ONE BIG bill if passed means ba-bye riding areas!
Got this message from SAWS and figured I should put it on here since there's a few DUMBAZZES that aren't members of SAWS or BRC so you have no idea.
ANTI-RECREATION LEGISLATION MOVING QUICKLY IN CONGRESS
SITUATION:
This alert concerns a passel of bills currently pending in Congress. Most of the bills we are concerned about have been thrown into an "Omnibus" package of over 90 separate pieces of legislation. Last May, President Bush signed a similar "Omnibus" package of 61 bills. This go-round, the package includes bills that could not pass on their own, like the "Owyhee Initiative." It also includes dangerous legislation such as the National Landscape Conservation System Act, which would formally establish a Clinton/Gore administrative fiat established by Bruce Babbitt.
This could be the most important Action Alert BRC has blasted this year.
INSTRUCTIONS ON SENDING COMMENTS TO YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
1. Go to BRC's RapidResponseCenter at http://www.sharetrails.org/rapid_response/, type in your zip code and click GO.
2. Under "Write Your Elected Officials," click on the "Federal" link.
3. Follow the instructions under "Compose Your Own Letter"
4. Copy and paste "Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008" into the "subject" box.
5. Copy and paste comments into the "editable text" section of the form. You do not need to put "Dear Whomever" as part of your comments because the system will do it for you.
6. Click the "Send Message" button.
COMMENTS:
My family and I value recreation and access to state and federally managed "public lands" across America. As such, we are extremely concerned about several pending pieces of legislation, including the package of Senate and House bills known as The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008.
I strongly oppose combining many of these so-called "land bills" into one "Omnibus" package. Doing so eliminates careful review and allows special interest groups with large powerful lobbies in WashingtonDC to outweigh the voice of individual citizens, such as myself, who regularly visit and enjoy our public lands.
I am also very concerned about how specific bills contained within the Omnibus package will eventually eliminate public access to public lands. Specifically, the National Landscape Conservation System (S. 1139 & H.R. 2016), the Prehistoric TrackwaysNational Monument (S. 275) and the OwyheePublicLand Management Act of 2008 (S. 2833).
All of these controversial bills will result in loss of public access to millions of acres of public lands across the West. Lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management lands are not National Parks, and should not be managed as though they were. All of these bills give too much latitude to BLM managers to close public access and reduce recreation. History has proven that if given the latitude, federal bureaucrats usually take the latitude. In these times of tight budgets, proper management and public access often loses out.
Over 40 years ago, when the Wilderness Act was passed (1964), rampant development of America's wildlands and backcountry was a real threat. The Wilderness Act was passed into law years prior to the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and a myriad of other environmental protection laws. As Congress passed laws to protect the environment, and recreation on public lands became more and more important to the American public, the preferred method to "protect" the land, Wilderness, got stuck in the 1960s.
Wilderness designations are out of touch with modern day realities. A striking object lesson amplifying this fact is the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIDRA). These lands are already protected with the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. It seems Idaho's Congressman Mike Simpson has bought into the notion proffered by the radical environmentalists' that the only way to protect lands is to lock the public out!
Public lands are now important recreation venues for mountain bikers, snowmobilers and Off-Highway Vehicle users, all of which are banned in Wilderness. Unfortunately, the Wilderness lobby refuses to acknowledge the fact that other alternatives, including National Recreation Areas (NRA) or National Conservation Areas (NCA), provide the exact same level of protection from development that Wilderness carries.
I am asking you to OPPOSE the Omnibus Public Land management Act of 2008 (S 3213), OPPOSE the National landscape Conservation System (S. 1139 & H.R. 2016), OPPOSE the Prehistoric Trackways National monument (S. 275), OPPOSE the Owyhee Public Land Management bill (S. 2833) and OPPOSE the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIDRA).
As someone who values recreational access, I am asking you to SUPPORT alternatives that do not restrict the public's ability to view and enjoy our nation's public lands.
