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Archived Newsletter |
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JANUARY 2000
SCHEDULED EVENTS
For more trip information, see TRIPS. |
CONTENTS |
THE LAST CUSTOMER
by Ric Jones
A couple of weeks ago we had a garage sale to get rid of the last of my in-laws stuff.
Around 2:30, after the crowds died down and my wife left for a nail appointment, a couple came and browsed a while and bought a couple of items. They started to leave then stopped in front of my house for a while. I went over to see if there was a problem, and he asked if the Cherokee was mine. Yes, it was. Well, he saw the CA4WDC decal and that got him started.
I don't know if you remember, but a couple of years ago the Forest Service had the military blow up an old miner's shack in the Horsethief Valley of Big Bear. In doing so, they also blew up a road and started a forest fire. Well, the road they blew up was the road to this guy's mining claim. Needless to say, he was quite upset, and raised holy hell until they redid his road and apologized (kind of). I turns out that he's a representative of the Association of Mining Districts, and has appeared before Congress a number of times. He really gave me an ear full of what was going on. He rattled off all this stuff while pulling reprints of articles from his overstuffed briefcase. All of the stuff he was telling me was REALLY scary information about the GREENY's agenda. In the January 1997 issue of this newsletter, I reprinted an article about "U.S. National Parks come under the control of the United Nations." It described how a number of our National Parks, without us knowing, were turned over to the United Nations, and became International Biosphere Reserves. They even went so far as to change the signs at the parks to reflect this. I've heard that they have since changed the signs back, but are still under the UN control . This control supersedes that of the U.S.!
He gave me one reprint that has a map of their plan. About 75% of the US would be wilderness, with most of the wilderness west of the Mississippi. The scary part is that you can see how they are actually working the plan.
First there were Wilderness Study Areas, then they were turned into actual Wilderness Areas, whether it was actual wilderness or not.
The East Mojave, then Escalante (remember the Indonesian-rather-than-Utah compliance coal/Clinton re-election funds deal? -ed). Then the closed unless open law. WE ARE LOSING! A good example of what they are doing is that they are trying to close down his mining operation in Big Bear because of a weed that is on the endangered fist.
It turns out that the weed is what is commonly referred to as Locoweed. If eaten, it can make one delusional, blind or can cause death. They have been trying to eradicate it for the last 100 years. In some areas it's against the law to knowingly propagate it. Now it's also against the law to kill it! What do you do?
So, who's the driver for all of this besides the Sierra Club? The big one is the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity headed by Kieran Suckling out of Tucson, AZ. (Sucks, huh?)
So, how do we fight this? Good question! Knowledge is the first thing. We need to know what is going on. The second thing is education, we need to let others know. Not just off-roaders, but everyone we know. This effects everyone. We need to let our representatives know that we don't like the agenda, and if they support it , we WON'T support them!
What I would like to do is have Mister Don Fife, the man I talked to, talk to our club. I think you would find him very interesting and informative. He says he has a short slide show that he likes to present. I think this would be a real eye opener!
Well, I'll get off my soapbox now. Won't you be glad to have a trip report to read? I'm really anxious to get out so there will be something to report.
Happy New Year. Ric Jones
Rick & Suzy Schaffer are planning a trip to Jerome, Arizona some time early next year. They were there in July for a day while on a roaming vacation. They would like to invite any club members interested in meeting in Jerome for a 3 or 4 day weekend. Plans are to stay at the newly re-opened Jerome "Grand" Hotel. It's a renovated hospital, the town's 4th and largest (Why did such a small town need 4 hospitals? -ed.), that sits high on a hillside overlooking the town, Verde Valley, and Sedona to the north.
This is not an official run, just a place with many very interesting things to do and see. The hotel has a restaurant and saloon. We're trying to get as many rooms on the top floor as we can. The rooms face the valley and have an outside balcony. The rooms are $95 a night. However, other rooms are available for $70.
There are lots of places to explore, sightsee, and some 4 wheeling if you wish. If you are interested, please call Rick Schaffer (562)427-6039, and he can give you more information. What we would like to do is get everyone interested together at a meeting to discuss what time is best for those going.
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