Citizen Spotlight on Karen Boeger and Dan Heinz
For a couple who claims to be retired, one quickly learns that Karen Boeger and Dan Heinz define retirement as being retired from their professional goals, not their passionate ones. They are too busy fighting tooth and claw to keep off-road vehicles out of Nevada’s once quiet, wild places to slow down.
Karen grew up in a farming community in California where her family hiked, fished and hunted in the nearby Sierra Mountains. In the early 1970’s she moved to Reno, Nevada to raise her children and teach. She educated kids from preschool to middle school, from remedial reading groups to gifted children. She started getting involved in off-road vehicle issues about 30 years ago when she began witnessing “takings” of previously roadless wild areas and wildlife habitat at an alarming rate. Off-road vehicles were creating renegade routes across Nevada’s landscape, taking advantage of its wide open, treeless terrain.
Unsure of where to begin to help stop this abuse, Karen began attending local Sierra Club meetings, became Chair of the Wilderness Committee, and hosted meetings at her home. She was also a founding member of Earth First! “back when it was a therapy group for disillusioned wilderness activists,” as she describes it. In 1988 when Nevada began working on its first statewide Wilderness bill, Karen helped found Friends of Nevada Wilderness, and has been on their Board ever since.
Dan grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado where, as a teen, he was first exposed to off-road vehicle’s on a backpacking trip with a friend into what was to become the Lost Creek Wilderness. “We were headed to a stream to do some fishing. It took us two days to get there, but when we arrived we found a jeep that had beat us!” That unpleasant encounter stuck with Dan throughout his career and into retirement. He takes on inappropriate off-road vehicle use at every opportunity.
Dan’s love of the outdoors led him to a career with the US Forest Service. He “retired” in 1983 and immediately volunteered in Butte, Montana for the National Wildlife Federation. He went on to help found American Wildlands in Bozeman, and served on boards for the Montana Wilderness Association, Greater Yellowstone Coalition and Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. As a volunteer, Dan worked mainly on grazing and logging issues, but also on the impacts of off-road vehicle’s.
Dan and Karen met in the old DC Sierra Club office. Now married, they share their passion for activism while living beyond the grid in a remote spot north of Reno in the Pahrah Range, which Karen says has been “a great problem solving activity.” Over the last ten years, the two have spent their spare time working on their sustainable home, which includes solar power, a wind generator, and a hydroelectric system that they installed themselves. They manage their email and computer work out of their home and travel around the state to attend meetings and political activities. “We wear a lot of different hats,” Karen admits.
The latest success the couple shared was preventing legislation that mandated hundreds of miles of off-road vehicle trails across an eastern Nevada county. A “Silver State OHV Trail” was to be attached to the White Pine County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act of 2006. The trail was projected to connect with a vast network of trails across the state; trails had already been established in adjacent Lincoln County through a similar bill, and White Pine was next on the list.
Dan and Karen, opposing the trail provision, were told by the state’s delegation that the trail was a done deal and nothing could be done to stop it. “I thought ‘whoa, if we can’t stop the trail in this county, it will be mandated and established in every county without public review or an opportunity to decide it is a bad idea” Karen recalls.
She and Dan kept the debate alive and, with crucial help from a state wildlife biologist and concerned residents, convinced the County Commissioners to pass a resolution against the trail, requesting that the route designation go through an administrative instead of a legislative process. This would assure public involvement, an environmental study, and a chance to halt the off-road vehicle mega-route from impacting Nevada’s traditional public land values. The legislative process simply mandated the trail.
“Luckily we had a visionary set of Commissioners who had known us from our years of involvement in other issues. We also had an atmosphere of folks here who wanted to do something about irresponsible off-road vehicle use,” Karen says.
The delegation reacted by putting pressure on the Commissioners to rescind the resolution. In response, Karen and Dan worked around the clock to gather supporting resolutions, and got them from the Nevada Game Commission, the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, the Nevada Farm Bureau, the (very conservative) Nevada Coalition for Wildlife, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and the National and Nevada Wildlife Federations. “We are usually on opposite sides of issues with many of these organizations, but this was an issue we had in common and our many years of involvement bought us credibility,” according to Karen.
“We purposely did not seek sign-on by typically “green” organizations; rather we sought to build up a big coalition of ‘red meat organizations’ to urge the Congressional delegation not to legislate this trail. So at the end of the day when the bill was introduced, the trail was not mandated.”
