1017 E. Walnut Ave.
Orange, Ca. 92667
Jan. 30, 1976


LETTER TO THE DPS EDITOR & SPS EDITOR

In rebuttal to Barbara Lilley & Abe Siemens et al: It is sad to see that several of our prominent climber-hikers, such as Ms. Lilley & Mr. Siemens, fail to see the wisdom of the BMTC or MTC program. This same program, by the way,-or very similar ones- are being offered now in many colleges throughout the state. I, too, look with nostalgia back to the Sierra & the desert of the 1950's, when I joined the Club to find friends of similar interest. Of course, I am sure that Norman Clyde felt the Sierra was already quite crowded in the 1950's, compared to his earlier hiking days there! It's really all quite relative, you see. But, to come to my point: the wilderness(i.e., those areas not altered by the works of man, 'tho' perhaps by his visits!) needs all the friends it can get these days. Alpine(downhill) skiers, snowmobilers, trail bikers, & the myriad of other mechanized outdoors people are becoming increasingly well-organized, and are exerting more pressure on governmental officials to "save" some of the wilderness for their special uses. Thus, I am again pleased to see MTC enrollment near the 1000 mark this year. it is also gratifying to see hundreds, perhaps thousands, of students enroll in wilderness recreation classes throughout the country. Let us hope that these students will be informed of the true purposes of the Sierra Club, and not be led astray by the many active opponents of the club who proudly display their abusive bumper-stickers as they drive down the freeways of our congested southern California. Move over, Barbara & Abe. Try to make room for your new wilderness friends, and why not share some of your expertise with them! They would appreciate it more than you know, and our wilderness areas will have just that much more chance to survive in a world which is going to be terribly crowded with users competing for that chance to return to a nature, limited(by permits)access wilderness area, even for just a short time each year. I urge all DPS & SPS members to voice their approval of the MTC program to our Executive Committee(chapter).

I also strongly agree with the DPS editor & urge all members to write the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, voicing their disapproval of the new outings policy which attempts to control location & length of local outings. The DPS, SPS, local groups of the chapter, etc. should be able to schedule trips whenever and wherever they want for the benefit of their members. It makes far better sense to try to organize all trips at a local level first, so that fuel -energy costs can be minimized by bus and/or car pooling arrangements. If a chapter is not large enough to run its own trip, then it should coordinate with the national outings & urge its membership to support those. I am sure that many Angeles Chapter members have participated in both national and local outings and have enjoyed both. But let only those outings survive which are supported by club members wherever they may live, and regardless of who is the sponsoring group. In other words, let the members decide & choose.
  Jay Davis
 
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