Bangin' Bones 4-Wheel Drive Club

Public Land Use

Whether you enjoy hiking, mountain bike riding, horseback riding, cross country skiiing, snowmobiling, atv riding, or 4-wheeling, we all want the same thing. We all want to use public land, we just want to use it in a different way. More and more public land is being closed to the use of the public. Instead of fighting amongst ourselves, we need to band together. There is strength in numbers. Let's all find a way to put aside our differences and get together for the one thing we have in common: the right to use public land.

This letter was written to the Editor of the Elko Daily Free Press in Elko, Nevada by the founder of the Bangin' Bones 4-Wheel Drive Club Britt Blakeman and published on July 8, 2004.

Public Land Freedoms

An article in the June 28, 2004 newspaper caught my attention, "Wildlife Officials Balk at ATV Restrictions". The article stated that hunters are at odds over ATV’s being used by other hunters.

As an avid four wheeler, this bothers me, the disagreements amongst us is the kind of thing that helps shut down access to our public lands. I am a member of the Bangin Bones Four Wheel Drive Club and land access is a constant issue.

If you talk to any land rights activist, you will find that we lose more and more access every year. Environmental groups are trying to shut down ranching, mining, four wheeling, ATV’s, mountain biking, hunting, and any other recreation that is enjoyed on public lands.

At some point we are going to have to pull together instead of fighting amongst ourselves and realize that if we do not make a stand as a group, we will all lose our public lands. Little by little we are losing what we love about rural Nevada’s lifestyle. We all get upset and tell each other about it, but this has about as much affect as throwing rocks at the moon.

A month ago the Bangin Bones Four Wheelers became affiliated with the Blue Ribbon Coalition in hopes that we can band together with other organizations and individuals to make a stronger stand. I am inviting any organization or individual that enjoys the great outdoors the way I do to unite with us and join this fine organization.

Britt Blakeman