The bill’s final language greatly restricts the trail mileage that can be considered, and it requires the agencies to complete a three-year NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) study to make sure the trail doesn’t significantly impact wildlife, natural and cultural resources or traditional uses. “It was a major win,” says Karen, “it gives all citizens, the Department of Wildlife and other cooperating agencies a chance to give critical input.” We believe no off-road vehicle trail can be located without creating very significant impacts to some if not all of these key resources.
Karen and Dan attribute their success to the groundwork they had laid working on other issues in rural counties. When it came time to approach conservative organizations about off-road vehicles, people were willing to sign on because a level of credibility, trust and respect had been established.
Dan and Karen say the experience solidified their belief that environmentalists have to “hang tough” and be resilient when facing down threats to the environment. Dan says all too often enviros mistake good feelings with success. “When you meet with people and everyone leaves feeling good you may think you gained something. Most often reality is that you, and the American public you are representing, have been had. Visionary public land decisions just cannot be made without disturbing someone’s interest. Be courteous-always, but soft-never.”
Dan also recommends talking to off-road vehicle supporters at every opportunity in order to better understand their positions. We must always listen with humility. No matter how right our position may be, it just may be that the off-road vehicle users are also right about something. It’s better to hear it earlier from your opponent so you can strengthen your case before any talks begin, he says.
Dan says environmentalists should also be skeptical when an agency says they have no money to do something. Speaking from his long experience as an agency land manager he says, “too often that is a bureaucratic dodge. There are few unit managers out there that can’t do a far better job with the money they already have.”
Karen and Dan find inspiration for their work in the outdoors. Karen recognizes the wide-open and wild spaces of her youth are quickly disappearing. As a result she realizes her kids didn’t have the opportunities she did and fears her grandkids will have even less. Her passion is to save wild areas from the “takings” of renegade routes.
For Dan, every trail he sees desecrating a mountainside is enough to keep him going. He says we need to establish a bottom line for all activities nationally: “we are okay with a system of touring routes for off-road vehicle’s established on existing roads, but we should not agree to legalize one inch of renegade routes. Under no circumstances should we agree to any motor sports, play areas or hill climbing routes on public lands. We will not score 100% every time, but we will achieve far more by striving toward such a goal.”
Karen grew up in a farming community in California where her family hiked, fished and hunted in the nearby Sierra Mountains. In the early 1970’s she moved to Reno, Nevada to raise her children and teach. She educated kids from preschool to middle school, from remedial reading groups to gifted children. She started getting involved in off-road vehicle issues about 30 years ago when she began witnessing “takings” of previously roadless wild areas and wildlife habitat at an alarming rate. Off-road vehicles were creating renegade routes across Nevada’s landscape, taking advantage of its wide open, treeless terrain.
Unsure of where to begin to help stop this abuse, Karen began attending local Sierra Club meetings, became Chair of the Wilderness Committee, and hosted meetings at her home. She was also a founding member of Earth First! “back when it was a therapy group for disillusioned wilderness activists,” as she describes it. In 1988 when Nevada began working on its first statewide Wilderness bill, Karen helped found Friends of Nevada Wilderness, and has been on their Board ever since.
Dan grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado where, as a teen, he was first exposed to off-road vehicle’s on a backpacking trip with a friend into what was to become the Lost Creek Wilderness. “We were headed to a stream to do some fishing. It took us two days to get there, but when we arrived we found a jeep that had beat us!” That unpleasant encounter stuck with Dan throughout his career and into retirement. He takes on inappropriate off-road vehicle use at every opportunity.
Dan’s love of the outdoors led him to a career with the US Forest Service. He “retired” in 1983 and immediately volunteered in Butte, Montana for the National Wildlife Federation. He went on to help found American Wildlands in Bozeman, and served on boards for the Montana Wilderness Association, Greater Yellowstone Coalition and Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. As a volunteer, Dan worked mainly on grazing and logging issues, but also on the impacts of off-road vehicle’s.
Dan and Karen met in the old DC Sierra Club office. Now married, they share their passion for activism while living beyond the grid in a remote spot north of Reno in the Pahrah Range, which Karen says has been “a great problem solving activity.” Over the last ten years, the two have spent their spare time working on their sustainable home, which includes solar power, a wind generator, and a hydroelectric system that they installed themselves. They manage their email and computer work out of their home and travel around the state to attend meetings and political activities. “We wear a lot of different hats,” Karen admits.
