I had the opportunity last weekend to participate in the annual Chile Challenge hosted by the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club.  This is an ultimate off road adventure.  They drive 4WD vehicles on trails throughout the mountains. There are trails for drivers with different expertise levels.  They even suggest the drivers and passengers on the expert trails wear full body armor.  This “challenge” is definitely for the thrill seekers in Southern New Mexico.  

This activity in Las Cruces is in danger of ending because of legislation that continues to make more of our wilderness land off limits to people and activities. 

In 2009, a National Monument was created that covers all of the Chile Challenge trails in the Robledo Mountains, but stipulated the Chile Challenge could continue using the designated trails within it.   Now the current Wilderness Bill, (that I have written about before here and here,) is threatening access to all of the Broad Canyon Trails. 

Prior to the Chile Challenge each year they go through a lengthy process with the Bureau of Land Management for permits for the event.  The event organizers submit plans and documentation about the event and its impact on the land.  BLM does an environment assessment and grants permission for them to use existing trails.  The Chile Challenge group is an excellent steward of the land.  They ensure participants do not go in undesignated areas and that no fluids from the vehicles leak on to the ground.  They clean up their own trash and leave the National Monument just as they found it.

 Yet their access to our wilderness is in jeopardy.

 As Chairman of the National Parks Subcommittee in Congress, I saw this same scenario played out by different activist groups across the country.  They hate motorized access to any government land.  At the moment, that is a far reach so they target the special use spaces… National Monuments, National Parks, National Recreation Areas, National Scenic Areas, National Conservation Areas and National Protection Areas. 

The Environmental Extremists then petition to stop access into the areas by any sports enthusiasts.  When petitions fail, they file lawsuits, lawsuits which delay or obstruct.  Eventually the group conducting the activity just stops what they are doing because it gets too expensive to continue.  Then the extremists petition the government to be reimbursed for their expenses in the lawsuit and are usually successful in being reimbursed for their legal actions to “protect the land.” 

During my time as chairman, the National Parks were constantly being threatened by lawsuits to stop motorized boat and sea-doo water sports off the coast of Maryland.  The extremists described the sound of the boats as environmental degradation.  Snowmobilers are under constant attacks which try to limit their access to National Forests, National Parks and National Monuments.  Motorcycles, jeeps, 4-wheelers…all are victims of the extremists.

The extremist view knows no bounds.

As Chairman of the National Parks I questioned the National Park management when a double amputee was kicked off the premises of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington because he was on a segway wheeled scooter.  The Ranger could see he had no legs, but declared it was her duty to eliminate all wheeled vehicles from her National Monument. 

I ordered a Congressional hearing on the whole matter of access by handicapped individuals into our National Parks.  Emotional testimony was given by a blind man, a mother of a deaf girl, a man in a wheelchair…all who just wanted equal rights.  Equal rights are not something the environmental extremists are interested in.  The movement to limit all access to public lands pushes ahead without concern about those who have different limitations and different values.

The environmental extremists are not only limiting recreational activities on public lands, they have segmented out groups of Americans that cannot access National Parks and Monuments due to different physical limitations.   

However, the extremists still continue to gain ground.  All of the activites I have mentioned are completely prohibited under the Wilderness Designation.  Getting an area designated as wilderness is like winning the Lottery.  When an area is designated as wilderness, the radicals do not have to block any activity, they all are prohibited.

That is the threat faced by the Las Cruces Chile Challenge.  It is the threat all of us face.  When liberties to one group are curtailed, liberty is limited to all groups.