Membership also opens up the regional forums for you. The Rocky Mountain region is chock full of guys from Colorado, NM, AZ, and a few others. They're quite active and wheel a lot. I think "MrK5" is the moderator in that forum, and i know he wheels a ton. Hell, the owner of this site lives in CO. Great guy, although i think he recently had to sell his wheeler.
That might be reason enough for you...Lord knows I'd rather spend $25 once a year than have to wheel with Jeep snobs. I quit a local club because of guys like that.
Also, you seem quite knowledgable...perhaps you'd get more out of this site if you shared more of that. Add a few pic's, get to know a few of the less experienced guys etc etc. The membership keeps the site from being over-run by asshats looking to play the "E-bully".
Rene