concern about the many proposed land closures. I feel there are far better ways to control the use of ATV's and snowmobiles in our public lands instead of shutting them down completely as the Democratic Party and the Kerry/Edwards campaign would like to do.

I'll go out on a limb and express just one idea to convey the point that there are other ways to protect the habitat. What if everyone had to obtain a license (like we do for hunting and fishing) to access public lands via an ATV, snowmobile, etc? What if clear rules and regulations regarding the protection of the habitat were a part of that license? What if there were clear repercussions to those who violate the rules similar to hunting and fishing? What if the money received from the licenses could go to improve the lands and enforce the regulations? I think conveys the possibility that there may be other alternatives to protecting our lands. This is just one silly idea, I'm sure there are hundreds more besides taking a drastic measure like restricting the access to these lands and closing down riding areas without the proper thought of the downstream impacts.

I, like the numerous National Forest employees I have spoken to, fear what will come of our forests should we designate the strong Democratic parties proposals for wilderness areas. The fear is based upon the infernos that will come from not properly managing these forests or being able to fight the fires that will eventually result from a wilderness designation. The final outcome will be far more damaging to wildlife and habitat than properly managing the lands to begin with. I ask everyone to take their position on this subject and act on it rather than sitting idle and asking what happened after it is too late.

 

Thanks for the Info!

 

Looked through them, and saw lots on current issues and land closures. You are aware that Bush is the current pres, right? I saw nothing referring to the Kerry/Edwards campaign. Have a direct link for the buried references?

 

Keep after 'em SledAddict there are people here who will listen while many bury thier heads. Keep it up . See ya on Snowest!!.....D Doo[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]