Got this message from SAWS and figured I should put it on here since there's a few DUMBAZZES that aren't members of SAWS or BRC so you have no idea.
ANTI-RECREATION LEGISLATION MOVING QUICKLY IN CONGRESS
SITUATION:
This alert concerns a passel of bills currently pending in Congress. Most of the bills we are concerned about have been thrown into an "Omnibus" package of over 90 separate pieces of legislation. Last May, President Bush signed a similar "Omnibus" package of 61 bills. This go-round, the package includes bills that could not pass on their own, like the "Owyhee Initiative." It also includes dangerous legislation such as the National Landscape Conservation System Act, which would formally establish a Clinton/Gore administrative fiat established by Bruce Babbitt.
This could be the most important Action Alert BRC has blasted this year.
INSTRUCTIONS ON SENDING COMMENTS TO YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
1. Go to BRC's RapidResponseCenter at http://www.sharetrails.org/rapid_response/, type in your zip code and click GO.
2. Under "Write Your Elected Officials," click on the "Federal" link.
3. Follow the instructions under "Compose Your Own Letter"
4. Copy and paste "Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008" into the "subject" box.
5. Copy and paste comments into the "editable text" section of the form. You do not need to put "Dear Whomever" as part of your comments because the system will do it for you.
6. Click the "Send Message" button.
COMMENTS:
My family and I value recreation and access to state and federally managed "public lands" across America. As such, we are extremely concerned about several pending pieces of legislation, including the package of Senate and House bills known as The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008.
I strongly oppose combining many of these so-called "land bills" into one "Omnibus" package. Doing so eliminates careful review and allows special interest groups with large powerful lobbies in WashingtonDC to outweigh the voice of individual citizens, such as myself, who regularly visit and enjoy our public lands.
I am also very concerned about how specific bills contained within the Omnibus package will eventually eliminate public access to public lands. Specifically, the National Landscape Conservation System (S. 1139 & H.R. 2016), the Prehistoric TrackwaysNational Monument (S. 275) and the OwyheePublicLand Management Act of 2008 (S. 2833).
All of these controversial bills will result in loss of public access to millions of acres of public lands across the West. Lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management lands are not National Parks, and should not be managed as though they were. All of these bills give too much latitude to BLM managers to close public access and reduce recreation. History has proven that if given the latitude, federal bureaucrats usually take the latitude. In these times of tight budgets, proper management and public access often loses out.
Over 40 years ago, when the Wilderness Act was passed (1964), rampant development of America's wildlands and backcountry was a real threat. The Wilderness Act was passed into law years prior to the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and a myriad of other environmental protection laws. As Congress passed laws to protect the environment, and recreation on public lands became more and more important to the American public, the preferred method to "protect" the land, Wilderness, got stuck in the 1960s.
Wilderness designations are out of touch with modern day realities. A striking object lesson amplifying this fact is the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIDRA). These lands are already protected with the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. It seems Idaho's Congressman Mike Simpson has bought into the notion proffered by the radical environmentalists' that the only way to protect lands is to lock the public out!
Public lands are now important recreation venues for mountain bikers, snowmobilers and Off-Highway Vehicle users, all of which are banned in Wilderness. Unfortunately, the Wilderness lobby refuses to acknowledge the fact that other alternatives, including National Recreation Areas (NRA) or National Conservation Areas (NCA), provide the exact same level of protection from development that Wilderness carries.
I am asking you to OPPOSE the Omnibus Public Land management Act of 2008 (S 3213), OPPOSE the National landscape Conservation System (S. 1139 & H.R. 2016), OPPOSE the Prehistoric Trackways National monument (S. 275), OPPOSE the Owyhee Public Land Management bill (S. 2833) and OPPOSE the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIDRA).
As someone who values recreational access, I am asking you to SUPPORT alternatives that do not restrict the public's ability to view and enjoy our nation's public lands.
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