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Perserverence DOES pay

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Posted by: mhardee

As Okie was kind enough to allow me to place a "help us" message a few months ago regarding the USFS closing our riding area, I'd like to share a really good announcement..

One of our local Memphis Motorcycle Club members, Mark Story, has fought a very tough and profesional battle against them and has won. Due to very diligent record keeping by another of our members, Gary Herman, we were armed with information regarding the absolute nonsense that we were enduring with the local offices. Mark has taken this to the Regional "top" in Atlanta, and along with representatives from the AMA and Blue Ribbon Coalition have come to this resolve: (I am posting a message here from Mark to our club members)..

We received offical word late yesterday that the proposed closure will not be implemented. In short, the forest will remain open to OHV use with the current closures being enforced. I will try to scan the letter into a PDF file later today and ask Steve Wilson to post on the bottom of the MMC website.

The Memphis Motorcycle Club has asked for a final response on three open items. They are; 1) where can we park legally, 2) can we cross the pipe line and TV power lines in a perpendicular fashion, & 3) an update on the law enforcement officer who appears to dislike us so much. I will be asking for a meeting with the new Regional Ranger (Joel) the weekend of 10/28 in Oxford to address these points. Until then, I encourage everyone not to abuse this decision and stay off any of the areas which are currently closed. If you are unsure, please do not ride at Holly Springs until we get everything addressed.

This is a huge win for our club, the OHV community, and the forest itself. Now that we've been named "un-official" stewards of the forest, we must act accordingly. This means we must now step up and enforce the rules with everyone including our own members and the locals. We must improve the trail system by working the forest and help in identifying the trail system as per the new travel management rule. If anyone abuses the forest, don't worry abou the law enforcement agent, worry about those who have invested so much to keep it open. We too will be quick with the trigger.

I would like to suggest we continue with our efforts in raising funds to support the Holly Springs forest. While the recent news is positive, we still have a long ways to go to the end of the new travel management rule (Sept. 2008) and much to do till then. We need to help get missing signage up indentifying what is open and what areas are closed. We must also look into the new GPS sofware packages and find one that meets the USFS specifications. Jay Nichols spent a great number of hours identifying the trails years ago only to be informed after the fact that the software he used was not recognized by the USFS.

I personally want to thank everyone who has contributed to the future of Holly Springs. This has been a ten year investment of which I have only been involved in over the past four months. Two gentlemen in particular need to be called out and recongnized. If not for the past (and future efforts) of Gary Hermann (MMC member and 10 year quest to keep HS open) and Brian Hawthorne (Blue Ribbon Coalition), this would not have been possible. On behalf of the Memphis Motorcycle Club, my family, and the entire OHV community thank you and job well done!

Mark


It CAN be done if WE stick and band together....


Posted by: Jesel

That's Awsome!


Posted by: MX-727

I was impressed that I received a letter from District Ranger Slone notifying me of the decision. To my surprise, the letter states that there were only 80 comments to the proposed closure. Evidently that was enough for them to decide against the closure.


Posted by: mhardee

Quote:
Originally Posted by MX-727
I was impressed that I received a letter from District Ranger Slone notifying me of the decision. To my surprise, the letter states that there were only 80 comments to the proposed closure. Evidently that was enough for them to decide against the closure.


I suspect that was USFS propaganda... I would bet my life that they got more than 80.. I know I sent 20 from different email addresses...

I haven't been down there yet to see if they had signs every 50' stating THAT was a closed area..
The other caveat is you can ride -- you just can't legally park anywhere....


Posted by: Okiewan

That's really good news! We need more of it.
Congrats to all involved on a tough job done well.



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