The Few Take A Stand For the Many

There is, among these dirty, sweaty, fun loving men, a recognizable face. I mean besides Dave. Can you see him?

Growing up in my world means loving the outdoors. My Dad worked for the Forest Service in the olden days when, during the summer months you could take a couple of your kids to work with you. Even when not at work my family played outdoors. We camped, hunted, fished, rode horses, and even hiked a little bit. It was in the early and hectic days of marriage and little children when I began to see places that held wonderful memories for me being closed to the public. Due to a selfish few there are many beautiful places in and around Moab that I will never see again and my grandkids will see only through my eyes or my photos. Each time a beloved place is closed I give a sigh of sadness and turn in a different direction believing there is really nothing I can do to convince those who are closing public lands like there was an epidemic that I, too reverence those places like Salt Creek and our old Easter picnicking spot by the sand wash and many others, probably more than they do. At least in my eyes.

Dave handles these closures much differently than I. He doesn't just sigh, he turns and fights and he makes progress. Many times his progress is measured in baby steps, but last week that progress came in leaps. After months of phone calls, e-mails, four different scheduled and then canceled visits the ride with Governor Huntsman finally happened. The above motley crew - with the exception of the Governor, of course, he's not motley- is a group called Ride With Respect.

They took Governor Huntsman on a ride through a trail system called The Sovereign Trail that was developed without government funding, is maintained without government employees, and needs no public law enforcement to police the crowds of people who ride there. That's my Dave riding up that trail!

Dave spent countless hours working with the Governor's staff setting up the ride, the equipment, the logistics, the security, and everything that comes with the Governor coming to town. Actually, he didn't come to town. He came to the desert outside of town. No one from town even knew he was here.
The TV show At Your Leisure was there to film the ride, which was shown as part of their program last Sunday. You can watch the 5 minute clip on their website it if you feel so inclined. Here is the address: http://www.atyourleisure.info/episodes.asp.
It's called Secret Adventure: A Ride With the Governor.

In Governor Huntsman's own words, "I thoroughly enjoyed being here today. It is one of those days you'll never forget in life." "They are such passionate riders they took their own time, raised their own resources and basically scoped out a trail system which, to me spoke to the idea that this could actually be done in a lot of areas. I thoroughly enjoyed riding these trails." Here's hoping that in the future public access comes before political ambition. Thanks to Alan Peterson for the pictures. Dave was stressed enough without having to remember to get his camera out :)