Not good for off-roaders (Calgary)

[Sugarphreak]

The off-road community in Southern Alberta has been stirred up due to a new club opening their doors.



"Calgary Mud Freaks"

http://www.calgarymudfreaks.ca/Calgary_ ... /Home.html

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... xz0RN_P2C4[/media]



Basically the group is opening violating half a dozen SRD rules, going in and tearing up all the trails, tearing up protected muskeg areas, and doing it while pissed drunk. Then video taping it for the public to see.



This reinforces the wrong kind of stereotype and is the kind of event that could lead to further trail closures.



What some of the other forums have been saying:



Beyond

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php? ... ost3787132



CT4WD

http://www.ct4wd.com/forum/showthread.php?4559-Not-good





I think it is important that as the Canadian Hummer club we take a stand against this type of behavior. Obviously we could be one of the first groups targeted if a public backlash does happen.



We should also look at a public video/picture ban, similar to how CJA has been operating. Even in photo's or videos where everything is legal, it can still be used against the club later on.



CJA had to switch to a much more strict and rigid policy after they were unfairly targeted by a journalist who tried to make them look like, well the people in the video's above.



If you go back and look at the video again; look at the quick links in the right hand side... there are a bunch of OUR videos! If people start to get upset, you can bet it won't take long for us to be part of this backlash.





This group above is going to have some pretty serious justice coming to them. People have contacted SRD and all of the employers of the people in the video's at this point.

[Hesh]

Im assuming, when you mention the quick links on the right hand side, that you are referring to the youtube link you posted, which if logged into a youtube account, it will load that bar with videos you have seen or would show interest, and is custom tailored to your youtube-usage.



I dont think pulling all the videos and pics is a good way to go about things. At best, it is just going to show or imply we have something to hide. Id recommend, at worst, maybe temporarily closing down membership for a few weeks if things got that bad, but I hardly think it is anywhere near that point. What's more, it might be a wise choice (atleast in the interim) to restrict picture and video viewability to members only, but I think we're worrying about the sky falling here at the moment.

[Sugarphreak]

I don't actually have an account, it is just video's that share similar titles... the word "Calgary", "off-road"... ect. They automatically get cue'd up in the right hand column.



I am not sure if you guys have the same degree of problems we run have out here. There was a huge public outcry a few years ago that got one of the main off-road places totally shut down (Indian Graves). They also scaled back trails approved for vehicles by almost 60% in the remaining two parks. It was a major blow to the off-road community.



There seems to be a big group here pressuring the government to shut it all down, only the work of groups like CJA and CT4WD are really preventing that. They have been working tirelessly to change the stereotype and show that the off-road community can be responsible and look after the trails.





I heard today the guy in the video who works for Paramount Landscaping (giant logo on the side of the truck) was fired by the company. People have posted this e-mail:

Sincere thanks for bringing this egregious behavior to our attention. Paramount Landscapes prides ourselves in being professional and making landscapes more beautiful and sustainable.



It is obvious that this employee did not share these values and has been removed from our organization as of today.



Thank you again for bringing this to our attention.



Regards,

J.M.

[dwaxman1]

wow....this is really bad news and we here at CHC do not condone ANY behavior against the environment and this is why we openly support Tread lightly and live by the motto, leave it like you found it, and take out whatever we bring into the trails. We also, do not support or condone drinking on the trails!



btw, the video has been removed on youtube

[thedub]

While this is bad news, it may be good for us.

We have a chance to show people that we do not condone this in any way, you have a bunch of drunken single rednecks in this case. correct me if I'm wrong but we are all professionals with families and the kids come out with us on runs. As Derek said we are part of tread lightly and hold to the values of it.



just a thought but do we have any stickers with the CHC and Tread lightly logos on them? if not then maybe we should with the motto "leave it like you found it"?



How about planting some seed or trees on future runs, somebody in the club must be up on what plants would be right for the trails we use?

[Sugarphreak]

CJA and CT4WD both run programs for trail restoration and bridge repair out here.



I wonder how they are organizing that?