Congress to hold hearing on Opportunities for Outdoor Recreation on Public Lands

Congress to hold hearing on Opportunities for Outdoor Recreation on Public Lands

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Contact your Representative to voice your support!
The Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, chaired by Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources has scheduled a hearing on June 22 entitled "Opportunities for Outdoor Recreation on Public Lands." The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the All-Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA) applaud Chairman Bishop for holding this hearing.

To view a live webcast of the hearing on June 22, at 10 a.m. EDT, click here.

This hearing is a great opportunity to showcase how responsible motorized recreation on public lands is beneficial. From friends and families recreating together to local economies benefiting, the responsible motorized recreation community deserves to have fair access to our public lands as any other user currently enjoys.

However, the off-highway vehicle (OHV) community constantly faces proposals (e.g., the Wild Lands designation), legislation and regulations that restrict access to public lands. Moreover, the OHV community is restricted from accessing Wilderness Study Areas and Inventoried Roadless Areas even though land managers determined some of these areas unsuitable for congressional Wilderness land-use designations. Motorized recreation is banned on Wilderness land.

As a result of these threats to access, the Subcommittee may mention H.R. 1581, the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act, introduced by Representative and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) along with Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM), Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus. This bill would remove restrictions to motorized access on more than 40 million acres of public land nationwide.

The AMA and ATVA support this bill and applaud Reps. McCarthy, Bishop and Pearce for helping every American achieve greater access to our public lands. For more information on this bill, click here.

Just follow the "Take Action" option to send a pre-written e-mail directly to your Representative voicing your support of this hearing.

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Please give this a "BUMP" for other forum members when you've taken action!

Since this action item goes to your Public Servants in both the House and Senate I took a few seconds to personalize it by thanking my Rep for cosponsoring this Legislation in the House, rub my Senators noses in it, and remind them who they work for in a subtle way.


"As a constituent and concerned responsible motorized outdoor recreationist, I urge you to become a cosponsor to H.R. 1581, the "Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act of 2011.” This bill would remove restrictions to motorized access on more than 40 million acres of public land nationwide.

The Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act would remove the riding ban on 6.7 million acres managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and riding restrictions that may be in place for 36.1 million acres of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land.

Specifically, this bill would “release” all Wilderness Study Areas controlled by the BLM and Inventoried Roadless Areas managed by the USFS that have been determined by land managers to be unsuitable for congressional Wilderness land-use designations. Motorized recreation is banned on Wilderness land.

On behalf of many friends and families who recreate together responsibly, I ask that you support H.R. 1581 and S.1087, the "Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act of 2011." You can become a cosponsor by calling Representative McCarthy’s office at 225-2915.

I very much appreciate my Congressman's support and cosponsoring of H.R.1581 and hope that you my Senators who represent we your constituents will join him by cosponsoring and supporting S. 1087.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this important issue."