S.1087 Releases 43 Million Acres for Multiple-Use

[The Lyin King]

S. 1087, a Senate Bill identical to H.R. 1581: (the “Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act of 2011) was introduced in the Senate on 05/26/2011 sponsored by Senator Barrasso.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s112-1087

There are currently four cosponsors, time to start firing off emails, letters and phone calls to our Senators on the Hill asking them to cosponsor and support this legislation and the same with our our Reps in Congress regarding H.R.1581.

The full text of the legislation is not available at this time nor does it have an official short title but something should be released this week. The big guns in the Land Access/Rights battle should have a determination regarding what is going on and letter generators up shortly.

Kudos to those who have already taken action and spent two minutes to fire off an email, letter or phone call urging your Representative to cosponsor the House Bill H.R 1581.

Folks who haven’t done so yet, please make the time to weigh in with our Public Servants on both Bills urging them to cosponsor and support this important Legislation.


“S.1087 : A bill to release wilderness study areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management that are not suitable for wilderness designation from continued management as de facto wilderness areas and to release inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System that are not recommended for wilderness designation from the land use restrictions of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Final Rule and the 2005 State Petitions for Inventoried Roadless Area Management Final Rule, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Sen Barrasso, John [WY] (introduced 5/26/2011) Cosponsors (4)
Committees: Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Latest Major Action: 5/26/2011 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.”



Please give this post a “Bump” for other forum members when you’ve taken action on S. 1087!

[The Lyin King]

All right, though he said he is standing down from SO 3310, in the year preceding his boss’ possible re-election since he has brought too much heat to the fire with his “Wild Lands” edict. Clearly, from the following he does not intend to do so.

http://www.arra-access.com/site/DocS....pdf?docID=461

This makes S.1087 and H.R.1581 even more important since it would strip him of the precious WSAs he continues to cling to.

Please contact your Reps and Senators in an effort to castrate him!!!

[The Lyin King]

Two Minute ARRA-Access Letter Generator for S. 1087

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Senate Companion to McCarthy Wilderness Study Release Bill Introduced

We Need Your Help to Enlist Cosponsors for S. 1087!

As you will recall, U.S. Representative and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) introduced H.R. 1581, the “Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act of 2011,” in April.

Now Senator Barrasso (R-WY) has introduced identical companion legislation (S. 1087) in the Senate. These important draft bills would release all Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) and Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRAs) that have been recommended or evaluated as not suitable for wilderness by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the U.S. Forest Service from restrictive management practices and direct that they be managed for multiple use, including recreation.

As it stands, the BLM currently manages nearly 7 million acres of WSAs as de facto wilderness despite the fact the BLM itself has already determined these areas are not suitable for wilderness designation by Congress. The situation with the Forest Service is even worse, as access is restricted to over 36 million acres of IRAs that have been deemed unsuitable for ultimate designation as wilderness. Current law and regulation dictate that these lands must be managed to protect wilderness characteristics. S. 1087 would release these areas from restrictive management and require the agencies to ensure increased access.

Take ACTION!!!: https://secure3.convio.net/arra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=305

Bonus points for personalizing the letter a bit . . .

Please give this thread a bump for other forum members when you've sent your email.

[The Lyin King]

WSA and IRA designations were just meant to be "Temporary" lands place holders to ensure suitability for future "Wilderness" designation, freezing the areas in question in their existing condition as found until Congress had time to decided whether they were "worthy" of permanent "Wilderness" designation.

Many of the areas that continue to be locked up with these "temporary" designations were deemed unsuitable for "Wilderness" over two decades ago by Congress.

Why do they remain locked up?

Because there was never any time table set for BLM and NFS managers to report back to Congress and no release mechanism was ever created for Congress to use . . .


The following was written in 2003 by . . .

John Stewart
Director, Environmental Affairs,
United Four Wheel Drive Associations, UFWDA | United Four Wheel Drive Associations
Recreation Access and Conservation Editor, 4x4Wire - Promoting Responsible Recreation to Protect Recreation Opportunities - 4x4Wire.com


"The Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 created the "Wilderness Study Area." Lands that became wilderness Study Areas were to be studied to determine whether they qualified for Wilderness designation.

Since that time over 665 Wilderness Study Area Designations, covering nearly 23 million acres in 18 states are now over 15 years old. In that time, the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have not attempted to bring to the Congress a recommendation as to whether or not any of these should named as permanent Wilderness Areas.

Unfortunately, these laws failed to provide for the release of Wilderness Study Areas. Thus Wilderness Study Areas, absent Congressional action, would be studied in perpetuity - even after the actual studies were finished. The perpetual study of an area for wilderness suitability guarantees all the study areas continue to be treated as if they were wilderness. The end result, millions of acres of public land made untouchable for multiple use".


PLEASE FOLKS . . . GIVE CONGRESS A RELEASE MECHANISM!!!

[The Lyin King]

Congress to hold hearing on Opportunities for Outdoor Recreation on Public Lands

Take Action!

Contact your Representative to voice your support!

The Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, chaired by Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources has scheduled a hearing on June 22 entitled "Opportunities for Outdoor Recreation on Public Lands."

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the All-Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA) applaud Chairman Bishop for holding this hearing.

To view a live webcast of the hearing on June 22, at 10 a.m. EDT, click here.

This hearing is a great opportunity to showcase how responsible motorized recreation on public lands is beneficial. From friends and families recreating together to local economies benefiting, the responsible motorized recreation community deserves to have fair access to our public lands as any other user currently enjoys.

However, the off-highway vehicle (OHV) community constantly faces proposals (e.g., the Wild Lands designation), legislation and regulations that restrict access to public lands. Moreover, the OHV community is restricted from accessing Wilderness Study Areas and Inventoried Roadless Areas even though land managers determined some of these areas unsuitable for congressional Wilderness land-use designations. Motorized recreation is banned on Wilderness land.

As a result of these threats to access, the Subcommittee may mention H.R. 1581, the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act, introduced by Representative and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) along with Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Representative Steve Pearce (R-NM), Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus. This bill would remove restrictions to motorized access on more than 40 million acres of public land nationwide.

The AMA and ATVA support this bill and applaud Reps. McCarthy, Bishop and Pearce for helping every American achieve greater access to our public lands. For more information on this bill, click here.

Just follow the "Take Action" option to send a pre-written e-mail directly to your Representative voicing your support of this hearing.

TAKE ACTION and access embedded links here: American Motorcyclist Association


Please give this a "BUMP" for other forum members when you've taken action!