CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN BIKERS ARE GETTING SCREWED ALERT!
SENATOR BOXER AND WILDERNESS SUPPORTERS FRAUD EXPOSED!
"MOUNTAIN BIKERS FOR WILDERNESS" A SHAM ORGANIZATION!
Since we first broke this story about this fraud being perpetrated by Senator Boxer and Wilderness proponents, they have continued to attempt to fool the public into believing IMBA Chapters and the majority of California mountain bikers have endorsed the wilderness bill. The web site for Mountain Bikers For Wilderness is http://www.mb4w.org/advocates.htm
We have a part of a column from the San Francisco Chronicle on our web site, written by Tom Stienstra, who used information from this so-called organization in his article MOUNTAIN BIKING GROUP WINS COUP . Click here http://www.warriorssociety.org/Wilderness/082202_Wilderness_alert.htm to view the article and the update that exposed this fraud. Here is the information from this group that Tom Stienstra used in his story.
In turn, several chapters of the International Mountain Biking Association have also announced support for the bill, including chapters in Placer and Nevada counties in Northern California, and Santa Barbara and San Diego counties in southern California.
Senator Boxer is continuing to perpetuate this deception by posting this endorsement on her web site at http://boxer.senate.gov/senate/b_2535.html with the statement "Mountain Bikers Announce Support For California Wild Heritage Act."
As anyone who is familiar with IMBA knows, IMBA does not have chapters they have affiliated clubs. Theres no such thing as an IMBA chapter. The clubs dont support the wilderness bill. How do I know? The presidents of these IMBA chapters, I mean clubs, are members of the Warriors Society.
This is a deliberate attempt by Boxer and her wilderness supporters to fool the public into thinking IMBA and the majority of California mountain bikers support the wilderness bill.
When our Santa Monica representative, Jennifer Klausner, first received the press release from an aide to Senator Boxer in late July, we emailed them at the address provided (mb4wletter@hotmail.com .), and asked them to prove that the San Diego and Santa Barbara chapters of IMBA support the wilderness bill by sending out a statement from the presidents of these clubs, Andy Darragh (San Diego Mountain Bike Association) and Chuck Anderson (Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers).
If you notice, their names arent on the pro-wilderness petition on their web site.
But it doesnt stop there. In an attempt to add legitimacy to the press release they quoted a representative from one of IMBAs corporate sponsors, Patagonia, who were only too willing to take part in this fraud.
Want proof? Read this statement from the Mountain Bikers For Wilderness press release:
Senator Boxers Wilderness bill (S 2535) gives mountain bikers access to their favorite trails, and protects important threatened wild places, said John Sterling, Director of Environmental Programs at Patagonia, Inc. As a company that both makes mountain biking products and employs avid mountain bikers, we fully support S 2535 its a balanced and fair proposal.
Our researcher did speak at length with John Sterling at Patagonia to confirm this statement. Those quotes on the MB4W press release are his. He is also on the board of the California Wilderness Commission. Patagonia's mission is to "protect the wilderness" Their methods can be seen as zealous or terrorist depending on which side of the fence you are on. He admitted that the MB4W is a recent thing, a response to IMBA opposition to S 2535.
It is Patagonias policy to support wilderness bills. Remember, wilderness advocates got only about a quarter of the land they originally wanted in this bill, and I guarantee that in future bills they will continue to seek these areas and others. They will not be satisfied. Many of these areas do not qualify for wilderness but they have continued to change the definition of wilderness to the point where any area is wilderness if they think it is, not if it meets the original requirements of the wilderness bill.
Since it is Patagonias policy to support wilderness bills, it would have endorsed the bill even if all the original proposed wilderness areas were in it, which would have been devastating to mountain biking in the National Forests. It would have resulted in the loss of 99 percent of our riding areas here in Orange County. The San Juan Trail would have been but a memory to the mountain bike community, along with many other well known trails in the National Forest.
Patagonia is a corporate sponsor if IMBA while at the same time it supports legislation that would be devastating to its members. As I mentioned, it is Patagonias policy to support every wilderness bill no matter how mountain bikers are affected. With friends like this who needs enemies?
Several of our researchers provided the following info on who was behind the group, Mountain Bikers for Wilderness.
1. Mountain Bikers For Wilderness is a new organization. The group claims to be mountain bikers, but they are actually rafters and kayakers that want the Wild and Scenic Rivers designations passed. We found this out by the meta tags in their web page html code. These are used by search engines to help locate web. References to paddling were in these codes.
The keywords on this web page are:
which shows that it has a Friends of the River connection. You can expect this text to be dropped in the future.
The domain name is registered to Don Massie of Chico who registered the site a week before the press release was made public.
A little more on Don Massie: http://orovillerelicensing.water.ca.gov/pdf_docs/3-22-01_RecWGsum_att2.pdf . Hes listed on the adobe acrobat document listing the attendees at a public meeting. He is listed as representing the Chico Paddleheads.
