OHV Volunteer Shield

How much money do you need, and what are you going to buy with it?

I'll save us both a lot of time and cut you a check.
 
Hell do we have someone (local?) who can make some good quality stickers of the volunteer shield? Can we just order up some of those ? Do we need official approval ? or use a specific image/file for any reproductions? etc???

I'd also be more than happy to pay for them..



Hows the rock garden project ?
 
JC said:
X2

My thinking is that there is WAY too much emphasis on things that aren't really necessary like, badges, stickers, signs, etc. I would prefer a more low key approach while still assisting the FS to make the OHV trails better and safer.
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Ditto.

The more "official" you look, the less likely people will stop and inquire about what you are doing or how they can help.
 
We were told that the FS would most likely shit kittens over us using the logo like you see on the FS T-shirts, and how big a deal it was for them to get those t-shirts instead of regular uniforms. Which is why I think Eli was going in the direction he was. I didn't know there was an official FS volunteer badge/shield, but seems to me that what we, the volunteers should have.

As for the cones and stuff like that, that stuff was decided upon because of some ATVers nearly having a calamity tearing ass on a trail and running up on us on the side working. One of them actually ran over one of their friends who jumped off his motorcycle to avoid us. This isn't an embellished woe is us story, that happened.

The volunteer signs donated by Don raises awareness when we are working and has cause a few people to ask what is going on. I now hang one of the signs on the back of my spare and bring up the rear of my group.

I can also appreciate the people that volunteer with their money. Not everyone can or wants to work on the trails. We accomplish the same thing in different ways. It is all good.

I think what Eli does is tosses a lot of ideas out trying to see what sticks. I rather he "spin his wheels" here in the forums and get feedback on stuff than some other approach with less or no feedback form the forum.

Some of the stuff is based on things we have dealt with on the work days, and I know we don't always report in with a blow by blow of the work day so some people may not understand where Eli or others like me come up with stuff. It's usually not off the wall and random, we're trying to address issues we have seen or heard about. Like me asking about GPS coords when the one guy flipped and had NO CLUE where he was.

I volunteered to be the assistant cat herder. Eli is THE cat herder. I want to assist, I don't want to lead or be in charge, I want to be handed orders and if need be pass those orders along the cat herder chain of command.

If communication is part of the problem,we can report in with a much more detailed posting/record. Give us input and we will do what we can to accommodate as many as we can.

As for the stickers on stickers I think it is a pride/morale thing for the people who go to the work days. I was tickled as hell to get my three in a row gold sticker, and have talked to a lot of people abut that sticker. So some stuff may seem pointless but I think most of it is worth something going towards keeping our trails open.

:beer:

PS.

The rock gartden was discussed after the July work day, and how the FS was now more "open" towards the idea of a rock garden. It was said it wouldn't happen over night but that it was a possibility. I htink that may boil down to our communication. I HTH.
 
Brian pretty much covered just about all of it. Everything we do is for a reason. I try to run ideas by everyone on here as a common courtesy, but maybe I am doing this too much. I can't sit here and give a 3 page explanation every time someone disagrees or questions an idea proposed on here.

Take the cone situation that most people thought was stupid/ a waste of time. The explanation that its for safety should be enough. We shouldn't have to get into how someone almost got seriously injured because of lack of safety/awareness during work days to explain why we need safety devices. Its common sense. People on dirtbikes/atvs see the cones before they get to the work area, they slow down, and we avoid accidents. Really simple.

I am going to bring up a big part of it right here. I am sure this will rub someone the wrong way, but its been brought up during the work days multiple times. If you don't attend the work days you only have some much insight into what is going on, and what is needed for the work days/group etc. And that is wording it nicely/nicer than the way its been stated during the work days.

One that sticks out was the whole Auger debate. People trying to theorize how many holes we should get dug, and what equipment will be sufficient when 90 percent of these people have never installed guard railing let alone guard railing on the trails. Its easy to sit back and say well you only need this or you don't need this when most haven't even been out there. This includes the cone thing. Its easy to assume its pointless and redundant if you weren't out there when the one kid could have ended up in the hospital.

Not everyone is doing the blind suggesting/complaining etc, but its enough people and been going on for long enough that its getting old.

I try to bring ideas to the table to get opinions on them before they are implemented. So everyone can get their .02 in. Contrary to popular belief most of these ideas are discussed during work days or with the Forest Service before I post them up on here. I don't just pull something out of my ass and post it up on the board. I admit I don't always get the idea across the correct way the first time, but I work with the feedback I get to correct anything that comes up.
 
Well, as a charter member of a club who has adopted a trail, has spent many hours on foot picking up litter, opening water dams, repairing corduroys, installing hog wire, installing/repairing rail fence, removing hog wire & rail fence, and installing lots and lots of guardrail (even in rock on the top of Shingle Trap Mtn.), etc.
I am giving my "insight".
We don't need the trails cluttered with a lot of signs and we don't need uniforms or vehicle signage.
The cones maybe I can see, but we @ CFSJC have found that if you park your rigs strategically around your work site partially blocking the trail (but allowing room to get by) people will slow down well before the actual worksite. If we have a dangerous situation where we have to be in the middle of the trail, we can temporarily block it off. Most (90%) of the users we encounter while doing this understand and are very co-operative and appreciative. The other 10% just aren't going to "get it" no matter what you do.
Ya'll keep it up with all this "officialnativeness" and we might as well pave the trails, paint white and yellow lines and have radar traps hidden in the trees.
EDUCATION is the key, and the student has to be willing and open to it, trying to shove it down their throat will not work!
:bounce2:
 
Oh, BTW

I really do appreciate what you are trying to do,
but I think you may be a tad over ambitious about the whole thing.
 
You are soliciting advice and/or approval but then you're taking the responses way too personally. Ideas get way better because of, honestly, having to defend them. That's how design works. I'd suggest you take these very legitimate responses that you've been getting and consider that many of them are coming from people who have done this before, maybe for a living, or have much more experience on many more trails.
 
DRaider90 said:
I am going to bring up a big part of it right here. I am sure this will rub someone the wrong way, but its been brought up during the work days multiple times. If you don't attend the work days you only have some much insight into what is going on, and what is needed for the work days/group etc. And that is wording it nicely/nicer than the way its been stated during the work days.
One that sticks out was the whole Auger debate. People trying to theorize how many holes we should get dug, and what equipment will be sufficient when 90 percent of these people have never installed guard railing let alone guard railing on the trails.
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Wow. Self-righteous much?
 
saf-t scissors said:
Wow. Self-righteous much?
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I said nothing self rightous there, it applies to anyone that has attended a work day or regularly attends work days. Except in those discussions its in private essentially so its a bit more blunt. IE. "How can they make harsh suggestions when they aren't even out here doing the work?". So I think I put it very nicely.

Again this doesn't apply to everyone. There are some knowledgable people on here that have been giving valid/valuable input. And I thank those people for putting the time and effort to replying on here. Up until this point I haven't said anything, I have taken everything tounge in cheek. But the handful of people being harsh and quite blunt to put it nicely has finally gotten a reaction out of me. I don't take things personally on here, but I can only tolerate so much attitude.
 
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