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AMA PRAISES PROPOSAL TO RE-WRITE ROADLESS
RULES
New opportunities to protect multiple-use
trails
The American Motorcyclist Association
(AMA) applauds an announcement made by U.S. Agriculture
Secretary Ann Veneman recently that may give off-highway
motorcyclists and all-terrain vehicle riders a new
opportunity to protect multiple-use recreation on almost 60
million acres of national forest.
Secretary Veneman, whose department
oversees the U.S. Forest Service, announced a new plan for
developing rules to govern activities in so-called roadless
areas in national forests and grasslands. While the almost
60 million acres is called roadless, it contains thousands
of miles of dirt roads and trails used by motorcyclists,
all-terrain vehicle users, horse riders, hikers and others.
STATES GET TO
REGULATE ROADLESS AREAS
Under the new plan, governors would work with federal
officials to make rules regulating the roadless areas in
their states. The governors would have 18 months after this
new proposal becomes final to submit their petitions with
their specifics to the Forest Service. The Forest Service
then would go through a rulemaking process, including
soliciting public comment, before announcing final rules for
roadless areas in a particular state.
"This is great news not only for
off-highway motorcyclists and ATV riders, but for horse
riders, bicyclists and others as well," said Edward
Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations.
PUBLIC COMMENT NOW
PART OF THE PROCESS
"We opposed the original roadless initiative because it
didn't provide for enough comment at the local level. This
new effort should give the public an opportunity to let
their governors, and federal officials, know how important
it is to maintain existing recreational opportunities,"
Moreland said.
The announcement marks the latest
step to deal with the controversial roadless initiative,
finalized by the Clinton administration in January 2001, to
ban road-building and commercial activities on almost 60
million acres of roadless land. Even though those
regulations stated that "Nothing in this rule is intended to
prohibit the authorized construction or maintenance of
motorized or non-motorized trails," the AMA remained
concerned that the rule could lead to widespread road and
trail closures as feeder roads were not maintained.
There are 39 states with roadless
areas on national forest land, but just 12 states contain
56.6 million acres, or 97 percent. Those states are Alaska,
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
LAWSUITS SPRING UP
The roadless initiative has been the subject of litigation
in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, North Dakota, Wyoming and the
District of Columbia. In 2001 a federal judge in Idaho
issued an order blocking implementation of the roadless
initiative as a result of a lawsuit filed by the state of
Idaho and others. The suit alleged the Clinton
administration violated the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) by deciding on the roadless rules before
involving the public in the rule-making.
In July 2003, a federal judge in
Wyoming blocked implementation of the roadless rule.
The Bush administration feared even further legal action.
"The prospect of endless
lawsuits represents neither progress, nor certainty for
communities," Veneman said in her announcement in Boise,
Idaho. "Our announcements today illustrate our commitment to
working closely with the nation's governors to meet the
needs of local communities, and to maintaining the
undeveloped character of the most pristine areas of the
national forest system."
While the new rules are being
considered, the roadless areas will be governed by an
interim directive that bars road construction unless
personally approved by U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale
Bosworth.
The new proposed rule is expected to
be published in the Federal Register within a week of
Veneman's announcement. It is available at
www.fs.fed.us,
and public comments will be taken for 60 days once the
proposed rule is published.
WRITTEN COMMENTS
Written comments may be mailed to: Content Analysis Team,
ATTN: Roadless State Petitions, USDA Forest Service, P.O.
Box 221090, Salt Lake City, UT 84122; faxed to (801)
517-1014; or e-mailed to
statepetitionroadless@fs.fed.us.
Comments also may be submitted from
www.regulations.gov.
The roadless initiative has remained highly controversial
because of logging restrictions.
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The American Motorcyclist Association, founded in 1924, is a
non-profit organization with more than 265,000 members. The
Association's purpose is to pursue, protect and promote the
interests of motorcyclists, while serving the needs of its
members. For more information, visit the AMA website at
www.AMADirectlink.com, or call 1-800-AMA-JOIN. For the
latest news releases, visit the AMA News Room at
http://home.ama-cycle.org/newsroom
Contact: Bill Kresnak
Phone: (614) 856-1900
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