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December
2008
News & Notes is a
monthly publication compiled and edited by the American Motorcyclist
Association (AMA) Government Relations Department. Designed to
inform motorcyclists of ‘rights'-related issues and events around
the world, we welcome your news & views. Suggestions and
contributions can be sent to Sheila Andrews, AMA Legislative
Assistant, by e-mail at sandrews@ama-cycle.org.
The American Motorcyclist
Association (AMA), which represents more than 300,000
active members as the nation's leading advocacy organization for
motorcyclists' rights, issued the following statement from AMA
President and CEO Rob Dingman with respect to the national election
results:
"The American Motorcyclist Association
congratulates President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect
Joe Biden on their historic victory. America's voters have spoken,
and they are demanding fundamental change and accountability from
our elected representatives.
"Motorcyclists also demand change and
accountability. This nation's estimated 10 million riders currently
face critical issues such as road access, health insurance
discrimination and the right to responsibly enjoy our nation's
public lands.
"In a time when more Americans, young
and old, are discovering the fun, convenience, economy and utility
of motorcycling, the AMA is anxious to begin working with the
administration of President-elect Obama to ensure that the rights
and futures of all motorcyclists are protected.
"In addition, the AMA will be working
with our representatives -- newly elected or re-elected -- at all
levels of government, and will be making every effort to assist them
in understanding the concerns and needs of their motorcycling
constituents."
Leaders from the American
Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and other national
organizations met in Las Vegas on November 6 to discuss a variety of
land-use issues affecting off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation. The
meeting was held in conjunction with the annual Specialty Equipment
Market Association (SEMA) convention in Las Vegas.
In addition to the AMA and the AMA's sister
organization, the All-Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA),
stakeholder organizations represented included the American Council
of Snowmobile Associations, Americans For Responsible Recreational
Access, the BlueRibbon Coalition, the Motorcycle Industry Council,
the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council, the Off-Road
Business Association, the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle
Association, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, and Tread
Lightly!
This is the third forum the groups have
held in 2008. This meeting focused on the recent federal election
results and their impact on recreational access issues, as well as
the priorities and challenges facing OHV recreation in the 111th
Congress. Also discussed were strategies to address the upcoming
Recreational Trails Program reauthorization, and the on-going U.S.
Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Route Designation
process.
The organizations represented believe that
it is useful to periodically discuss and explore areas where they
share a common interest. Recognizing that each organization has a
separate mission in representing its distinct membership,
communicating with one another serves to strengthen advocacy efforts
for OHV recreation.
"The AMA greatly values its
partnerships a great deal," said AMA Vice President for
Government Relations Ed Moreland. "Working together is the only
way the AMA and our partners can meet the public lands access
challenges before us. Meeting and sharing ideas and resources helps
us address these challenges with a united front, and it amplifies
our collective voice when advocating for continued responsible
access to public lands."
Utah - According to a
recent article in The Salt Lake Tribune, on October 31 the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released five of six long-range
management plans that will open 80 percent of 11 million acres in
southern and eastern Utah to oil and gas drilling and designate
20,000 miles of motorized recreation routes.
The BLM is acting on order from Congress,
which in 2001 determined that plans, some of them 30 years old,
needed re-crafting to reflect new priorities, including increased
demand from oil and gas developers and explosive growth in off-road
recreation.
In May, a Bush administration study
re-emphasized policies established in 2005 that would speed
carbon-based energy development with minimal restraints unless
federal public-land managers found it "absolutely
necessary" to preserve other resources. The directive urged the
BLM to find ways around "obstacles" to drilling, which the
administration identified as well-established
environmental-protection law, municipal development,
private-property concerns, wildlife and national parks.
The Moab, Kanab, Vernal, Richfield and
Price district plans are now final. Only the Monticello plan remains
pending, waiting for state officials to sign off.
In a Thursday announcement, the BLM called
the achievement "a collaborative effort in balanced stewardship
for the future" that includes protections for environmentally
sensitive areas while supporting energy resources.
The agency said 53 percent of the more than
8 million acres open to oil and gas leasing would be subject to
stricter environmental controls than before the plans were drawn,
with about 18 percent of the 11 million acres unavailable to leasing
under any circumstances. Less than a half of 1 percent of the public
lands would be protected for their special beauty and solitude.
The resource plans came in slightly past
their Sept. 30 fiscal-year deadline and cost $35 million, said Don
Ogaard, lead planner for the BLM's Utah office. Though 87 protests
numbering several hundred pages were filed during a 30-day period,
all of them were dismissed or resolved to the BLM's satisfaction, he
said.
During public-comment periods, the plans
drew fire from all sides. Oil-industry representatives complained of
too many restrictions on exploration, and county officials agreed.
Conservationists objected to drilling in sensitive lands and laying
out so many trails for motorized recreation because OHV users
represent a small minority of those who visit the area. Off-roaders
disliked the new directive to close Utah's BLM lands to
cross-country travel in favor of a trail system. The Environmental
Protection Agency criticized the Price, Moab and Vernal plans for
inadequate air-quality reviews, lack of analysis of OHV impacts and
a failure to evaluate energy extraction's effects on global climate
disruption.
West Virginia –
According to The Charleston Gazette, when the number of riders using
the Hatfield-McCoy Trails begins to slack off after the Thanksgiving
holiday, work will begin on the most ambitious trail-development
program ever planned for the 400-mile network of ATV and off-road
motorcycle paths.
