We need to clean "house" and "senate" and all those others that we don't elect.
Which, I think, is part of our problem - we get people in places like the BLM that are NOT elected - so, have no responsibility to "the people".
The same with hundreds and hundreds of people who control our lives. They aren't elected.
Everything from Game and Fish officials to some judges. And some are there for life. Of course, different states have different "unelected" officials, but, really - if you cannot lose your job, what incentive do you have work FOR the people, instead of for the guy who appointed you?
Also - I agree - we are preaching to the choir by talking about it here. The problem with going outside of a forum like this is simple - we have not been able to organize successfully, with the others who use the public lands. Since I have been involved in this for several years - I can tell you that one of the major problems of organizing other folks, is that many have the attitude that their activity should be allowed, but, not some others.
Horseback trailriders don't want 4 wheeler people, hikers don't want horse folks (have to step around the poop), many 4 wheel clubs and horse people do not want mining (holes), hunters seem to think that quads only should be used for carrying game - bicyclists don't want quads or horses - (ruins the riding), canoe enthusiasts do not want anything motorized where they go - (causes waves and supposedly oil), many of these
other folks I've mentioned don't want hunters, at all (afraid of guns). Even the dredging garbage - there are real, professional reports, that prove that, in many cases, dredging actually INCREASES survival rates for spawning fish - but, those reports have been shelved in favor of the ones done by "friends", who say that it churns up the water, to the detriment of fish. (I guess their friends do not know how fish actually feed, or hide their young.)
I've done, probably 40-50 "speeches" - and, I swear - you just cannot get them to understand that, when we start saying things like "everyone, except", that we will NEVER get big enough to make something happen. Yet, if you look online and other places, all of these outdoor enthusiasts talk about access. But, they are worried about only THEIR access, for THEIR sport, and don't realize that we have huge organizations that want everything outlawed, pretty much. (and I would also like to suggest that anyone who is interested - go to the home pages of Nature's Conservancy and the Sierra Club - they have actually built places - in wilderness areas - and charge people to stay there - and, they have also sold off hundreds of acres of "donated land" - to big contributors and they lease, for big bucks - our lakes, deserts and forest areas. The government lets them be "stewards", and they make lots of money from it.
I encourage anyone and everyone - to go to public meetings of other outdoor clubs - and talk to them. If we could get all the outdoorspeople, (besides the SC and NC folks) - we would have a much better chance.
A few years ago, I paid for and advertised, a website to try to do just that. What I got was a bunch of folks on the SC and NC side, posting obnoxious - and untrue - lies. How we all cause the desert tortoise to die, how we destroy the earth with mercury, how we tear up all the lands with 4 wheelers, how we are killing off the wild horses in the west (yes, really got that), that we were all stealing "their" treasures and wealth, for our own selfish selves. But, hardly anyone of the type we NEED to get and keep our rights, posted at all. How do you get across to someone that it is NOT a treasure until it sees the light of day, and how do you get others to realize that, as soon as you stop any particular group from using public lands, that it is one step closer to NOBODY being able to use the public lands?
Now, that was a few years ago, and I have been thinking about doing something with facebook, since web use is much higher than it used to be, and facebook is so popular. The biggest problem is STILL getting the right people to read and learn and do something.
Beth