Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

AMA alerts cyclists to land use meetings "This is the most important moment for the off-road rider since March, '19, 7, when 7 President Carter's proposed executive order led'to a major 'biker victory over the bureaucracy..." Bob Rasor, associate director, AMA government relations department. , WESTERVILLE. OH. MAR. 31 The American Motorcyclist Association is mobilizing its membership to participate in a series of public meetings critical to the future of offroad riding. Conducted by the Bureau of Land Management, the meetings are for the purpose of explaining and hearing comments on the BLM . . . Wilderness ~ohcy and R~~ew Procedure, whl.ch could close millions of acres of pubhc land. The BLM , which controls 450 million acres of public land. is preparing to inventory holdings for the purpose of designating those areas it feels have wilderness characteristics. A wilderness area is closed to all forms of motor vehicles . including the family car, and large -sca le wilderness designation under this new program could dramatically reduce opportunities for off-road motorcycle recreation . Bob Rasor, associate director o~ the AMA government relat.lOns department . says of the meet1Ogs. "T his is th e most important moment for the off-road rider since March. 1977 . when President Carter's proposed executive order led to a major b iker victory over the bureaucracy. There are a great many ways the wild erness designation plan can work against th e motorcyclist . and . . . . I h b II It IS cnuca t at our sport e we represented at these meetings." Rasor says the BLM definition of a "road" is on e of the key issues in the meetings . and he adds that a definit ion very harmful to motorcycling has been tentatively adopted. "We feel the road definition adopted by the BLM indicates thei r intent to close j ust as much of their land as possib le under the wilderness designation program," R asor warned. "To oversimplify, the first step in . designating wilderness areas is to iden tify th ose tracts of more than 5,000 acres in which there are no "roads ." Thus the definition of. what constitutes a road is absolutely critical. The BLM has ' ad op'ted a very , very narrow definition , one that would not recognize off-road vehicle routes." The BLM road definition says. "An access ro~te ~hich.has b~n im proved and mamta'?led by us10g ha~d or power machinery or tools to insure 'rela tively regular and continuous use . A way maintained solely by the passage of vehicles does not constitute a road . " " If motorcyclists need clearer evidence of the BLM bias." Rasor continued, "they need only look to th e definition of relatively regular and continuous use which says , 'use of vehicles having four or more whe els which has occurred and will continue to occur on a recurring basis. (Casual or random use by off-road vehicles or recreationists does not qualify.), " Fro m this definition alone." Rasor said in a mailing to all AMA clu bs, Congress representatives a nd distri ct officers . "we feel you can guess what to expect from th e BLM ." The AMA. wh ich has been involved in BLM activit ies for a number of years. will participate in th e public meetings and will also file written comments on the draft of the wild erness designation plan. . " B t th t ' t I . h. " u a s no near y enoug , R d i e d "Th . divid I as~r ec ar ' . ~ 10 I~ u ~ . taxpa Y10g motorcyclist IS the individual who stands to lose his right to ride on vast areas of public land. These a re th e people who_must participate in th e public meetings if we are to once again protect our rights as motorcyclists and citi zen s." He continued. "T he public outcry brought on by President Carter's executive order in the spring of 1977 succeeded in bri ngi ng that episode to a swift and gene rally favorable conclusion . However, we . ca nnot be complacent. The BL M's draft of the wild erness des ignation program makes it clear that we still have a fight on our hands . We can win again , but only if motorcycling is well represented at th ese meetings." Because this will be the first public me eting experience for a great many