[Gildo]

Just read this on another forum, what is it coming to next,.
I guess this is the shit hitting the fan?

From Chris Collard...
THE RUBICON TRAIL, CLOSED??
I received a call the other day from a friend. "Chris, they finally did it,
they closed Spider Lake on the Rubicon." This was somewhat unexpected but not a complete surprise. My friend and I have had many a campfire discussion regarding the future of not only the Rubicon, but Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) access throughout the country. The conversation eventually drifted back to a Rubicon run four years ago, where we transported a group of resource managers from the California Off Highway Motor Vehicle Division.
The Division provides OHV grant funding (generated through fuel taxes) for resource management, public education, and regulatory enforcement. Now mind you, these folks manage OHV use for the entire state of California and their primary objective is to keep trails open. In fact, Daphne Greene, the current Deputy Director of the Division, is a two-time Camel Trophy veteran and long-time off-road enthusiast. Get it? These folks are on our side!
Over the past few years, you've seen some of my articles here in Off-Road Adventures. But before I rant on, let me give you a little insight as to my back ground in off road sports. At age five, my dad put me on dirt bike, kicked the starter, put it in gear and pushed me away. Somehow I stayed upright, and Child Protective Services didn't lock him up. As an adult, I've wheeled the US, Mexico, Canada and Central America. Spent 42 days Jeeping across So. America, I've been chased by elephants (in a 4x4), and spent a month wheeling in New Zealand and Australia. I also live less than two hours from the Rubicon and have enjoyed it for more that 20 years. That said, I take the rapid demise of this place, very personal. If this editorial sounds a little "green" or cynical towards off-roading, well, you can make your own assessment.
The Rubicon has been referred to as the crown jew of off-road. It is heavily used and publicized, and always in the political crosshairs of environmental groups and public agencies. Bottom line, we are easy targets. We are dealing with government agencies who by law must follow very specific laws in managing the resource, or environmental groups whose ideology precludes any and all OHV activities, anywhere, period! All we need to do is give them a reason to shut us down, and "bang, up goes a "Trail Closed" sign. OHV Director Greene was part of that campfire discussion four years ago. One of the primary areas of concern was sanitation. How to educate the users on this issue before it was too late. Rather than pointing my political finger at environmentalists, the State Division (which did not impose this closure) or local agencies, I'm going to turn the finger around to you and me: yep, we are the reason. We just can't get our proverbial shit together. In fact, Ned Bacon gave us a good thrashing on this subject in his Rasher of Bacon column in the February/March 2001 issue. I guess we weren't listing, or can't read. The Little Sluice and Spider Lake are closed to camping because it is a disgusting mess! By mid-season, hundreds of little white toilet paper "flowers" graced the entire area, and human excrement abounds. Face it, the area is solid granite and most of us are too damn lazy to walk a few hundred yards to dig a sanitary cat hole. I attended a Friends Of The Rubicon (FORT) meeting last year where everyone spent two hours swearing they would use, and make friends use, personal sanitation equipment. The resulting effort appears to be dismal at best.
Maybe they couldn't handle riding in a Jeep carrying poop?

The bottom line is that we got what was coming to us. Heck, I ride both
sides of the fence and might have closed it too. If we pack it in, we should
pack it out. And yes, this means everything. I've packed it out while
backpacking and rafting. What is the big deal?
This trend did not start with the Rubicon nor will it end there. And, this
is not the only threat to the area (your favorite trail name here). If
you/we continue to deface our natural resources by pioneering new routes, trashing the existing routes, leaving garbage, and pooping indiscriminately, we have no one to blame but ourselves when the trail is closed.

This is a temporary 90-day emergency closure to camping, after which the area will be reassessed.
What to do?
Simple, clean up your act immediately.

If you don't carry a personal sanitation system, get one. Start being a
leader instead of a follower (a sheep). Stop bitching about what everyone
else is doing and set some examples, educate others, and talk to those being
yahoo idiots. My guess is we will be mandated to use PSD's. Join and get
involved with one of the many organizations, such as Blue Ribbon Coalition, Cal4Wheel or United 4WD association. If you continue to be a complacent follower, you won't have any reason to bitch when they close your favorite trail.
4
Off-Road Adventures