I am urging all snowmobilers to contact there elected officials and voice opposition to the current spending bill before the congress. Jon Tester has inserted his forest bill which if passed will close all of Hell Roaring canyon below Mt Jefferson. I have read the bill on Testers web site and viewed the map as well and it clearly shows all access to Mt Jefferson being blocked from the Idaho side. Regardless of your opinion about the spending bill please voice your protest to the closure of this treasure. Please spread the word. Joe Horner
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BRC NATIONAL ACTION ALERT - IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED
December 15th, 2010
BRC NATIONAL ACTION ALERT
IMMEDATE ACTION REQUESTED
SENATOR USES INFLUENCE ON POWERFUL APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE TO SLIP HIS GIANT WILDERNESS BILL INTO THIS MASSIVE PORK PACKAGE.
THIS PIGGIE WILL PASS UNLESS YOU ACT! CALL YOUR SENATORS IMMEDIATELY!
THE CROWN JEWEL OF WESTERN SNOWMOBILING, MT. JEFFERSON, IS INCLUDED IN THIS WILDERNESS BILL.
Dear BRC Action Alert Subscribers,
Montana's Senator Jon Tester has used his position on the powerful Senate Appropriation Committee to slip his Wilderness legislation into a giant 2000-page government spending bill, the 2011 Consolidated Appropriations Act.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Do not email! Do not communicate via web-form. Legislators ignore emails.
They do, however, pay attention to phone calls.
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121 and tell your Senator:
"Please oppose the 2011 Consolidated Appropriations Act. Tell your Senator that you strongly oppose the back-room shenanigans and non-budget related sections of this bill."
Do it NOW. Please.
We've included some background info and links to information on the web below. As always, please call or email with questions or comments.
Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102
PS: The reason Senator Tester's bill hasn't passed already is because it has problems that he refuses to fix. Slipping it in the appropriations bill behind closed doors, along with billions of dollars of pork and deficit spending, is the height of legislative arrogance. We must not let this stand!
PPS: Check this statement from Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg:
"This is government at its worst. Montanans have had zero input on this new wilderness bill.
It hasn't even had a public hearing in Congress.
What's more, Senator Tester is jamming his unpopular bill into yet another trillion dollar spending bill jam packed with pork.
These are exactly the sort of underhanded tactics the American people rejected in November.
BRC NATIONAL ACTION ALERT
IMMEDATE ACTION REQUESTED
SENATOR USES INFLUENCE ON POWERFUL APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE TO SLIP GIANT WILDERNESS BILL INTO GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL. BRC IS REQUESTING ALL OUR MEMBERS CALL THEIR SENATORS IMMEDIATELY.
SITUATION
We want to begin with a bit of background first.
Senator Jon Tester from Montana has been pushing the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act for several years. It's billed as a compromise between preservation, forest health and recreation. Tester has been maintaining that the bill actually protects motorized access, as well as designates suitable Wilderness and allows for logging to address forest health issues.
BRC's staff and volunteers have gone over the bill in detail, and it "almost" gets there. Believe it or not, there are only a few relatively minor changes that would make this bill palatable. The bill needs to buck up its mandate for timber management and, in order to guard against greenie lawsuits, it needs to clarify its intent on travel management, and the popular Mt. Jefferson Snowmobile area needs to be removed from Wilderness designation. If Senator Tester had done these things, I think many multiple use activists, including yours truly, could have been convinced to support the bill.
These flaws, or more accurately, the refusal to address any of these flaws, and the refusal to bring local governments to the table, are why Tester's bill has languished in Senate.
Instead of working with stakeholders and making meaningful adjustments, the Senator is simply using his position on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee to bully his way over the concerns of the American people.
So... hidden among 8 billion dollars of earmarks, unpopular health care funding, and 2000 pages of borrowing and spending, is his pet Wilderness bill. The Senator and his colleagues waited until one week before the Christmas Holiday before letting anyone look at it. This is truly an outrage, and it must be opposed at all costs.
