Contact: Pete terHorst
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E-mail: peter.terhorst@sympoint.com

U.S. House members poised to ban motorized vehicles from 2.1 million acres


PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The U.S. House of Representatives could vote as early as next week on a wide-ranging bill that could shut off-highway motorcyclists and all-terrain vehicle riders out of more than 2 million acres of public land, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

The measure, Senate Bill 22, also known as the Omnibus Public Lands Bill, is actually a package of more than 160 bills that were melded together to form a single bill more than 1,300 pages long.

"This bill was on the fast-track in the U.S. Senate and passed swiftly earlier this year without public scrutiny or debate," said Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations. "The measure is now being steamrolled through the U.S. House without giving the public an opportunity to fully digest its impact and debate the many provisions in the bill."

Moreland isn't the only one upset at how this legislation is being handled. U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), a key lawmaker, said, "Poor process produces poor product, and this is an example of congressional process at its worst. Parts of this bill are good, and parts are very bad. Each part deserves to be discussed and voted on its own merits."

Moreland called on all AMA members, off-highway motorcyclists, ATV riders and everyone who supports responsible outdoor recreation to immediately contact their Congressional representative and ask them to reject the bill. The measure should be defeated because it unreasonably bans motorized recreation on 2.1 million acres of public land by inappropriately designating it as Wilderness, and because the procedures used for fast-tracking the bill through the U.S. Senate and House violate the spirit of open and democratic government.

"Continued responsible access to public lands is a vitally important right for current and future generations," Moreland added. "This measure deserves to be fully analyzed and thoughtfully debated prior to a final vote."

A rapid way to contact elected U.S. representatives is in the "Issues & Legislation" area of the Rights section of the AMA website at www.AmericanMotorcyclist.com.


About the American Motorcyclist Association
Since 1924, the AMA has promoted and protected the motorcycling lifestyle. AMA members come from all walks of life and they navigate many different routes on their journey to the same destination: freedom on two wheels. As the world's largest motorcycle organization with nearly 300,000 members, the AMA advocates for motorcyclists' interests in the halls of local, state and federal government, the committees of international governing organizations and the court of public opinion. Through member clubs, promoters and partners, the AMA sanctions more motorsports competition events than any other organization in the world. Through its Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, the AMA preserves the heritage of motorcycling for future generations. For more information, visit www.AmericanMotorcyclist.com.

 

Well that sucks and I dont live near Ohio.

 

Pickerington is home to the AMA Hall of Fame, I believe.

 

Im not from ohio, but I would like to get like 1,000 atvers and write a letter to them and have all 1,000 atvers sign it! that would be awesome

 

I sent off a few emails [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

This is a US bill not just for Ohio. Start sending E-mails guys.

 

Sent off an email to my liberal democrat Reprsentative from Massachusetts. May as well try.

 

This is a bill that will have impact on EVERY STATE not just Ohio......... Ohio is just where the report came from...... If it is in congress it is an American issue and people in state where these is already few places to ride might just lose their last place.....

After contacting my representative states like NJ, MA, FL, CA, NV, PA, NY, VA, MI, LA, TX, CO, AZ, MN, OH and WI could see the most areas hit. But there are places in just about every state that could end up closed forever.

 

I will be contacting my state represenitive ASAP!!!!!!! This is complete BS!!!!

 

This is complete BS as DOGE57HEMI said. What did we do wrong, are they actouly trying to blame us for the dissaperance of forests in the us, blame loggers (no offense if you are one).It really dissapoints me that all this crap started in my home state! We need to get a link to that petition site that they had on that stop thrillcraft forum, I would create a link if I knew how. My question is would this affect state parks or places like Haspin acres?