In addition to the six trail systems now
open in five Southern West Virginia counties, trail officials hope
to open two new ones next year in Wayne and Lincoln counties.
The Wayne County system has already been
mapped out on property managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
at East Lynn Lake. Hatfield-McCoy officials recently reached an
agreement with landowners to examine and begin mapping a site near
Harts for the Lincoln County system.
"We need the Corps of Engineers to
sign on with the Wayne County system, and we need the landowners to
sign on with the one in Lincoln County," said John Fekete, the
trail system's deputy director, on the plan to move forward with
construction of the two new trail loops.
Sites for trailhead facilities for each of
the two new Hatfield-McCoy systems have yet to be determined,
according to Fekete.
"What we'd like to develop are trail
systems of 80 to 100 miles - enough mileage to keep trail riding
interesting for people spending a few days at an area," said
Fekete.
In addition to the two systems being eyed
for possible opening next year, the Hatfield-McCoy Regional
Recreation Authority has authorized the mapping of a potential ninth
trail system in Mercer County.
A series of connector trails also is being
planned for development next year that would link:
• The
Indian Ridge system in McDowell County with the Pinnacle Creek
system in Wyoming County.
• The town
of Mullens, now accessible via the Pinnacle Creek system, with a new
trailhead facility bordering Twin Falls State Park.
• Logan's
Fountain Place Mall, located along U.S. 119 near the new Chief Logan
State Park lodge and convention center, with the Bear Wallow trail
system.
• The
McDowell County town of Keystone with the Indian Ridge system.
Linking the trail systems with connector
trails allows trail riders to explore new trails systems without
having to trailer their vehicles or change campsites or lodging
accommodations. Providing ATV access to towns near the trail gives
riders easy access to gas, food and repairs while giving local
businesses a new source of customers.
Next year's plans also include construction
of 10 to 15 miles of new trail at the Pinnacle Creek system, in
addition to an extra 5 to l0 miles of single-track trail for
motorcyclists, and to begin making all of the Little Coal River
system in Boone County accessible to wider-bodied UTVs - utility
terrain vehicles in which a rider and driver sit side-by-side.
"UTVs are becoming the wave of the
future," said Fekete.
Since the Little Coal River system near
Waterways waterpark has little room for expansion, Hatfield-McCoy
officials are considering developing a second Boone County trail
network in the Madison-Danville area.
Fekete said 2008 is the busiest year on
record for the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, with ridership up 20 percent
over last year.
"Despite the high gas prices, people
continue to come to Southern West Virginia to ride the trails,"
he said. "People seem to be taking fewer long vacations in
favor of several mini-vacations."
While new trail systems for motor vehicles
have sprung up elsewhere in the East, the Hatfield-McCoy Trails
remains the biggest.
"We'll keep expanding and getting
bigger and better," said Fekete. "We want to be considered
the Disneyland of ATV parks. Other smaller parks will pop up in
Pennsylvania and other places in the East, and that's fine. It gives
people places to ride until they can come here."
"The Hatfield-McCoy Trail has done a
good job of adding new trails to their system," said Charles
Howell of Ashland, Ky., as he prepared to ride a section of trail
from the Bear Wallow Trailhead near Logan on his UTV with his son,
Chuck. The Howells, former Pineville area residents, have ridden all
sections of the Hatfield-McCoy system except for Pinnacle Creek.
"But we rode trails along Pinnacle
Creek before the Hatfield-McCoy Trail was started," said Chuck
Howell.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation
has introduced a new Military SportBike RiderCourseSM for
U.S. Armed Forces throughout the world.
According to the recent MSF press release,
the course was developed in close collaboration with the U.S. Navy
and U.S. Army safety centers and is now available to all branches of
the Department of Defense.
Developed to address the increasing number
of military personnel who are involved in sport bike crashes, the
MSF Military SportBike RiderCourse is a “next-level” training
course for military riders who have completed the MSF Basic
RiderCourse. The one-day course consists of approximately three
hours of classroom interactive lesions and four hours of on-cycle
range time, and is taught by instructors (RiderCoaches) who receive
additional training and special MSF certification to teach the
course.
“The goal is to provide riders with a way
to further develop personal riding strategies and decision-making
abilities to help them minimize their risk,” said Dr. Ray Ochs,
MSF director of training systems.
The classroom segment focuses on the
behavioral aspects of riding such as attitude and personal risk
assessment, and includes discussions about braking proficiency,
cornering techniques, traction management and characteristics unique
to sport bikes. The hands-on range session builds on these topics by
providing riders the opportunity to develop and improve skills in
braking, cornering and swerving.
A student pocket takeaway booklet, the
“Sport Bike Survival Guide,” will be provided to all military
personnel who participate in the course. Written by accomplished
sport bike riding instructor Nick Ienatsch, with a foreword from
Superbike Champion Ben Spies, it includes riding techniques, street
strategies, handy reference materials, quick tips, and additional
resources for those seeking to further their knowledge and skills.
The Department of Defense requires
completion of an MSF course for all military personnel who ride, and
the U.S. Navy now requires the MSF Military SportBike RiderCourse
for all personnel who own sport bikes once they have completed the
MSF Basic RiderCourse.
To date, more than 1,600 Navy and Marine
personnel have taken the new MSF Military SportBike RiderCourse.
“With this new course for military
riders, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation continues its ongoing
effort to provide innovative programs and curriculum, all developed
with one goal in mind – to fulfill its mission of improving rider
safety,” Ochs said.
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