In our busy lives, while we put our attention to work and family, many will say they simply do not have the time to call their Senators. While everyone at BRC fully understands, we believe this is perhaps the single most important issue facing recreational users, both motorized and non-motorized, in decades. If this sort of thing is seen as "acceptable," by the American public, it will only be a matter of time before some other Senator decides to slip in a bill that closes your favorite recreational area.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO RIGHT THIS MOMENT!!
Click here, and enter your zip code.
Call your Senator's State office, or the office nearest your home and say: "Please oppose the 2011 Consolidated Appropriations Act.
Tell your Senator that you strongly oppose the back-room shenanigans and non-budget related sections of this bill.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB:
Tester's wilderness, jobs initiative attached to federal appropriations bill
http://ravallirepublic.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article.html
Forest Jobs and Recreation Act
A Teachable Wilderness Bill
http://www.sharetrails.org/public-lands/?section=Tester_Bill
Wilderness Activists Fail to Close Mount Jefferson in Forest Plan - Push Legislation Instead
http://www.sharetrails.org/public-lands/?section=Mt_Jefferson
Snowmobilers Celebrate Mount Jefferson Victory
http://www.sharetrails.org/magazine/article/?id=1729
Link to the 2011 Consolidated Appropriations Act
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/2011_Consolidated_Appropriations_Act.pdf
WARNING: BRC members with high blood pressure should seek medical advice before downloading and reading this document. There is good reason the Senate waited until the week before Christmas to make this public. You will find Tester's Wilderness bill hidden among over 8 billion (borrowed) dollars of earmarks, heath care funding and all kinds of shenanigans beginning on page 893.
National News regarding the Appropriations bill:
Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/133563-senate-dems-unveil-11t-omnibus-spending-bill-
Senate spending bill contains thousands of earmarks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/14/topnews
Revolt: Republicans Angry About Omnibus Spending Bill Decry 'Total Mess'
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/revolt-republicans-angry-omnibus-budget-decry-total-mess/
Sen. McConnell On 2000-Page Omnibus Bill: "No One Has Seen It"
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/sen_mcconnell_on_2000-page_omnibus_bill_no_one_has_seen_it
Democrats' budget bill: $1.1 trillion; 1,900 pages
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46383.html
=====
BRC NATIONAL ACTION ALERT - IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED
December 15th, 2010
BRC NATIONAL ACTION ALERT
IMMEDATE ACTION REQUESTED
SENATOR USES INFLUENCE ON POWERFUL APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE TO SLIP HIS GIANT WILDERNESS BILL INTO THIS MASSIVE PORK PACKAGE.
THIS PIGGIE WILL PASS UNLESS YOU ACT! CALL YOUR SENATORS IMMEDIATELY!
THE CROWN JEWEL OF WESTERN SNOWMOBILING, MT. JEFFERSON, IS INCLUDED IN THIS WILDERNESS BILL.
Dear BRC Action Alert Subscribers,
Montana's Senator Jon Tester has used his position on the powerful Senate Appropriation Committee to slip his Wilderness legislation into a giant 2000-page government spending bill, the 2011 Consolidated Appropriations Act.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Do not email! Do not communicate via web-form. Legislators ignore emails.
They do, however, pay attention to phone calls.
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121 and tell your Senator:
"Please oppose the 2011 Consolidated Appropriations Act. Tell your Senator that you strongly oppose the back-room shenanigans and non-budget related sections of this bill."
Do it NOW. Please.
We've included some background info and links to information on the web below. As always, please call or email with questions or comments.
Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102
PS: The reason Senator Tester's bill hasn't passed already is because it has problems that he refuses to fix. Slipping it in the appropriations bill behind closed doors, along with billions of dollars of pork and deficit spending, is the height of legislative arrogance. We must not let this stand!
PPS: Check this statement from Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg:
"This is government at its worst. Montanans have had zero input on this new wilderness bill.
It hasn't even had a public hearing in Congress.
What's more, Senator Tester is jamming his unpopular bill into yet another trillion dollar spending bill jam packed with pork.
These are exactly the sort of underhanded tactics the American people rejected in November.
