Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002
From: Kirk Brill <kbrill@home.com>
Subject: Re: Brown's Woods
Before I respond, I would like to ask the following question. Where the heck did you go to school? Did you graduate?
For future reference, here is a correction for you, of the words that
you failed to spell correctly:
Correct Spelling --------------- Your version of the correct spelling
really rally
searching serching
through threw
erosion erotion
motorcycle motercycle
still sill
erosion erotion
accusing acuseing
motorcycle motercycle
happened hapened
haven't havent
Also, the first word of a sentence is supposed to be capitalized (see
last sentence).
After reading your insulting ignorance prone letter, I had to conclude:
that either you never attended school, paid no attention in school, or
that you mountain bike without a helmet and have suffered brain damage from your crashes that make correct spelling impossible.
The students that worked so hard on the Brown's Woods project in 1996
have all graduated. I retired at the end of that school year. I did
not get along with the principal. He wanted to fire me because of my
"cause" for Brown's Woods. He would not let me into the school after I
retired to try to get any student help for any project or cause.
I would not have any luck, after all my students graduated and I
retired, getting students to help repair the damage.
You bet Brown's Woods was a "cause" !! No one else was willing to do
anything. I was very fortunate to have the best group of students in my teaching career that year. I took them out in the woods and showed
them what was happening. They said "we want to stop this damage".
I can assure the world that most of the damage at Brown's Woods now
there, was caused by mountain Bikes riding the old 3 miles of trails caused by the motorcycles and snowmobiles 30 years ago. Did you hike in the woods in the late 60's and early 70's when the woods was privately owned (I doubt that you were old enough to do so then)? The woods were going to be sold for timber and a housing development. I got "pissed off" and took it on as a "cause". My students were successful, and it was bought by the county and turned into a wildlife preserve for the county (not a testosterone rush for mountain bikers). Until the idiot mountain bikers got in there, most of the motorcycle damage had either been repaired or partially recovered on its own. (my students in the 70's raised money, and did work to help repair the damage. The idiot mountain bikers in the 90's greatly expanded (width wise), all the old damage, as well as carving 6 new miles of trails. How dare you say I don't care. Two times in my life I have fought like hell to save that Woods. Both times, I nearly lost my job.
How can you expect someone now into their 60's (and retired) to march
an "army" to repair the damage, when I no longer have any contact with
any students? The idiot mountain bikers (I assume that maybe you are one of them?) should be out there repairing the damage out of pure shame for what you all did to this beautiful woods. Mountain bikers are simply testosterone loaded hot heads, that know nothing of ecology, or they would not be continually claiming they do no damage.
In conclusion, what noble causes for the good of humanity and the
environment have you accomplished in your life? Have you ridden any of the Des Moines paved bike trails (they allow bikers to ride without causing muddy erosion)? When the first bike trails were up for approval at the city council, the proposal was going to be defeated 3-2. Bill Riley called me and begged me to take on his bike trail "cause". I did, and my students won that battle also. We, with emotional speeches by my students, changed one vote. This was responsible for the start of Iowa's impressive bike trail system. My students also started the first county recycling center. They worked on erosion control at Brown's Woods. They helped start a Youth Conservation Corps for central Iowa (that did a lot of work at Brown's Woods. They helped build 3 outdoor classrooms at central Iowa schools. They helped get the road alignment through Engledinger Marsh North of Des Moines changed, saving the marsh.
My student's projects, won them two 2nd place national ecology awards
(2nd place out of 1800 schools).
If you have not done any noble "causes" how dare you attack those that
have.
How can you be so blind as to not see the damage your sport is doing. I see the damage every time I travel!!!
I also am a biker. I have probably rode more miles in the last 5 years
than you have!!! All of it on paved trails or roads. I do not get an adrenaline rush out of seeing how much mud my tires can throw out grunting up a steep muddy slope. In the 5 years I have been retired, I have ridden over 10,000 miles. The only thing more destructive in wooded areas than consistent mountain biking are 4 wheelers, and a bulldozer.
Wake up and see what your sport is really - mass destruction of
beautiful natural areas. I get a kick out of your kind pretending to be nature lovers. What a joke.
Grow up. Wake up. Ride paved trails. Join the Sierra Club (I belong
to it and the Nature Conservancy). When my life is over, my estate will go to the Nature Conservancy to buy natural areas to preserve it for future generations.
What constructive things have you done for the environment? When your
life if nearing an end (as mine is), what will you be able to say you
did to make the world a better place? I can look back and reflect that
I helped save two very neat places. I can look back at the building of
the nature area at my former school. I helped several former students
become conservationists. I helped over 100 students become doctors. I influenced a number of students to become teachers. I taught thousands of students how to study (and spell). I helped hundreds of students to stop doing drugs, alcohol, or smoking. I helped a number of students to get help with depression or eating disorders. I helped a number of other students lose weight.
My life has not been in vain!!! I have been devoted to many, many
worthwhile important causes!! I have personally helped a number of
students work through personal problems (they were going to attempt
suicide).
When you have accomplished as much in your life as I have outlined
above, then you have the right to attack me, until then - get a life!!
In the Brown's Woods vote in the fall of 1996, the deal was the county
would set up a mountain bike trail. This was done. I have walked it personally. It is now an erosional mess, and it is on the flat!!!! The slopes in Brown's Woods are up to 60 degrees. Face reality, biking off paved trails is destructive!!
I did not do the damage at Brown's Woods, or anywhere else. Why do you
expect me and the students (I no longer have), to repair the damage done by your mountain biker friends.
Before you attack someone in the future, maybe you should get your facts straight.
Kirk
> Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2002 12:03:03 -0800 (PST)
> From: Chad VandeLune <chadbike1970@yahoo.com>
> Subject: do you really care
> To: mjvande@pacbell.net
>
> Do you rally care about browns woods or are you just
> serching for a cause. I hiked threw browns recently
> and I didn't see that anyone had done anything to stop
> the erotion that the motercycles caused in the 1970's.
> The hill sides are sill washing away. If you really
> cared wouldn't you try to stop the erotion that you
> blamed on the mountain bikers. It's to bad because
> there was alot of mtbers who really care and were
> willing to donate there time untill you pissed them
> off by falsly acuseing them of the erotion caused by
> the motercycles. what hapened to all the students who
> cared so much. I havent seen them out there reparing
> anything. please respond
>
> Chad Vande Lune