2.1 millon acres gone - Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009

[paulj]

These press releases from Trout Unlimited make it sound as though fishermen and hunters generally favored these bills.

http://www.tu.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=kkLRJ7MSKtH&b=3158879&content_id={EA29B63B-8A65-4AB1-8441-3535484BAAC8}&notoc=1

http://www.tu.org/site/c.kkLRJ7MSKtH/b.3205851/apps/s/content.asp?ct=6816443
It does not sound as though the Omnibus had anything to do with Tellico. That is more the result of a law suit and forest service assessment. A case of trout v OHVs. We get conflicts like that out West, especially farmers and loggers v. salmon (and salmon fishermen).

 

[silverscout]

Whims? Please tell us how this is a "whim".

Where's the public input?

 

[paulj]

Where's the public input?

According to the TU press release

“What makes this measure so noteworthy,” said Chris Wood, chief operating officer for Trout Unlimited, “is that hunters and anglers were so vocal and vital in advocating for the bill’s passage. Sportsmen were the driving force behind protecting 1.2 million of the Wyoming Range from future oil and gas drilling. Hunters and anglers helped propel new wilderness such as Copper-Salmon Wilderness in southern Oregon, the Wild Monongahela Wilderness in West Virginia and about 400,000 acres of new wilderness in California, including a 40,000-acre expansion to the Hoover Wilderness on the Eastern Sierra

 

[sinuhexavier]

Its getting to the point where USA is less and less appealing as a place to live.

I'd have to disagree and say that it just got a whole lot better...

 

[silverscout]

According to the TU press release

Sorry, I don't buy it. Telling us that Anglers and hunters had a huge role in advocating for the bill seems like political double speak from an interest group.

I'm a member of several pro-access groups in California and this was not on their radar, where most land closure issues are. Again, I ask, where was the public input?

 

[paulj]

I'm a member of several pro-access groups in California and this was not on their radar, where most land closure issues are.

According to Rep McKeon

Representative McKeon said, “The Eastern Sierra Northern San Gabriel Mountain Wild Heritage Act designates 470,000 acres of majestic land as wilderness to protect for future generations. It is the product of countless hours of community involvement. Senator Boxer and I worked together and met with virtually every local stakeholder and leader to reach a compromise. This package works because it isn’t Congress telling Californians how to manage the land; it’s our community that asked Congress to approve a land use compromise developed and vetted back home in California.”

 

[Antichrist]

Not taking sides here, but maybe the difference between horses is that, in general, horses have a known impact. As long as they stay on the trails the impact is going to be about the same from one horse to the next, one rider to the next. It only takes one selfish mountain bike rider to do a tremendous amount of damage, and it's easy to ride a bike in a way to do it.

 

[calamaridog]

Not taking sides here, but maybe the difference between horses is that, in general, horses have a known impact. As long as they stay on the trails the impact is going to be about the same from one horse to the next, one rider to the next. It only takes one selfish mountain bike rider to do a tremendous amount of damage, and it's easy to ride a bike in a way to do it.

Everything you said about horses applies to mt. bikes too. Like this:

Not taking sides here, but maybe the difference between bikes is that, in general, bikes have a known impact. As long as they stay on the trails the impact is going to be about the same from one bike to the next, one rider to the next. It only takes one selfish horse rider to do a tremendous amount of damage, and it's easy to ride a horse in a way to do it.

 

[ujoint]

Mtn bikes shouldn't be allowed EVERYWHERE, and I agree, cutting trails is a terrible thing to do. I'm just saying that cutting an entire area off the mtn bikes & not horses is silly & biased. That's all, not trying to argue with anyone here!!!!

peace & love, peace & love

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

I moved this thread here, where, despite Nathan's premise, it belongs.

As to the statement in the OP:

Its getting to the point where USA is less and less appealing as a place to live.

I'll just say I heartily disagree.

On the subject of bikes versus horses, I do agree that the distinctions seem scant, and that horses are capable of causing tremendous damage if their impact is not moderated. However, as someone who has worked on trail and road issues for some time (and who owns two mountain bikes and enjoys riding horses), I can point out one vital difference. A horse leaves discreet (separate) footprints; a mountain bike leaves one long one. In sensitive substrate a single irresponsible bike track off the trail can initiate erosion, which is unlikely from a single horse track.

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

Of course the whole issue of VAST underfunding of natural resource protection continues to be ignored...

Absolutely true.

 

[1leglance]

To bad many of the very people Disabled Explorers is trying to encourage to get outdoors will never be able to experience some of these areas due to the fact that they can't walk, ride a horse or mtn bike....

Worse is how quite a few folks in this thread think that is just fine.

I have said it before and I will say it again. If there is a ROAD already there then keep it open (unless you absolutely have to close it for a short term reclamation), if there aren't roads then go ahead and close it.

Much of the areas named in this bill already had roads.

All of you who can hike & ride enjoy it while you can.....most folks end up with some kind of mobility issue as they age.

 

[Ursidae69]

Its getting to the point where USA is less and less appealing as a place to live.

I couldn’t disagree more.

I've never understood the mtn bike vs horse thing. Guess it's cause I'm a mtn biker. At least we don't take a dump in the middle of the trail...... I say if horses are allowed, bikes should be too!!!!

I do agree with this and I’d take it even further and ask why are cattle allowed in wilderness areas and mountain bikes are not? Cattle weigh more than a horse sometimes and they are all over the place crapping and making a mess. The mountain bikers don’t have a strong lobby like the cattle growers association though.

Of course the whole issue of VAST underfunding of natural resource protection continues to be ignored...

Totally overlooked, I agree, and it is unfortunate.

Where's the public input?

This is the “legislative” process; the public input comes from voting in your states’ delegation and then communicating with them regarding bills like this one. They had input from me that supported the bill.

 

[Saline]

One of our local, incredibly scenic areas, Dominguez Canyon is in this Omnibus Bill. This is a milestone for western Colorado, the rampant natural gas industry development has destroyed many areas in this region. This has created some strange bedfellows in the political land coservation world. On the western slope we have had hunters, anglers, mtn bikers, environmentalists and ranchers all in the same room fighting together for land protection and conservation. Athough Dominguez Canyon is not on the radar for the industry it is now protected from any future development. Is it "gone", absolutley not.
One of the other considerations for protection is the abuse by mostly irrisponsible ATV and four wheel drive traffic in the area. I know 99% of the people on this board practice Tread Lightly but the folks out there that don't are partly to blame for the closing of vehicle right of ways.

 

[6Pins]

I would much rather have 2.1 million acres set aside as wilderness and then work to gain access, open trails to mountain bikes, etc. than have 2.1 million acres exploited for a short term profit. Once the land is altered, its gone. Come out to where I grew up in SW Virginia and see what havoc mountain top mining has done, and tell me you wouldn't rather have had that land treated as a wilderness area. Sure, I can drive my jeep, or ride my mountain bike up there, but streams that aren't filled in by the mining are so polluted and contaminated by coal ash, they aren't safe to walk in, much less drink.