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Voices (Continued/rom page 4) cyclists. What Mr. Sheridan doesn't mention, however, is that most of the tracks visible in the picture were made by a four -wheeled (or dual -treaded ) vehcile roughly !O'8" wide - far too wide for any off-road vehicle known to man (a nd certainly not a mo torcycle) but just about the right size to ha ve been made by a tank. (Possibly this damage occurred during desert military maneuvers such as th e massive " oper a tio n desert st r ike" of 1968 .) Other destruction visible in the picture has been made by a bulldozer, as th e mounds of earth left by it clearly ind icate. - Mr. Sheridan tries to make us believe that , but for the presence of off· highway recreat ionists , Afton Canyon would be an oasis of quiet , bursting with fauna and flora . This hardly seems likely, since Afton Canyon also happens to be a main thoroughfare for the Southern Pacific railroad , and in the heart of a sonic boom corridor. I could continue on and on with this list of inaccuracies and ommisions on the part of Mr . Sheridan , but I believe my point has been made, Fa r from be ing a work of r esponsibl e e nvi ron m enta l j ou rna lism, Mr. Sheridan's tract is little more than a piece of infla m ma to ry p ropaganda calculated to furt her inc re ase the adversary relationship he and his ilk have helped to cre a te between offroaders and other recreation ists, and to prevent meaningful d ialogue and com promise from taking place. In my op in ion , the vast majority of off·highway recreation ists harbor th e sam e reverenc e and respect for the Cal ifornia d esert as do t he vas t majori ty of our fellow citize ns. Like them , the d esert represents to us an avenu e of esca pe from " p ressu re cooker" society - a wa y to relieve the tensions of everyday life by returning to nature and th e opportu nity for solitude and reflection it affords, The machin es we use are , in t he most literal sense , .ve h icles for th e enhancement of thi s pleasure, because of the almost unparalleled freedom th ey allow. In no other way ca n on e sam ple so mu ch of the desert's scenic beauty , nor so effect ivel y isola te oneself from th e ca res a nd worries of everyda y life. I see nothing m a liciou s in th is. What I d o find malicious is the unvarnished effo rts of Mr. Sherida n and his fellow eli tists to deny us one of the few free doms left to the Am eric a n people: the right to use pu blic lands. T ru e, there are some bad apples bad ap ples that conce rn ed off -readers despair and despise full y as much as Mr. Sheridan . Bu t let us not allow Mr. Sherida n's broad brush. to paint these bad a pples into the same corner as th e participants of the Pha ntom Du ck of the Dese rt tra il ri de who , in a n ord erly , pe aceful wa'y have chosen to de m onstra te thei r distaste for oppressive over-regu lation and elitist insensitivity. I fully believe t hat we ca n and should develop a ba lanced la nd use polic y for California 's desert which prov ided max imum protection for env ironmen tally delicate area s and irrep laca b le artifacts as well as maximum enjoym ent- for all California's ci ti zens , conservationists and recreationists alike . People like Mr. Sheridan on ly serve to make thi s goal less attainable. Hey, gang! How does itfeel toget dusted bythe Teeniest Meanie? Jeff"Teeny Meanie"Ward cooled everybody's heels in the 125cc class of the CMC Golden State Series. Andhow about this,Bunky? Ward's winning bike isclose tobeing the same KX125 you canbuyfrom your Kawasaki dealer. Hey, ifyou ain't got the greensthisyear, you gonnaget the blues. Don't let the good timespass you by. Kawasaki Heh,heh, heh. J. ROBERT HAYES ASsemblyman, 39th District California State Legislature Th e preceding lett er was addressed to New West magazin e's editor .. . Editor. 1 9