motohed
Posts: 240
Joined: 7/27/2007
From: ASHAWAY ,RI
Status: offline
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I attended a conference set up by NOHVCC this weekend. It was geared towards helping each state set up an organization that puts all off-road users under one umbrella. They had a rep from the AMA named Terry Lee Cook, who is in charge of grass roots politics for the AMA, and has vast experience in local and national politics. Terry's been a lobbyist, and is an elected official himself. He has also been a campaign manager for elected officials. Some of the most important things I learned I'd like to share here. Please get involved!
1- Form letters are worthless. The politicians don't even read them, they immediately hit the trash. We were shown a poll of politicians that showed that 98% of them didn't read them. In fact, they were more likely to vote against an issue wherein they were bombarded by form letters. Email is also rarely if ever read. They get so much email they simply don't have time to read it. Also, it's not very personal. They like to see that you took time to do things the old fashioned way. Beleive it or not, most elected officials see themselves as old fashioned folks doing public good. (We might not always agree)! But they appreciate personal contacts and most beleive that a person who is serious and committed will write a letter, which brings up rule # 2:
2- Hand written letters from individuals were almost always read, and carried the most weight. Obviously, they were more likely to pay interest to their constituents, but most would at least read letters from non-constituents. Either the pol or their assistant WILL look to see if the zip code is in their district. Many also look to see if a person is a registered voter. Letters should be hand written neatly in long-hand, not cursive. They should be short, concise, factual, and personal, but not emotional. Typing is next best if you absolutely cannot write legibly. If you type, still sign in blue or black ink. Do not even cut/paste other writing. Make each letter unique. Any hint of copying or form type is discarded. One person in the seminar said the USFS got 98,000 letters regarding the roadless initiative, and only counted 8,000 which were the only ones not form or copied. Always send a short follow up letter and/or call in a few days to 2 weeks to remind them of your issue and ask for their decision or action. Often without the follow up letter, they won't take you seriously or will forget. Do not use smilies and emoticons, and above all, proofread for accuracy and sentence structure. AND USE SPELL CHECK!
3- It is good to have everyone in the family who supports riding and/or rides to write. Not only dad, but mom and the kids. Letters from families are very effective. Don't write one from the family, but a seperate one from each family member. Letters from an 8 year old who has been riding for 4 years along with a picture of the kid next to their machine with all protective gear on is very effective.
4- Feel free to use military experience, civic group affiliations, church, volunteer offices held and/or volunteer work done, especially if done in the pols district of influence. Also use any personal ties, such as if you attended the same college as an official, or were in the same branch of service. Just don't use the tie to threaten or unfairly ask for favors.
5- Be direct but not pushy. Do not be threatening or negative, although you can use factual negative events that have occured if you have proof. Never accuse or make a statement that you can't prove with reasoneable evidence. Pols can sniff out BS pretty quick. They get plenty of it.
6- Use a club letterhead when possible, but make sure any members who use your clubs letterhead don't use it to be negative, pushy, or rude. One bad letter can negate the whole clubs efforts. It's not a bad idea to have someone from the club proofread all the letters but then give them back to the individuals to mail from their own address. (See rule # 2).
7- Cite the positive economic impact of an action or the negative impact of no action or adverse action. If a proposed trail system or expansion will positively impact a pols district, say so. If a trail closure will stop money coming in, say so. Use facts if you can.
8- Stress freedom. Freedom to ride, and have families ride with you. Stress responsibility. Stress conservation of rescources. Use our enemies arguments against them. For instance: " We propose a sustainable trail system which will be maintained by our club in accordance with ....... agencies guidelines and supervision". But make sure you can back it up.
9- Ask for specific action, and use standard writing procedures. "Tell em what you want em to know, tell em what you want to tell em, and tell em what you told em". Then ask for specific action. "We request that you vote yes/no on senate bill 1234. We will be waiting for a response from your office". As mentioned before, be direct and ask for action, but polite, not pushy. Feel free to ask for a meeting with the official, but be prepared in advance in case they say yes. Take no more than 1-4 people in to see them. Too many is overwhelming and you wont' get everything said. Take the best person for the meetings. If it's about trail maintance, take the trail captain, etc. You will probably get between 5-15 minutes. Don't expect more. Don't waste their time, or yours. Don't be surprised if you get cut off. It's not uncommon for the official to get a call requiring their immediate action. If you get cut off, reschedule with their secretary. Remember, secretaries and assistants really run the world! Treat them well. Send a short follow up letter in a week or two to find out what impact you had, and to remind them about your issue.
10- If you need a vote or action quickly, you must act early. It will take at least 2 weeks for a letter to be read by a pol's office plus mailing time. All congressional mail is now irradiated/microwaved to kill anthrax or other contaminants. That process alone takes at least 2 weeks before the pol gets it. Local officials or other agencies might get mail read sooner, but don't count on it.
11- Send letters or ask for a meeting with the proper official. Don't bother sending a letter to an agency/pol who you know won't help you, or who can't help you. You might send a quick one to a pol like Hillary Clinton who has already said she is aginst all motorized rec, but only to tell her that you were a registered Democrat and she won't get your vote. Asking her to keep trails open is pointless. Sending a letter to a state official to keep federal trails open is a waste of time. Utilize the officials you think can/will help most.
12- Try to anticipate your enemies actions or arguments first. If you know the Sierra club is actively contacting your official to tell them how you are killing the enviroment, and you have a positive impact study from the land manager, send a copy. If they say you're causing erosion, take pictures of the bridge you built over a creek. If you can make the official see BS from the other side, you will win. You might even make the official turn against your enemies and win big!
I almost put this in the gov/AMA section, but it will get more views here. Move it if you must. I hope it will stay here awhile.
PS: Forgot one, and a biggee! Document everything you do, and request responses in writing. Keep a file of each project/ contact with everyone for evidence. For instance, if you speak to a land manager about an erosion issue, or unauthorized use of single track by quad riders, they don't address it, and 5 years later they try to close the trail due to the unauthorized use or erosion citing user made damage, you can throw it back on them. A typical USFS and State tactic is to fail to manage an area, not police it or maintain it, which to us is obviously a failure on their part, then blame us for the damage.
A club in Tennessee got an area re-opened that was being trashed by quad riders, and the single track was being ruined. The FS local manager closed it citing overruse and erosion. The bike club had kept a file of emails, personal meetings, telephone calls with time/date/discussion, club actions to fix trail damage with no FS help, and records of every time they told the quad folks to stay off the single track, which was in the hundreds. They went to their state reps, regional FS officials, and finally the FS director in DC. Last I heard, they won.
You all know how I feel about how ATV riders are ruining single track. I've been very outspoken, and will continue to be. That said, every ATV individual at this meeting was impressive and listened. They all seemed to be genuinely concerned, and willing to work to change their sport from the inside out. I would'nt support this process if I thought it was against our efforts as single trackers. Keep fighting for single track, but the future is in getting all off road users on the same page and same side. "United we stand, divided we fall". I am still disappointed in how little the AMA seems to do for single trackers, but this is a step in the right direction. At least I see the AMA doing something positive finally.
This post has been edited by JGas on Aug 13 2007, 06:03 PM I took this off of the ktmtalk site .I thought we could all use this here !Admin please pin this for future use.
_____________________________
Scott W Thompson
life time netra member
life time ama member
life time blue ribbon coalition
RIOHVA member
neta member
hog member
lets play in the mud,rocks, roots or maybe balance on a log it's all good !
ride it like you stole it !
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