Chico Paddleheads axe to grind is apparently to stop the hydro dams on the rivers N. Fork Feather River: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=chico+paddleheads&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=3553b262.7769120@news.snowcrest.net&rnum=1
2. Mountain Bikers For Wilderness is not an IMBA affiliated club, although now that we have exposed them that may change in the near future. We, as true mountain bike activists, haven't stooped to the level of starting a sham club of kayakers to get press and sway those that aren't in the know. Instead, we chose to fight our battles on the merit of a bill that eliminates miles of mountain bike trails and is bad for cycling as a whole.
These types of tactics and corrupt methods used by Senator Boxer and her supporters shows her desperation. This is something to remember when Senator Boxer comes up for re-election in 2 years.
In an email sent to the Warriors Society on August 23rd, Jim Hasenauer of IMBA wrote:
I agree, we need to confront Boxer and the CWHC campaign to tell them Mountain Bicyclists are not supporting bill yet.
The Mountain Bikers for Wilderness are certainly entitled to their opinion, but they are not representative of the mountain bike community.
The four IMBA clubs that are identified as chapters (minor misstatement) endorsed proposed wilderness in their areas after negotiating bicyclist priorities. They did not endorse the bill (major misstatement).
Jim is very gracious in describing this fraudulent press release by Boxer and her supporters as misstatements instead of what they are, an attempt to deceive the mountain bike community as well as the general public. If nothing else, IMBA should realize by this fraud perpetrated by Boxer and her supporters that they will stoop to any level of lies to get this wilderness bill passed.
Let this be a lesson to the mountain bike community that the wilderness advocates will not rest until they get all the designations they originally wanted, if not now, in the future. Whether an area qualifies for wilderness or not, they will seek this designation to the detriment of sound forest policy and at the expense of our ability to prevent the fires devastating our forests - as well as the recreational access of the public.
Other alternative designations should be considered instead of the Wilderness Designation.
We are thankful that our other California Senator, Diane Feinstein, has taken no stance on Boxer's California Wilderness Bill. She has voiced her concerns about the effects this bill will have on fire prevention and fighting, rural counties, and recreational access. The corrupt tactics of Senator Boxer and wilderness proponents should also cause her concern.
What actions should you take?
A. Oppose the Wilderness bill
B. Vote Senator Boxer out of office when she comes up for re-election in two years
C. Boycott Patagonia.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml]
Posted by Warrior's Society on 08/27/02
SENATOR BOXER AND WILDERNESS SUPPORTERS FRAUD EXPOSED!
"MOUNTAIN BIKERS FOR WILDERNESS" A SHAM ORGANIZATION!
Since we first broke this story about this fraud being perpetrated by Senator Boxer and Wilderness proponents, they have continued to attempt to fool the public into believing IMBA Chapters and the majority of California mountain bikers have endorsed the wilderness bill. The web site for Mountain Bikers For Wilderness is http://www.mb4w.org/advocates.htm
We have a part of a column from the San Francisco Chronicle on our web site, written by Tom Stienstra, who used information from this so-called organization in his article MOUNTAIN BIKING GROUP WINS COUP . Click here http://www.warriorssociety.org/Wilderness/082202_Wilderness_alert.htm to view the article and the update that exposed this fraud. Here is the information from this group that Tom Stienstra used in his story.
In turn, several chapters of the International Mountain Biking Association have also announced support for the bill, including chapters in Placer and Nevada counties in Northern California, and Santa Barbara and San Diego counties in southern California.
Senator Boxer is continuing to perpetuate this deception by posting this endorsement on her web site at http://boxer.senate.gov/senate/b_2535.html with the statement "Mountain Bikers Announce Support For California Wild Heritage Act."
As anyone who is familiar with IMBA knows, IMBA does not have chapters they have affiliated clubs. Theres no such thing as an IMBA chapter. The clubs dont support the wilderness bill. How do I know? The presidents of these IMBA chapters, I mean clubs, are members of the Warriors Society.
This is a deliberate attempt by Boxer and her wilderness supporters to fool the public into thinking IMBA and the majority of California mountain bikers support the wilderness bill.
When our Santa Monica representative, Jennifer Klausner, first received the press release from an aide to Senator Boxer in late July, we emailed them at the address provided (mb4wletter@hotmail.com .), and asked them to prove that the San Diego and Santa Barbara chapters of IMBA support the wilderness bill by sending out a statement from the presidents of these clubs, Andy Darragh (San Diego Mountain Bike Association) and Chuck Anderson (Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers).
If you notice, their names arent on the pro-wilderness petition on their web site.
But it doesnt stop there. In an attempt to add legitimacy to the press release they quoted a representative from one of IMBAs corporate sponsors, Patagonia, who were only too willing to take part in this fraud.
