Aaron
March 21st, 2011, 08:19 AM
Now it is time for me to be the kill joy... I'm not one for drama so please take this seriously.
There are lots of people who don't like our hobby or the people who participate. They think that we are a bunch of rednecks who go out and tear up the national forest, don't care about nature and our environment and don't give a rip about anyone but ourselves and our beer drinking gun toting friends. We take our oil burning and leaking gas guzzlers to the most beautiful places on earth and not only don't care about what we do to the environment, but sometimes actually actively work to destroy it.
This is the impression that many have of us. Front Range 4x4 is an oasis where people can go to be a part of something that counteracts this stereotype. We don't allow jerks. We don't tolerate unethical behavior independent of whether it is 4x4 related or not. We're not a club full of beer drinking thrashers who don't give a rip about anything accept our own fun at the expense of others. It's not who we are and that is why we are all members of this club. I'm not being high and mighty. It's just the truth.
Because of the fact that people don't like our hobby and by extension, us, we have to be better than people expect us to be. We have to be stewards of the environment and leave it better than we found it. We have to be especially careful. We have to be overly careful. We have to be more careful than campers, backpackers, property owners or anyone else. We need to show people that we, as a group are not what we are stereotyped as. Whether it is fair or not, it's an irrefutable fact.
People make mistakes. People screw up. But careless mistakes that can cost people their homes, everything they own and even lives cannot happen. The fact that a fire re-ignited after we left camp is an avoidable careless mistake that should never happen. If that fire had spread and caused a forest fire, aside from the loss of property (of which I have family who owns some out there), possible loss of life, loss of habitat, the repercussions would probably mean severely restricting our hobby if not killing it altogether. I guarantee you that 4x4 trails would start closing at a much faster pace than they already are today and it would be Front Range 4x4's fault. That is something we all need to take seriously as it cannot happen.
It's because I love this hobby and this club that I'm letting you know that from this point forward, if anything like that happens again, the members involved will be immediately banned and removed from the site. End of story. We're all owners but I'm the admin and I won't have the rest of the members be at risk of being associated with what could have been a catastrophic event.
Let's move on from this and call it a lesson learned.
Aaron
There are lots of people who don't like our hobby or the people who participate. They think that we are a bunch of rednecks who go out and tear up the national forest, don't care about nature and our environment and don't give a rip about anyone but ourselves and our beer drinking gun toting friends. We take our oil burning and leaking gas guzzlers to the most beautiful places on earth and not only don't care about what we do to the environment, but sometimes actually actively work to destroy it.
This is the impression that many have of us. Front Range 4x4 is an oasis where people can go to be a part of something that counteracts this stereotype. We don't allow jerks. We don't tolerate unethical behavior independent of whether it is 4x4 related or not. We're not a club full of beer drinking thrashers who don't give a rip about anything accept our own fun at the expense of others. It's not who we are and that is why we are all members of this club. I'm not being high and mighty. It's just the truth.
Because of the fact that people don't like our hobby and by extension, us, we have to be better than people expect us to be. We have to be stewards of the environment and leave it better than we found it. We have to be especially careful. We have to be overly careful. We have to be more careful than campers, backpackers, property owners or anyone else. We need to show people that we, as a group are not what we are stereotyped as. Whether it is fair or not, it's an irrefutable fact.
People make mistakes. People screw up. But careless mistakes that can cost people their homes, everything they own and even lives cannot happen. The fact that a fire re-ignited after we left camp is an avoidable careless mistake that should never happen. If that fire had spread and caused a forest fire, aside from the loss of property (of which I have family who owns some out there), possible loss of life, loss of habitat, the repercussions would probably mean severely restricting our hobby if not killing it altogether. I guarantee you that 4x4 trails would start closing at a much faster pace than they already are today and it would be Front Range 4x4's fault. That is something we all need to take seriously as it cannot happen.
It's because I love this hobby and this club that I'm letting you know that from this point forward, if anything like that happens again, the members involved will be immediately banned and removed from the site. End of story. We're all owners but I'm the admin and I won't have the rest of the members be at risk of being associated with what could have been a catastrophic event.
Let's move on from this and call it a lesson learned.
Aaron