Tread Lightly

Chris

Chris

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If you've been around the off-road scene for a long time chances are you know about the issues we face as off-roaders and having trails and other areas closed down so we can no longer access it.

I thought this was a perfect place for us to discuss the issue of 'treading lightly' when we go have fun off road. I know some of our veteran off-roaders such as @billiebob and @StG58 have a lot more knowledge on this subject than I do. Hopefully we can turn this thread into a sticky with some general rules and guidelines for minimizing your impact when off-roading, as well as other news related issues pertaining to this matter.
 
Trespassing, vandalism, erosion control and pressure from environmental organizations is what I"m seeing. It's not even the Jeeper's per se that are the cause. Here's a classic example: There was a really nice shooting spot up on Meadow Lake road out of Carleton that the family and I used to go to for a little sport on the weekends sometimes. It was a very large area with several 100 yard long log landings and acres of reprod. The land was private timber company land, owned by a company out of Australia. A couple of years ago the land was sold to Weyerhauser. Soon after it was posted no shooting. Fair enough, but it was only posted on one trail into the area. If you came in the back way, you never saw the signs. The area was just trashed. On several occasions we found things like a fiberglass boat dumped and shot to ribbons, a pickup camper dumped and torn apart. There was a camp trailer up there that someone had dumped and started to tear apart and burn. TV's and other junk were dumped randomly. There were signs that people were going up there and grabbing Christmas trees. Some of the trees were literately shot to pieces. Brass and shotgun hulls were everywhere. Lots of places where 4x4's had gone off the skid roads and torn up the land, with major erosion resulting. A couple of places somebody had done the side hill thing on road cuts, causing the hill side to collapse and the road to wash out. The Sheriff's Department would send a deputy up there occasionally to chase people off, but that had to be a bad experience for the deputies. I know I wouldn't want to chase armed drunks off of private land more than once or twice. Weyerhauser finally put up gates and completely closed the area. This is a pretty extreme example, but less extreme examples are pretty common, especially in areas close to the mainlines and public roads. Luckily, the same folks who do this sort of thing don't venture very far off the beaten path. The results are that access points to the deep back country are getting closed off with gates on private lands and the ditch / berm thing on public lands. Mostly the access points along or next to Highway 18, 6, and 26. Highway 30 access is still pretty good. Access to the hills from the Dallas area is pretty horrible, with lots of gated private land down that way. If I see this sort of thing (dumping, Vandalism, driving off the roads / trails) I'll turn'em in to the local Sheriff, but that is a loosing proposition. Most of the Sheriffs don't have the resources to do anything about it.
 
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Airing down and ground loading. There's a lot more to "Tread Lightly" than a nice slogan. Like billiebob mentioned, airing down, no wheel spin, etc. are techniques that could stand a lot of discussion and a few pictures. It's one thing to go up to Brown's Camp and do a little wheeling on the designated trails. It's an entirely different ball game to make the run from Tillamook to Vernonia to St. Helens or Rainer. Different Jeep setup, and different style of off roading entirely.

For instance, let's take airing down. With the current style of off roading airing down is all about traction. With ridge running it's all about ground loading. I can go anywhere I want with my current 215-75R15 tires. The ground loading on those is too high though. It damages the trails. At street pressure, the stock tires load the ground at about 19 pounds per square inch. Airing down drops that into the 15 - 16 pounds per square inch range. Not much of a difference, but it is noticeable on the trail. When I eventually go to 31x10.50 - 15 tires, the ground loading drops to about 10 pounds per square inch at street pressure and way down to around 2 or 3 pounds per square inch when aired down. There is a LOT less damage done at 2-3 PSI ground loading than there is at 19 PSI.
 
The consequence of places like Meadow Lake is companys like Weyerhauser developing a best practice policy of gating and decommissioning every resource road once they are done.

Most of the abuses you mention above StG58 result in huge fines for the resource operator. Especially the erosion issue if it results in stream contamination or a contaminated water source for down stream residents, municipalities. So yeah, they gate the roads, pull the bridges and make it impossible for anyone to go fishing.

On these forums we regularly see Jeepers doing things which result in the same issues of environmental pollution or soil erosion. And we play it up like "WOW look at what I did". A logger, oil field guy or power line crew would face huge fines. Yet all to often we think as 4 wheelers we are entitled to be redneck idiots. Time to tell these guys anything which hurts the environment will result in fewer places to wheel. If you flip yer Jeep.... be prepared to clean up the gas, oil and antifreeze. The guys who work in the bush have to.
 
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This is all very interesting information @billiebob, things I never would have even though about.

I consider myself a responsible wheeler by default. I never do the things that some of these redneck assholes (maybe it's because I'm not drunk while I'm wheeling?). I think this is very important information that needs to be brought to light for future members.