Want proof? Read this statement from the Mountain Bikers For Wilderness press release:
Senator Boxers Wilderness bill (S 2535) gives mountain bikers access to their favorite trails, and protects important threatened wild places, said John Sterling, Director of Environmental Programs at Patagonia, Inc. As a company that both makes mountain biking products and employs avid mountain bikers, we fully support S 2535 its a balanced and fair proposal.
Our researcher did speak at length with John Sterling at Patagonia to confirm this statement. Those quotes on the MB4W press release are his. He is also on the board of the California Wilderness Commission. Patagonia's mission is to "protect the wilderness" Their methods can be seen as zealous or terrorist depending on which side of the fence you are on. He admitted that the MB4W is a recent thing, a response to IMBA opposition to S 2535.
It is Patagonias policy to support wilderness bills. Remember, wilderness advocates got only about a quarter of the land they originally wanted in this bill, and I guarantee that in future bills they will continue to seek these areas and others. They will not be satisfied. Many of these areas do not qualify for wilderness but they have continued to change the definition of wilderness to the point where any area is wilderness if they think it is, not if it meets the original requirements of the wilderness bill.
Since it is Patagonias policy to support wilderness bills, it would have endorsed the bill even if all the original proposed wilderness areas were in it, which would have been devastating to mountain biking in the National Forests. It would have resulted in the loss of 99 percent of our riding areas here in Orange County. The San Juan Trail would have been but a memory to the mountain bike community, along with many other well known trails in the National Forest.
Patagonia is a corporate sponsor if IMBA while at the same time it supports legislation that would be devastating to its members. As I mentioned, it is Patagonias policy to support every wilderness bill no matter how mountain bikers are affected. With friends like this who needs enemies?
Several of our researchers provided the following info on who was behind the group, Mountain Bikers for Wilderness.
1. Mountain Bikers For Wilderness is a new organization. The group claims to be mountain bikers, but they are actually rafters and kayakers that want the Wild and Scenic Rivers designations passed. We found this out by the meta tags in their web page html code. These are used by search engines to help locate web. References to paddling were in these codes.
The keywords on this web page are:
which shows that it has a Friends of the River connection. You can expect this text to be dropped in the future.
The domain name is registered to Don Massie of Chico who registered the site a week before the press release was made public.
A little more on Don Massie: http://orovillerelicensing.water.ca.gov/pdf_docs/3-22-01_RecWGsum_att2.pdf . Hes listed on the adobe acrobat document listing the attendees at a public meeting. He is listed as representing the Chico Paddleheads.
Chico Paddleheads axe to grind is apparently to stop the hydro dams on the rivers N. Fork Feather River: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=chico+paddleheads&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=3553b262.7769120@news.snowcrest.net&rnum=1
2. Mountain Bikers For Wilderness is not an IMBA affiliated club, although now that we have exposed them that may change in the near future. We, as true mountain bike activists, haven't stooped to the level of starting a sham club of kayakers to get press and sway those that aren't in the know. Instead, we chose to fight our battles on the merit of a bill that eliminates miles of mountain bike trails and is bad for cycling as a whole.
These types of tactics and corrupt methods used by Senator Boxer and her supporters shows her desperation. This is something to remember when Senator Boxer comes up for re-election in 2 years.
In an email sent to the Warriors Society on August 23rd, Jim Hasenauer of IMBA wrote:
I agree, we need to confront Boxer and the CWHC campaign to tell them Mountain Bicyclists are not supporting bill yet.
The Mountain Bikers for Wilderness are certainly entitled to their opinion, but they are not representative of the mountain bike community.
The four IMBA clubs that are identified as chapters (minor misstatement) endorsed proposed wilderness in their areas after negotiating bicyclist priorities. They did not endorse the bill (major misstatement).
Jim is very gracious in describing this fraudulent press release by Boxer and her supporters as misstatements instead of what they are, an attempt to deceive the mountain bike community as well as the general public. If nothing else, IMBA should realize by this fraud perpetrated by Boxer and her supporters that they will stoop to any level of lies to get this wilderness bill passed.
Let this be a lesson to the mountain bike community that the wilderness advocates will not rest until they get all the designations they originally wanted, if not now, in the future. Whether an area qualifies for wilderness or not, they will seek this designation to the detriment of sound forest policy and at the expense of our ability to prevent the fires devastating our forests - as well as the recreational access of the public.
Other alternative designations should be considered instead of the Wilderness Designation.
We are thankful that our other California Senator, Diane Feinstein, has taken no stance on Boxer's California Wilderness Bill. She has voiced her concerns about the effects this bill will have on fire prevention and fighting, rural counties, and recreational access. The corrupt tactics of Senator Boxer and wilderness proponents should also cause her concern.
What actions should you take?
A. Oppose the Wilderness bill
B. Vote Senator Boxer out of office when she comes up for re-election in two years
C. Boycott Patagonia.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml]
Posted by Warrior's Society on 08/27/02
