American Motorcyclist Association News & Notes
November 3, 2008
The US Senate may consider an omnibus public lands package (S. 3213) during a potential lame-duck session which would consist of more than 160 bills grouped together by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada).
According to Senator Reid's office, the legislation was combined after consulting Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Ken Salazar (D-Colorado); both are members of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and sit on the Subcommittee on Public Lands. While all three Senators have remained fairly neutral on the subject of off-highway vehicle use on public lands, the legislation would create over 1 million acres of new Wilderness.
Of primary concern to the motorized recreation community, is the inclusion of legislation to make the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) permanent. The NLCS would create an additional level of bureaucracy in the already muddled Travel Management Rule and remove much of the authority of the existing agencies in managing public lands. While the House of Representatives passed the NLCS measure earlier this year, the Senate is the last Congressional gatekeeper that would stop the bill from going to the president for signature.
The AMA is asking all members and outdoor recreation enthusiasts to contact their Senators and ask them block passage of S. 3213.
The vote would be set for the week of November 17th and has been identified as Senator Reid's top priority legislatively.
Everyone's help is required in communicating the message that we cannot afford to close any more lands to responsible motorized recreation through the unneeded creation of Wilderness designations and the piling on of bureaucratic red-tape.
For more information on S. 3213, contact the AMA through Sheila Andrews at sandrews@ama-cycle.org. Also, if you would like a fast and easy way to get the message to vote 'No' in November out to your Senators, the AMA has made an e-mail letter available at www.americanmotorcyclist.com. Just click on the "Rights" section, then go to "Issues & Legislation" and click the "Take Action" button.
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