For a person of many hobbies like me, this is the time of year I think about sand, camping at the desert, skiing, and the fire-pit in the back yard. I had planned to enjoy the dunes at least a few times this year, but I'll be lucky if I get one trip. There are a million reasons, but mostly it's because of bald tires on the GMC (tow vehicle), two car tires on the trailer (emergency last summer on a beach camp trip), the jeep not shifting, my 4 year old son's birthday just weeks before Christmas, and the fact that it's already January and I'm quickly running out of Winter.

It's also that time of year to do that New Year's resolution thingy again. It's always a given that I've got to spend as much time with the family as I can. I quit smoking some time last summer, so I want to continue being strong there. (It was really easy to quit this time. It's for good, I can tell.) Oh yea, and start exercising so I can keep up with my growing boys.

There are a few resolutions I need to ask you to help me with. The effort put forth here will not only help our sport, it will give you satisfaction in knowing you had a hand in it.

1. Adopt a routine in which you send one letter to bureaucracy for every ride or event you attend this year. (Some of you practically live out there, so some exceptions are in order) But on a cold, rainy night when you can't go out, do us all a favor and sit at the computer and start writing!
2. A small donation to your favorite off-road organization or their legal fund to help with our fight.
3. One face-to-face meeting with your local congress person before the year's out. (It's easier than you think, and has a much bigger impact than a letter, see below.)
4. Correspondence from your club/group to your elected representatives (especially if new ones) high-lighting the key issues your club would like addressed (and please include things like:

• Continued and appropriate spending of OHV funding;
• No net loss in trails/roads/dunes;
• Public access to public lands;
• Support for multiple use (many uses) on public lands;
• Public input in to the decisions made affecting your area.

If we all were to do some of these, I think the recreation world will stun the opposition! And the opposition is spending huge amounts of money and effort to work against us by closing land and creating laws against us.

For the face to face resolution, take the effort to get hold of your elected person, and tell the staffer who answers the phone that you'd like a meeting. Take in a list of issues (such as you'd put in the letter mentioned above) and go in and let them know how you feel. There are also plenty of articles and publications out there on how to write to and meet with elected officials. If you need help, let me know.