of the motorcyclists who will participate, the AMA reminded its members that they have, a right to be heard , and su gg est ed that t he following points be made: a ) Because BLM land holdings are so diverse . t he kind of blanket wilderness criteria proposed is not feas ible. W ilderness in arid regi ons like Californ ia and Utah have d ifferent characteristics from wilderness in timbered areas such as Alaska and Northern California. b) The BLM should adopt the road definition utilized in the 1974 Interim ' Cri tica l Management Plan for th e California Desert, wh ich is: " Pu b lic ways habitually traveled by vehicles. and which mayor may not be maintained by the government a nd wh ich a re clearly visible and have evidence of previous use. " c) No one has yet determined th e extent to whi ch BLM land should be made part of the National Wilderness System , or how large that system should be . Demand to know the answers to these questions before actual wilderness des ignations begin. d ) Motorcyclists strongly object to any proposal for wilderness d esignat ion made for the expressed purpose of eliminating off-highway motorcycle recreation. " T h e follow ing is a .Iist of the meeting dates. locations and the person , to contact in order to attend. " Rasor concluded. " Re m em be r. it is you r right to be there to speak up for you r right to rid e ." BLM public meeting schedule Wa shington , D .C . , Ap r il 5 , beginning at 9:30 a.m . , in th e Ma in Auditorium at the Interior Building. 18th and C Streets NW. Contact: Mr. Robert Lund . W ilderness Program Leader , 18th and C Streets NW. , Washington , D.C. 20240. 202 /343 9353. Juneau . Alaska. April 24 . Contact: Mr . Carl A Gidlund , Pub lic Affairs Officer, 555 Cordova Street . Anchorage. Alaska 99501 . 907 /277 · 1561. Yuma . Ari z. . April 13 ; Safford , Ar iz. , April 18; Kingman. Ariz.. April 18; Ph oenix, Ari z.. April 19; Tucson , Ariz ., April 20 ; St. George , U tah, April 20 . Contact: Mr. Robert B. Whitaker, Public Affairs Officer, 2400 Valley Ba nk Center. Phoenix , Ariz. 85073 .6021992-3831. Sacramento . Calif.. April 19. Contact: Mr. Jerry D . Harrell. Public Affain Officer. Federal Office Building. Room E·2841 , 2800 Cottage Way , Sacramento , Cal if. 95823 . 916 /484-4724 . Grand Junction , Colo. , April 13; Denver , Colo. • April 17. Contact: Mr. George C . Hinton . Public Affairs Officer, Colorado State Bank Building, Room 700 , 1600 Broadway. Denver. Colo . 80202, 303 /837 ·4481. Boise. Idaho . April 14 . Contact: Mr. Frederick T . Cook. Public Affairs Officer, Federa l Building. Room 398, 550 West Fort Street. P.O. Box 042. Boise, Idaho 83724,208/384 ·1770. Billi ngs , Mont., April 12. Contact: Mr. Gord on W. Flint , Public Affairs Officer, G ra n it e Tower , 22 North 32nd Street, P.O . Box 30157, Billings, Mont. 59107 .406 /657 ·6461. Las Vegas , Nev ., April 18; Carson City, Nev. , April 20 ; Ely. Nev .• April 29 ; Ba ttle Mo untain , Nev . , May 1; Tonopah. Nev . , May 2 . Contact: Ms. Janet M . Bedrosian , Public Affairs Officer. Federal Building. Room 3008. 300 Booth Street. Reno , Nev . 89509 . 702 /784·5459 . Albuquerque. N . Mex .• April 18; Las Cruces , N . Mex . , April 19 ; Roswell , N . Mex. , April 20 . Contact: Mr. John Gumert , Public Affa irs Officer, U .S . Post Office and Federal Building. South Federal Place, P.O . Box 1449. Santa Fe . N . Mex. 87501 . 505 /988-6316. . Portland. Oreg. • April 14. Contact: ' Mr. Robert D . Hostetter , Public Affairs O fficer , 729 Oregon Street NE . P .O . Box 2965 . Portland. Ore. 97208 , 503/ 234 ·3361, extension 4024 . Salt Lake Cit y. U ta h. April 11. Contact: Mr . Jack M . Read , Public Affairs O ffi ce r , Uni versity Club Building, 136 East South Temple, Salt Lake City , Utah 84111 . 801 /524 ·4227 . Flager, Wyo . • April 18. Contact: Mr. Jim MacNair , Public Affairs Officer, 2515 Warren Avenue , P.O . Box 1828 , Cheyenne. W yo. 82881 . 307 1778·2220. Lansing, Mich ., April 24 ; Madison . Wise . . April 26 ; St. Paul . Minn . , April 28 . Contact: Mr. Thomas C . De Rocco, Public Affairs Officer. 7985 'Eastern Avenue , Silver Spring. MD 20910 ,301 /427 ·7440. • 5

• Cover