What he is refering to is a very small minority of individuals who do not respect the law. Unfortunately, he wants to lump every law abiding rider into the same group of "outlaws" as the few. I suppose you have to live here or at least in Southern California to fully understand the opposition that we face everyday. This is not about a few law breakers, it is about an agenda and the way it is presented is very misleading in the least. I read the local paper every week and in it is a list of police calls and responses. The list includes the time, date and location the police were called to the scene, the nature of the crime / accident / or incident and if an arrest was made. I have seen everything from drug possesion, violent assult, robbery, traffic accident, unregistered sex offender at location where children are present, and many more. I have also seen illegal trespassing reported...about 2 or 3 times in an entire year. Trust me, this problem has been blown WAY out of proportion to help support the agenda of those that just don't think we should be riding in our desert...PERIOD!

I will dig up a response by the owner of the local ATV / Mortorcycle shop and post it so you can see another side.

 

Here you go.




Responsible citizens ride off road

By Chris Hutchins / For the Star
Terrorist, trespassers, outlaws, irresponsible harassers? I have news for the ORV Watch and Phil Klasky ("The Soapbox," Feb. 23). They are bankers, lawyers, insurance agents, doctors, veterinarians, contractors, grocery workers, teachers, law enforcement officers, town councilmen, staff and yes, motorsports dealers. They are not at all like the people Phil use to push their agenda. Our community is not like what Phil describes. He is wrong in portraying us, people who have lived here for decades and have used off-road vehicles responsibly, incorrectly. This is his personal work. It is a wrong inflicted on him that he will correct come hell or high water. Never mind the history. Use all of the vague generalities at hand.

The small group of people who do abuse their neighbors simply should not. They should be contacted, cited, fined and if necessary, put in jail. There is no excuse for their behavior. These people are the same one percenters that, all over America, do the same thing using other forms of harassment. The way I do the math, that leaves 99 percent of good, honest, law-abiding community members.

Make no mistake about their goals. They want our area to change faster than it is. They feel they know better than anyone how private and public land should be used and by whom. They say they want to educate, but really the agenda is to levy "bigger fines, confiscate vehicles and jail people" and get them back. Ultimately, they want our off-road vehicles to go away forever. I would love to introduce Phil and his group to our customer base, to the real people who overwhelmingly enjoy and live better lives because of our products. They really already know them. They are our community members!

And now, as Phil runs into road blocks they have no sensible solutions for, they will go on the attack with environmentalists who will blame every ill ever conceived in the desert on, who else, the off-road vehicle users. They will use every weapon in their arsenal.

Our town is growing, there is no doubt. And I do feel for all those who have been abused by people. But to think that there will be enough enforcement, signs and laws to solve this problem in just wrong.

In comparison to some of the other social ills we have in our community, namely drugs, parolee issues, sex offenders et. al., I am sure glad law enforcement has the common sense which issues take priority.

If you enjoy your off-road vehicle, ride responsibly, and want to continue to do so, you must get involved. You need to contact your town or city council and let them see that we, the responsible riders, care about our neighbors, our environment and our community. Heck, we even care about Mr. Klasky.

In the short time Mr. Klasky has lived in the Hi-Desert, he seems to have painted the residents and visitors here with one brush. He could not be more wrong.

 

People that tresspass knowingly **** me off. However if the land aint posted and there is no boundry lines liek a fence or sompin. and its in a place like the desert where people been riding for years an all the sudden people move in and buy a piece. how do they know where the line is. its a dual responsibility by both owners and riders. riders should know the area they riding in, but at the same time its the owners responsibilty to define and post his property. if its not defined or posted you have no grounds to bitch about it. and honestly if you have a problem with OHVs Buy land somewhere thats NOT IN A RIDING AREA have they ever thought of that? i mean WTF is wrong with people. you know the people in the area ride ORVs and if you dont like them please go somewhere else america is a big friggin country and ORVs do not have access to but a miniscule portion of it. like in washington. HOLY CRAP we have a tremendous amount of state land & wilderness areas and ORVs have access to im gonna say less than 1% passive use (hikers, horses, bicycles) have access to 100%.