Land Use Poll Results Released by BRC

[DriftinCO]

http://www.sharetrails.org/releases/media/index.cfm?story=483

Good article about use of public lands in Western Colorado.

[bluetaco]

Wow! there is only a 6% (30 people) difference between survey takers that have visited the national forest for motorized vehicle usage in the last year and those who say preservation is a higher priority than recreational use...with a +/- of 4.38%(~21 people) that could mean it is virtually a dead draw on a person to person basis on the issue of keeping trails open for motorized use...and Western Colorado is heavily biased toward recreational users...with a 50/50 statement on whether a person considers them selves an "environmentalist"
it seams reasonable that from this survey "motorized vehicle use on public land" is a "minor issue" and only when lead by a leading reaction statement do people even care on a majority basis...IMO this survey shows that a public that will potentially be effected the most based on geographic location really is not involved in it! put this issue in a more urban setting it would really skew the results toward indifference expesually when the main effect is out of pocket expenditures on a tax basis. With a limited budget and relatively small population to protest its no wonder the BLM is considering cutting back trails open to OHV
...I think we should start saving pennies to get a road builders permit so as a club we can access the soon to be closed roads legally and come up with a economically viable reason to build our own roads on public land...maybe build low emission dangerous underbrush burning off road tourist busses or something to that extent! just to keep the privilege of using the Land for off roading!

[bluetaco]

I can't stand it when a Survey uses leading statements to measure attitudes in a Likert scale form...it just devalues the survey and really skews the results with a biased.
I.E.
Chinamart provides outstanding values everyday to household shoppers. Leading Businessman,Community Leaders, Engineers and Architects have determined 100 your street is a Outstanding location for a "Splendedcenter" Given that Chinamart provides unbeatable convenience, value and outstanding opportunities for children to expand their labor horizons.
Do you 1 Strongly Agree 2 Agree 3 Agree somewhat 4 Disagree 5 Strongly Disagree
that a Splendedcenter will add value to your community!

conclusion...84.8% of people surveyed in your surrounding neighborhoods "agree" that Chinamart should build a Splendedcenter next door to your house and turn your front yard into a shopping cart return location.Thank you for your participation! this survey has an error margin of +/- 4.5%

The BRC survey did much the same...only the results from the survey effect national opinion more than a local survey on a retail store!

I think another survey needs to be done more focused on OHV usage...and there should be a stated bias so the indifferent and oppositional views can be brought out/defined and better addressed for our future ventures into resolving disputes in our favour
...this survey really didn't take very much in to account as far as gathering usable information...it seamed to be a PR/ informational tool ...with a very subtle/benign call to action!

Mention of private company use of public land on the Western Slope should also be included...a large number of quality jobs are dependent on that there...a lot of public land is closed to the public for the sake of retrieving and exploring natural resources...which also effects the outcome of available OHV usage areas in the future!