Since the new presidental elections are just around the corner we should get some input going on the different canidates who are in favor of atving and keeping our national forest trails open. I myself do not know who supports our off-road riding pastime. Any comments?

 

I wouldn't trust that Gore. He is an Ecomaniac!
c-ya,

------------------
Andrew Thomas

'99 Scrambler 400 & '99 Trailblazer, both with RCR mods.

 

Yeah, Gore would hate to have "internal combustion" vehicles polluting his tree-hugging forests.

But, maybe this thread should be under the topic, "Land, Trail, and Environmental Issues." There are discussions there over how to protect ATV trails, or gain ATV trails from the government. Some are rather detailed, such as TreeFarmer's thread.

Presidential Issue? No, I think that it is probably more of a local issue than one for the executive branch of the federal government. Your Governor can do much more in your State than can Gore, Bradley, or Bush. Your mayor can do more in your City. Your City Councilman can do more for local ATV trails. Don't ignore the fundamentals. When was the last time you ever heard of the President of the United States having any say over State or City ORVs?

Then, there are your congressmen.....



[This message has been edited by kclayd (edited 11-20-1999).]

 

Au contraire, kclayd!

While I appreciate your references to my other musings on the subject, I must disagree with your local-national weighting of ATV access issues.

As I mention, the Clinton Administration is implementing a back-door strategy, unilaterally closing millions of acres of public lands to ATV access, for example, by designating tracts of National Forests as "Roadless Areas," in contrast to Wilderness Areas, the latter process requiring deliberate public discussions and explicit legislation.

The Clinton Administration evades the intent of the law, bypassing any "consent of the governed" principle, using Executive power denying public land access.

For example, in the Tasker's Gap ORV Area of the George Washington National Forest, where you plan riding next weekend, the Clinton Administration could close it to ATV traffic by Executive Action tonight, with no advice and consent from anyone, least of all, the ATVers affected. Further, no administrative appeal process exists for such action.

Horror stories abound of similar ATV area shutdowns by Federal administrators nationwide, implementing PRESIDENTIAL policy.

Thus, while I don't minimize the importance of state and local government involvement in ATV access issues, the Federal policy carries much more weight and scope, traceable directly to presidential policy.

I wouldn't look for specific ATV endorsements or condemnations in any presidential platform; such fine granularity would be lost in the "noise" of campaign rhetoric. Instead, look for the broad approach to environmental issues; "protecting" the environment (guess who?) versus "multiple use" of natural resources.

In my opinion, the main threat to ATV trails resides at the Federal, not the state or local level.

Respectfully submitted,

Tree Farmer


[This message has been edited by Tree Farmer (edited 11-20-1999).]

 

Thanks Tree Farmer, well said. First off there is a whole bigger picture to voting than their views on offroad riding,but thru the forum hopefully people can see a bigger picture as to whats going on. They are not going to address our pastime directly but they do other things that will end it. The biggest thing now is designating millions of acres of national forest land as wilderness areas. Sure on the outside it sounds like no big deal, but basically once its deemed wilderness that means no roads, no roads mean no trails and so forth. Hopefully if people read what Gore is about maybe they will think twice about his enviromentalist ideas. Sure it would be easy to vote republican, seems like they are on our side, but maybe there is someone else who might be better. Many people walk into voting booths and just pick someone because they see them on television alot or read about them alot, but are they making an informed choice, be it atvs, guns, forein policys, etc. Other then the forum you can get excellent information by joining the blue ribbon coalition. Just like the NRA, 2 million members are fighting for 80 million gun owners. Same goes for the Blue Ribbon Coalation.