• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Riders working for Ranchers in Southern Arizona

R

Responsible Rider

New member
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
2
Location
Tucson AZ
Hello all!

I belong to a small club of local (Tucson, AZ) responsible dirt bike riders who are looking to establish single track trails on ranch land in exchange for free labor for errosion control, fence repair, gate repair and general upkeep. Good public land is getting harder and harder to fine for us to enjoy our hobby and the threat looms that soon all of our public riding areas will be closed to any off road vehicles.

The trails we wish to ride on are no wider then the typical cow trail and have a very low impact on the surrounding terrain. We as a group are aware of cattle ranching concerns and would avoid all cattle tanks and of course the livestock themselves. We would be respectful of off limit areas as well as breeding times.

This could be a win/win situation for both parties. There may be options to generate revinue for the ranch as well. We are not a bunch of yahoo's looking to destroy the land. We respect the desert and want to continue to enjoy the beauty of the land from the saddles of our bikes without fear of the LAW.

I hear this is a common relationship with Texas ranches and it works out really well for everyone. I am anxious to hear your thoughts on this idea.

Thanks

Eric Theis

[email protected]
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
I think your problem is that a few bad apples spoil the whole barrel. :?
Click to expand...

We've got the quad crowd around here and they tear the heck out of everything. They will get in the middle of a dirt road and whip shitty's until they dig 6" rut's. Try hitting them with a tractor it'll jar your teeth.For every resposible rider there are 10 jackasses.I'll do my own work and they can ride elsewhere.
 
Atver's, and dirt bikers, are doing more damage to public lands than any other group. With Memorial weekend coming up, they will be in my area by the hundreds going and doing just about anything they want. It's my belief that person would have to be crazy to invite this problem on their land.
 
I live on a dirt road, the neighbor's kid and his friends tear up the road with their quads and bikes raising dust and doing wheelies especially after a rain, i drag it and have mentioned it to the parents and the kids to no avail, they say it is their road too. :mad:
So don't look for support from this end!
 
I appreciate the comments. Yes it is a hard sell but we are trying to prove that it is the minority of people who are acting the way its has been described here. We affectionally call those people on quads doing donuts and wearing shorts and flip flops... quadtards. They can ruin a good singletrack trail in less then a day. Happens all the time.

The average age in our club is around 40 with none under 25. We do trail maintence and trash pick ups all the time. We were close to a working agreement with a ranch in Eastern Arizona but due to the distance (3 hour drive) it fell through. We would actually supply our own insurance through the AMA and of course sign waivers.

It is the few individuals who have no regard for others that are causing riding areas to be shut down. We have tried to fight this with voting and activisim but that is a big joke. Recently after a bill to close 2.2 million acres was defeated the politician somehow attached the same bill to another unrelated bill due for vote a few weeks later and of course it passed.

There is a new bill in the House Sub comittee that will close an area the size of Indiana in a few western states. No mechanical vehicles. I assume there are a few hunters in this group... no more hunting in these areas. Its called H.R. 980.

We would like to forge some kind of alliance with ranchers to the benefit of all involved. I was hoping a rancher in Texas or elsewhere who is familar with this type of relationship would post up some comments on how they feel the arraingment is working out.

Thanks again for the comments

Eric
 
A little far from your area, but our goal on our ranch is to not have any trails. Not even our own. Thankfully there are responsible rider groups out there but the rotten apples have made your quest a fairly steep climb.
 
I'm sincerely impressed with your group's idea, and hope you find an arrangement which works for you. We're so used to the public assuming all land should be accesible in our area, that I appreciate your respectfulness.

This reminds me of my neighbor who struck a deal with a private gun club to provide an area for a shooting range. The arrangement has worked out well for both parties, and my friend has another source of income on land which wasn't highly productive for cattle use to begin with.

Good luck!
 
A win-win situation is where you don't ask, and we don't have to say
'no'. I wish it were different, but you should see the cuts in the hills
the bikes and 4-wheel riders have caused. They'll be gullies some day and this is on BLM land. :shock:

They must have never learned how to shut a gate and---
They are supposed to stay on the established roads. HAH!!! I guess they can't read. :shock: :x
 
Ok I'm from Texas....and in our area I've never heard of any agreements like your speaking of. Mind you I'm not sayin they don't exist....but just that I"ve never heard of any ranchers making deals like this. Maybe moreso in West Texas. But even out there, I've not heard of any.
Here there are dirt bike atv trails thru the National Forests. Designated areas. They'd rather let in dirt bikes than they had horses. We've asked about trails for horses, and there are very few. You can ride in any part of the forest, as long as it's not marked off as a "nesting ground for some lil wood pecker". But they aren't designated areas. When deer season opens....since our back fence joins Nat'l Forest land....we spend more time lookin for our own horses and makin sure someone hasn't shot them thinking they were a deer. (But that's a whole other subject)

Good luck in your hunt for a place to ride. I know how much fun it can be to go out and ride on trails. All my growin up years in West Texas were spent in the Sandhills ridin 4wheelers, and motorcycles.
 
I hope folks will not just generalize you into the "idiot motorcycles tearing up the world" group. :roll: If more ATV'ers were like you, a lot more ranchers might be willing to allow your group access to land. Not all ATV users are trouble. Not all gun owners shoot cattle. And not all ranchers are narrow minded, know-it-alls who will look down their nose at ya because you are riding a ATV. Ask permission. Stay on trails. Don't litter. Leave gates like ya found them. And police yourselves! A bunch of ranchers could use the same advice! :wink: :D Good luck and welcome.
 
If I had some land, I'm try to work something out with you. Just because the majority of riders are irresponsible doesn't mean you are. The ages you mentioned should be a big plus for you guys. I would think that there would probably be a little more responsiblity from a group of 40 year olds than from a group of 18 year olds. That's not to say that all 40 year olds are responsible and no 18 year olds are, though!

Best of luck to you. Something will turn up.
 
the big issue comes down to LIABILITY your group sounds like they are trying to change the negative image and leading by example and hard work we have a local motox club that is working on educating the youth on riding area respect several of their key people are ranchers or first generation off the ranch.they are being hampered in their efforts by liability issues and goverment bueraucy.their spring event had to be cancelled because they could not get permission to ride in GRAVEL PIT that they have used before legaly
 
There is a ranch up here that has trails on there land and they charge $25 a day to ride there. For the most part the people that ride there do a very good job of takeing care of the trails. But a few bad apples show up once in a while.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top