After an extremely successful virtual rally for Johnson Valley and the world renowned Hammers rock crawling trails in California, Pirate4x4.com members are shifting their focus to the east coast and are once again gathering for a massive virtual rally to save the Upper Tellico OHV Park in North Carolina.

On Wednesday May7th, 2008, Pirate4x4.com, a leading website for the OHV community, will hold this rally from 4 to 9 pm eastern standard time.

In 2007, the Southern Environmental Law Center, in coalition with Trout Unlimited and P.E.E.R. (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) filed a notice of intent to sue the Untied Stated Forest Service, claiming it was in violation of the federal water pollution act. This coalition stated that the Upper Tellico OHV area was dumping sediment into nearby streams and destroying the habitat of local brook trout. In turn, the USFS closed a major portion of the Tellico trail system.

There are many arguments against closing this popular OHV area, and many organizations involved in keeping it open. Carla Boucher, the attorney for the United Four Wheel Drive Association states, “United Four Wheel Drive Association (UFWDA), along with its partners Blue Ribbon Coalition and Southern Four Wheel Drive Association, are committed to taking all steps necessary to save our access at Tellico, including legislative, administrative, and legal action! This rally will bolster the efforts made by these organizations in this battle
by showing a large contingent of OHV users who back and support these organizations in their efforts.

Virtual rally participants will be asked to post their experiences, photos and history recreating with their families in the Tellico area along with their feelings and beliefs as to why the trail system should not be closed. Their comments will be posted and tracked in a bulletin board format, with a goal of creating a lasting record of how important this area is to a vast number of
people in the OHV community. Tellico is one of the very few public areas on the east coast for OHV recreation. Interested parties are encouraged to participate in the rally and read the thread.

If you would like more information on this topic, or to schedule an interview with Nick McCracken, please e-mail him at orangecherokee@yahoo.com. For Kurt Schneider, Pirate4x4.com land-use Editor, Please e-mail Kurt at kurtuleas@pirate4x4.com

Link to the Rally location:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=676594

If you plan to 'attend' please RSVP in this thread on SIRA:
http://www.sira4x4.net/forum/showthread.php?p=35473

Thanks everyone!