The latest success the couple shared was preventing legislation that mandated hundreds of miles of off-road vehicle trails across an eastern Nevada county. A “Silver State OHV Trail” was to be attached to the White Pine County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act of 2006. The trail was projected to connect with a vast network of trails across the state; trails had already been established in adjacent Lincoln County through a similar bill, and White Pine was next on the list.
Dan and Karen, opposing the trail provision, were told by the state’s delegation that the trail was a done deal and nothing could be done to stop it. “I thought ‘whoa, if we can’t stop the trail in this county, it will be mandated and established in every county without public review or an opportunity to decide it is a bad idea” Karen recalls.
She and Dan kept the debate alive and, with crucial help from a state wildlife biologist and concerned residents, convinced the County Commissioners to pass a resolution against the trail, requesting that the route designation go through an administrative instead of a legislative process. This would assure public involvement, an environmental study, and a chance to halt the off-road vehicle mega-route from impacting Nevada’s traditional public land values. The legislative process simply mandated the trail.
“Luckily we had a visionary set of Commissioners who had known us from our years of involvement in other issues. We also had an atmosphere of folks here who wanted to do something about irresponsible off-road vehicle use,” Karen says.
The delegation reacted by putting pressure on the Commissioners to rescind the resolution. In response, Karen and Dan worked around the clock to gather supporting resolutions, and got them from the Nevada Game Commission, the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, the Nevada Farm Bureau, the (very conservative) Nevada Coalition for Wildlife, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and the National and Nevada Wildlife Federations. “We are usually on opposite sides of issues with many of these organizations, but this was an issue we had in common and our many years of involvement bought us credibility,” according to Karen.
“We purposely did not seek sign-on by typically “green” organizations; rather we sought to build up a big coalition of ‘red meat organizations’ to urge the Congressional delegation not to legislate this trail. So at the end of the day when the bill was introduced, the trail was not mandated.”
The bill’s final language greatly restricts the trail mileage that can be considered, and it requires the agencies to complete a three-year NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) study to make sure the trail doesn’t significantly impact wildlife, natural and cultural resources or traditional uses. “It was a major win,” says Karen, “it gives all citizens, the Department of Wildlife and other cooperating agencies a chance to give critical input.” We believe no off-road vehicle trail can be located without creating very significant impacts to some if not all of these key resources.
Karen and Dan attribute their success to the groundwork they had laid working on other issues in rural counties. When it came time to approach conservative organizations about off-road vehicles, people were willing to sign on because a level of credibility, trust and respect had been established.
Dan and Karen say the experience solidified their belief that environmentalists have to “hang tough” and be resilient when facing down threats to the environment. Dan says all too often enviros mistake good feelings with success. “When you meet with people and everyone leaves feeling good you may think you gained something. Most often reality is that you, and the American public you are representing, have been had. Visionary public land decisions just cannot be made without disturbing someone’s interest. Be courteous-always, but soft-never.”
Dan also recommends talking to off-road vehicle supporters at every opportunity in order to better understand their positions. We must always listen with humility. No matter how right our position may be, it just may be that the off-road vehicle users are also right about something. It’s better to hear it earlier from your opponent so you can strengthen your case before any talks begin, he says.
Dan says environmentalists should also be skeptical when an agency says they have no money to do something. Speaking from his long experience as an agency land manager he says, “too often that is a bureaucratic dodge. There are few unit managers out there that can’t do a far better job with the money they already have.”
Karen and Dan find inspiration for their work in the outdoors. Karen recognizes the wide-open and wild spaces of her youth are quickly disappearing. As a result she realizes her kids didn’t have the opportunities she did and fears her grandkids will have even less. Her passion is to save wild areas from the “takings” of renegade routes.
For Dan, every trail he sees desecrating a mountainside is enough to keep him going. He says we need to establish a bottom line for all activities nationally: “we are okay with a system of touring routes for off-road vehicle’s established on existing roads, but we should not agree to legalize one inch of renegade routes. Under no circumstances should we agree to any motor sports, play areas or hill climbing routes on public lands. We will not score 100% every time, but we will achieve far more by striving toward such a goal.”
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