Trail Access Featured At Congressional Hearing

SACRAMENTO, CA (September 20) -- A congressional subcommittee held a field hearing in Northern California that was focused on trail access to federal timber lands.  The House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands heard formal testimony on September 19 in the State Capitol from OHV leaders, Forest Service, county officials, union representatives, sportsmen, and anti-access groups.

Most of the testimony and questions were centered on route closures, excessive event permitting fees, failure by the agency to coordinate with local counties, forest management, and burdensome regulations.

Don Amador, Western Representative for the BlueRibbon Coalition, stated, "I believe there has been a significant sea-change in the land-use debate when you have trail access being featured at a Congressional hearing.  That was not happening just a few years ago."

"OHV enthusiasts should be encouraged now that trail access and other issues impacting responsible recreational use of public lands are being addressed in a serious manner by elected federal officials.  This hearing is a case-study in how the travel management rule has been misused to effect landscape level closures of historic roads and trails in California," Amador concluded.

MUST VIEW! -- Link to Hearing
http://naturalresources.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=258843

Link to Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/09/federal-public-land-policies-b.html

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The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national recreation group that champions responsible recreation, and encourages individual environmental stewardship. With members in all 50 states, BRC is focused on building enthusiast involvement with organizational efforts through membership, outreach, education, and collaboration among recreationists. 1-800-BlueRib - www.sharetrails.org.