To all our members and other loyal constituents:
As many of you already know San Juan Trail Riders has been working diligently for more than 9 years with the U.S. Forest Service, Dolores Ranger District on a travel management plan. The final plan, issued July 2018, primarily impacts motorcycle riding on existing trails that have been ridden by motorcyclists for almost 4 decades. Even with all our efforts to work out a reasonable, just and appropriate travel plan for motorcycle recreation in the Rico/West Dolores landscape, the District Ranger has acted arbitrarily and capriciously and has signed a Record of Decision which eliminates nearly 30% of existing trails from motorcycle travel. In yet another blow to trail users, the District Ranger chose to impose a restrictive seasonal closure that further limits motorcycle travel on existing trails, allowing riding only from June 1 to October 30.
The Decision will crush long and historic motorcycle recreation in the area and serve special interests. It is so imbalanced that multiple organizations have now filed a lawsuit challenging the Decision. San Juan Trail Riders (SJTR), Trails Preservation Alliance (TPA), and PAPA have banded together with legal counsel Mr. Paul Turcke of Boise, ID to use this litigation to exhaust all opportunities to overturn this Decision on behalf of our members, constituents, local business owners, county organizations, future generations of motorcycle recreationalists and other OHV user groups.
This battle, which may be long-lasting, will need an extremely strong financial backing to see it through to success. If we cannot collectively overturn this Decision we believe the future of motorcycle recreation in the San Juan National Forest, as well as other forests, will be at risk. YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT IS CRITICAL if we are to win this battle and we believe we can.
Today we are launching a 45 DAY DONATION CHAMPAIGN (to November 15) as an opportunity for each and every one of us to STEP-UP AND DONATE to the cause! This litigation could amount to well over $100k. For as little as the cost of a couple of motorcycle tires from each of us, we can do this. All donations are being collected by the lead organization Trails Preservation Alliance (TPA) for our lawsuit. TPA is a 501c3 corporation, allowing donations to be tax deductible. The address for TPA for all donations is listed below. Let’s commit to make this a highly successful donation campaign to protect these world-class trails that we have used for so many years and to keep them available for others to enjoy for years to come.
Respectfully: Your San Juan Trail Riders Board of Directors
DONATIONS TO:
Trails Preservation Alliance (TPA)
P.O. Box 38093
Colorado Springs, CO 80937