I think to most wheelers (probably the younger ones especially) something like this is an afterthought, and part of the reason they have no responsibility is because they don't know what the consequences are for others, due to their actions. Of course, if they keep it up eventually even the responsible wheelers like you and I will have nowhere to go!
 
You are exactly right @billiebob. We are our own worst enamies in that respect. The Jeep or Dodge or whatever salesman sells someone a 4x4 with glowing descriptions of wheeling. He's pretty safe in his assumption that it will never get off a gravel road. The new 4x owner may see videos on a forum of his truck blasting through the mud and underbrush, and says Hey, I can do that!. We're back to can I vs, should/by I. I'm not faulting the private timber companies. But there has to be a way to get the word out.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
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StG58 said:
But there has to be a way to get the word out.
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That is indeed the problem, it's educating people. While I can't point fingers or prove anything, I speculate that a large number of these idiots destroying land are likely a younger crowd (we all do dumb shit when we're young). It's going to hard to educate people like that, because chances are they aren't even looking to be educated about it. They just want to go offroad and destroy things.
 
read a few of the other Forums... you will see even some of their moderators are retired rednecks who still crave the attention they get from being idiots.
 
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billiebob said:
read a few of the other Forums... you will see even some of their moderators are retired rednecks who still crave the attention they get from being idiots.
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Really? Go figure... I guess it's time to hopefully educate at least some people.
 
I've probably done more off-road stuff than all of you put together during my 21 years in the military. Slept on the ground, been snowed on and had to eat my chow in the rain. I'm not sure if I'm quiet ready for more off road activity right now, although I do still enjoy the out of doors.
 
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silvercreek said:
I've probably done more off-road stuff than all of you put together during my 21 years in the military. Slept on the ground, been snowed on and had to eat my chow in the rain. I'm not sure if I'm quiet ready for more off road activity right now, although I do still enjoy the out of doors.
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I was only in the Army for 4 years, but during that time I felt like it was one, big long outdoor camping / offroad trip!
 
Chris said:
I was only in the Army for 4 years, but during that time I felt like it was one, big long outdoor camping/offroad trip!
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You should try sleeping among a few snakes and spiders as big as your fist. Not to mention an occasional Tigers sneaking into camp at night and nibbling on left-over C-Rations.
 
silvercreek said:
You should try sleeping among a few snakes and spiders as big as your fist. Not to mention an occasional Tigers sneaking into camp at night and nibbling on left-over C-Rations.
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I'm not even going to ask where you were deployed / stationed that you were dealing with Tigers!
 
Here is the link to the official Tread Lightly organization: https://www.treadlightly.org/

Maybe we could look at their recommendations and address how to practically implement them?

From the website:
Tread Principles
Travel Responsibly on land by staying on designated roads, trails and area. Go over, not around, obstacles to avoid widening the trails. Cross streams only at designated fords. when possible, avoid wet, muddy trails. On water, stay on designated waterways and launch your watercraft in designated areas.

Respect the Rights of Others including private property owners, all recreational trail users, campers and others so they can enjoy their recreational activities undsiturbed. Leave gates as you found them. Yield rightof way to those passing your or going uphill. On water, respect anglers, swimmers, skiers, boaters, divers and those on or near shore.

Educate Yourself prior to your trip by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies. Plan for your trip, take recreation skills classes and know how to operate your equipment safely.

Avoid Sensitive Areas on land such as meadows, lakeshores, wetlands and streams. Stay on designated routes. This protects wildlife habitats and sensitive soils from damage. Don’t disturb historical, archeological or paleontological sites. On water, avoid operating your watercraft in shallow waters or near shorelines at high speeds.

Do Your Part by modeling appropriate behavior, leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species and repairing degraded areas.
 
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Very good site @StG58, I didn't even know it existed.

Somehow I should find a shameless way to take information from their site and add it to this thread (as a sticky) and give them credit for it at the same time.
 
Nothing shameful at all... I bet if you contact them, they would be happy to provide you with more detailed information than you want to deal with.
 
StG58 said:
Nothing shameful at all... I bet if you contact them, they would be happy to provide you with more detailed information than you want to deal with.
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Already did! I just contacted their marketing department right after I checked out their site. We'll see what they say in response. I'm trying to get them on board as a forum member to help educate!
 
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I'd really like to see this as a theme for this forum. Rather than the extremes we see on all the other forums. To me, 4WD lets us tread lightly, go slower, plan a better route or line so as to "tread lightly".

I love off road races and rock climbing competitions but they belong in designated areas. When out wheeling we all need to be responsible and promote the industry. Not go out of our way to offend with destruction ignoring the rights of others.

No matter where you do it, loss of traction, spinning tires creates erosion.
 
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