RRC Archives

An excellent idea that would be good for showing our intent to be responsible. In case this has not already been thought of, I e-mailed your post to Shannon.

captain static wrote:This is beginning to sound like the commercial with the pizza lawyer. If you are so intent on climbing in Big Sinkin' during this dispute, then you need to bring your climbing lawyer with you to defend your personal legal interests in dealing with Charmane, the Sheriff, and to document any conversations that may take place. You coulld even have the lawyer walk down the trail first in front of you in case of any booby traps.

I might consider being a climbing lawyer but taking a fragging would have to be double my usual retainer.

so i know people climbed in the southern region last weekend, did anyone have any problems?

It was worse than I first thought. They planted land mines and had camoflaged snipers in the trees! My partner and I had to belly crawl for 2 miles just to get out and that was just at the Lode! ....other than that, no trouble.

Mj

Wait a minute - are you all suggesting that an oil company might do something illegal?!?! Never! Certainly there's never been a case of an oil company doing anything illegal...

Bottom line is that the oil company has the bucks, so they're going to win in the end most likely. That's the way the politics work. Maybe we'll find some loophole in a law or something, but then there's always politicians they can lobby to get the law changed. And politicians listen to oil companies, we at least know that much. So if they want the gates there, they probably are gonna get to keep them there.

In any case, if the end result is we can't park back there, no biggie. There are lots of climbing places I've been to where you have to park at the gate and walk in. Cooper's Rocks in winter is one example. Sure its a pain in the butt, but I doubt they can stop the actual climbing itself.

-sam

jeffers_mz wrote:(snip)Moving dirt around isn't a big deal. A dozer and backhoe/front loader combination can make a real big parking lot in less than a day. It's possible that the oil company even has idle equipment we could use, if they think it will solve their problems. If not, I've rented both types of equipment for around $200 a day which really isn't that much considering the total cost of the project. That's not true commercial rates, but if somebody somewhere isn't willing to cut us a deal, then even standard rates, say $750 a day including delivery and pick-up, still isn't an insurmountable amount of money. I love moving dirt with big toys if no-one else is available to do it.

Once the basic needs are satisfied, the residual offenders might simply find their cars towed, with signs indicating where to get their cars, and, more effective, how much it's going to cost to get them back.

(snip)

If you do it right, they might even think it's their idea.

I just want to reiterate these two excellent points that 'jeffers_mz' has made. I've made the same point about posting signs to help climbers avoid blocking equipment (and communicating to the oil company that the RRGCC wants to make things work well for them).

I've also given some thought to the first point he made above. Adding parking that is separate from the oil operations would go a long way towards avoiding future conflicts. It would take a little planning, but we could certainly make the situation much better. After all, if everything goes well, there will probably be two or three times as many climbers using the area on a given weekend in a few years. (While we're at it, it would be nice to do a little road maintenance here and there. Like making Drive By driveable or dumping a bunch of gravel in the 'mud pit' at the head of the pond below Oil Crack)

I suspect that the oil company has the topographical surveys of the area that would make planning additional parking much easier. Also, as jeffers_mz points out, they also have the equipment to do the work. If they were in a good mood, they might have even been willing to lend us idle equipment out of enlightened self interest. Even if they were slightly less enlightened, they might have been willing to do some of the work we will need for a price.

My guess is that they've been getting hot under the collar for a long time and haven't seen much action from climbers until the signs (and now gates) went up. At this point, I assume that they are frustrated and not terribly keen on talking. Knowing that they are very important to the local economy (and knowing that agents of the oil industry hold the two highest offices in the country) I'm not surprised that they think they can get away with whatever they want. I wish I could think anyting else that would help establish a dialog, but for now posting signs and bulding parking areas would demonstrate to the oil company that the RRGCC is serioius about working with them.

Those are great ideas, but they all = money, and man power.
Seems like the coalition is still trying to raise money just for the purchase.
If everyone gave, these things would probably be closer to becoming reality.
Not trying to single anyone out, but I strongly feel that whoever has climbed or plans on climbing in the Southern Region should contribute.....
No free rides, eh?

Yes, give at least enough that you notice it!

Yes, these things cost money, but the RRGCC isn't just becoming a property owner, the RRGCC is also becoming a property manager. That's going to require management planning and funding with which to implement the planning. Right now the emphasis is clearly the first stage of the purchase, but it's also the right time to develop a management plan so that it can be put into place when the title transfer happens (or sooner, with the Murray's permission).

so are the gates locked?

Does anyone have an update on this situation?