From Snail Mail to Email
by Del Albright
(I think it's time to bring back the LUN)
On October 31, 1994 Senator Feinstein pushed through legislation called the Desert Protection Act that added about eight (8) million acres of Wilderness in 69 new Wilderness areas in the CA desert -- locking up thousands of miles of backcountry roads and trails, killing jobs, and stealing public lands from the public -- in effect, stealing our heritage to the historical past so many of us love to explore by motorized vehicles.
That same day, Del Albright started writing clubs and groups all over the country -- email was still too new to use. Over 700 letters were sent proclaiming the need for national cooperation, landuse involvement and motorized recreation cohesiveness. The Land Use Network (LUN) was born. As people got email accounts, the LUN began to grow quickly with email taking over as the primary way to communicate and orchestrate a "fight back" attitude.
www.Off-Road.com provided the first platform and Internet spot for the LUN to grow and fight back. LUN was dedicated to:
Non-use of appropriate areas.
Education of our peers, the public and our politicians.
Conservation of resources and opportunities to enjoy them.
By 1997 LUN consisted of 150 organizations and clubs nationwide that included all aspects of off highway recreation: 4x4, ATV, equestrians, rockhounds, motorcycles, mountain bikes, snowmobiles, hunter and anglers. A nationwide campaign was developed and started called Blitz '97 with the purpose stated to Unite, Inform and Act.
Del developed a new way to look at the word MULTIPLE-USE:
M = Muster support in congress
U = Use letters, email, fax, and personal contacts to make a difference and state your opinion
L = Look for opportunities to advocate for your sport
T = Team up with other advocates/users in your area to magnify your position
L = Leap ahead of anti-multiple use efforts
E = Expose elected officials to our sports and ideas
U = Understand the issues, both local and national
S = Sort out our political friends and supporters (get them elected)
E = Educate the public, our peers, and the politicians.
Various efforts have come and gone since 1994/1997, some successful, some not; but the need to unite our voices has never dwindled. You can read more about the Land Use Network, the Resource Education Network (REN), and the Sierra Nevada Framework in CA here:
http://www.delalbright.com/access/lun.html
I look forward to hearing some thoughts on this.
Del
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