BRC NATIONAL ACTION ALERT
IMMEDATE ACTION REQUESTED
SENATOR USES INFLUENCE ON POWERFUL APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE TO SLIP GIANT WILDERNESS BILL INTO GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL. BRC IS REQUESTING ALL OUR MEMBERS CALL THEIR SENATORS IMMEDIATELY.
SITUATION
We want to begin with a bit of background first.
Senator Jon Tester from Montana has been pushing the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act for several years. It's billed as a compromise between preservation, forest health and recreation. Tester has been maintaining that the bill actually protects motorized access, as well as designates suitable Wilderness and allows for logging to address forest health issues.
BRC's staff and volunteers have gone over the bill in detail, and it "almost" gets there. Believe it or not, there are only a few relatively minor changes that would make this bill palatable. The bill needs to buck up its mandate for timber management and, in order to guard against greenie lawsuits, it needs to clarify its intent on travel management, and the popular Mt. Jefferson Snowmobile area needs to be removed from Wilderness designation. If Senator Tester had done these things, I think many multiple use activists, including yours truly, could have been convinced to support the bill.
These flaws, or more accurately, the refusal to address any of these flaws, and the refusal to bring local governments to the table, are why Tester's bill has languished in Senate.
Instead of working with stakeholders and making meaningful adjustments, the Senator is simply using his position on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee to bully his way over the concerns of the American people.
So... hidden among 8 billion dollars of earmarks, unpopular health care funding, and 2000 pages of borrowing and spending, is his pet Wilderness bill. The Senator and his colleagues waited until one week before the Christmas Holiday before letting anyone look at it. This is truly an outrage, and it must be opposed at all costs.
In our busy lives, while we put our attention to work and family, many will say they simply do not have the time to call their Senators. While everyone at BRC fully understands, we believe this is perhaps the single most important issue facing recreational users, both motorized and non-motorized, in decades. If this sort of thing is seen as "acceptable," by the American public, it will only be a matter of time before some other Senator decides to slip in a bill that closes your favorite recreational area.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO RIGHT THIS MOMENT!!
Click here, and enter your zip code.
Call your Senator's State office, or the office nearest your home and say: "Please oppose the 2011 Consolidated Appropriations Act.
Tell your Senator that you strongly oppose the back-room shenanigans and non-budget related sections of this bill.
MORE INFO ON THE WEB:
Tester's wilderness, jobs initiative attached to federal appropriations bill
http://ravallirepublic.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article.html
Forest Jobs and Recreation Act
A Teachable Wilderness Bill
http://www.sharetrails.org/public-lands/?section=Tester_Bill
Wilderness Activists Fail to Close Mount Jefferson in Forest Plan - Push Legislation Instead
http://www.sharetrails.org/public-lands/?section=Mt_Jefferson
Snowmobilers Celebrate Mount Jefferson Victory
http://www.sharetrails.org/magazine/article/?id=1729
Link to the 2011 Consolidated Appropriations Act
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/2011_Consolidated_Appropriations_Act.pdf
WARNING: BRC members with high blood pressure should seek medical advice before downloading and reading this document. There is good reason the Senate waited until the week before Christmas to make this public. You will find Tester's Wilderness bill hidden among over 8 billion (borrowed) dollars of earmarks, heath care funding and all kinds of shenanigans beginning on page 893.
National News regarding the Appropriations bill:
Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/133563-senate-dems-unveil-11t-omnibus-spending-bill-
Senate spending bill contains thousands of earmarks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/14/topnews
Revolt: Republicans Angry About Omnibus Spending Bill Decry 'Total Mess'
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/revolt-republicans-angry-omnibus-budget-decry-total-mess/
Sen. McConnell On 2000-Page Omnibus Bill: "No One Has Seen It"
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/sen_mcconnell_on_2000-page_omnibus_bill_no_one_has_seen_it
Democrats' budget bill: $1.1 trillion; 1,900 pages
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46383.html
Last edited by a moderator:
That's why I said to heck with that...it is IMPORTANT, and EVERYONE needs to stand up and be heard on this issue. 
