Michael Swenson of USAALL, an organization of off-highway vehicle enthusiasts, had one of those moments he probably wishes he could take back when quoted by The Tribune’s Robert Gehrke about ATV and OHV enthusiasts not complying with federal travel plans throughout Utah.
The Tribune got the quote right, but since Swenson is a good guy and asked for his remarks to be clarified a bit, here is what he said he was trying to get across:
“What I was trying to get at, albeit poorly, was that when the motorized community isn’t involved and engaged in the travel planning and agencies cram it down the public’s throats, you can expect less compliance,” he wrote in an e-mail to me. “I was in no way saying that non-compliance is an appropriate response to a plan that folks don’t support. I was saying that it is predictable.
“That predictability and understanding of why non-compliance is happening has relevance because we cannot fix a problem until we know what is causing it. Too often agencies have compliance issues but they fail to recognize why it is occurring. Some of it is bad apples, some of it is ignorance, some of it is because the public’s needs are not adequately addressed.
“This was part of my response to [Tribune reporter Robert] Gehrke regarding the governor’s decision to step up enforcement which is fine but it treats a symptom of the problem and not the cause and therefore will not cure us of the actual problem.”
— Tom