HR 1925 would designate Moab as wilderness and would close it to all motorised veciles and bicycles.

Please contact your congressman and urge him to vote against it's passage.

Cigar Mike

Thanks Mike!

Here we go again. . . . start writing/e-mailing/calling your state senators and congresspersons......

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1925


Sure, we can always use more protected lands....especially from commercial developement.....but don't prevent the public from ENJOYING these set-aside lands. Keep in mind that it is also illegal to ride an All-Terrain bicycle on Wilderness-designated lands (even though SOME do).

Now, if we can keep the mining and oil-exploration industries off these lands, I'm all for THAT!

I am afraid that I don't agree with that. I think it can be done in a way that makes use of our resources with out doing a lot of damage.

It is like that Bill that was passed to protect the wild horses. It just so happens that the areas that the horses are in, are the same areas where the main deposits of oil and minerals are located in Utah and Colorado. Which also is and area that was open to offroad use. The environmentalist are making great progress at shutting down offroad use. When areas are shut off to oil and mines it will be shut down to us as well.

That is one of the main reasons the Moab area may be shut down. Oil leases have been issued for that area and by making it a wilderness area it will prevent the leases from being used. We are a secondary issue. And most off road users don't see the connection. And Just like you they end up cutting their own throat. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

I have watched on other motorcycle blogs complain about the potential development of oil in the area. Now they don't have to worry about it. No one will use it.

Cigar Mike

Mike,

I sure hope that you're wrong about that, but I wouldn't be surprised if you ARE correct. Some folks (environmentalists?) would like to see the entire country be as it was when the Pilgrams landed.

I lived in Lander, Wyoming in '99 to '02 and I saw what the oil and gas companies did to the landscape on the west side of the Wind River Mountains. . . . rigs dotted the skyline everywhere you looked. Of course there are folks who would say that WY. is a God-forsaken wilderness, anyway, but once you get off I-80, there are many spectacular areas. I loved it in WY. and only left because you could NOT make a living there as a mechanic (49th lowest wages in America based on an average of ALL industries).

Anyway. . . .please contact your state representatives in regard to this bill!

Magoo,

I wish that we didn't need to have the oil wells or mining on such beautiful areas also. But I am afraid that the efforts to close off public land by creating new wilderness areas goes deeper then just oil and off road. Much of the area in Utah that would be closed is also open grazing land. Not only will this prevent oil, mining and recreational use of the land but it may drive up the cost of our food. Cass Sunstein as the regulatory czar believes animals rights come before human rights.

It is an organized and very well planned effort to push the earth first agenda. But elections have consequences. How many motorcyclist supported the "Change"? Well they got it. There is no such thing as states rights anymore. I wish we would have heeded the warnings of our founders.

In a way I am glad this is happening. Maybe if the population is hurt enough they will catch on.

On a side note, I would rather have oil wells then wind mills. It requires a lot less land to produce 1000 times the energy. Nucear power is a similar situation. 100 Nuclear power plants would require 100 sq miles of land. It will require 25,000 sq miles for wind farms to generate the same amount of power. Nuclear has a useful life of 80 years. Wind 20 years. The cost to build both is the same. Nuclear power use is rated at 80% of the time. Wind is rated at 20% of the time. What do you think is the better investment? Both are Co2 clean.

I think I will buy that FJR this weekend. At least I can ride on the street.

Cigar Mike

Cigar Mike:

Many thanks for the heads up, I've only been to Moab once but would sure like the opportunity to go again. Rest assured we've got an uphill fight for AT LEAST the remainder of this administrations 1st term which could very possibly be followed up by another 4 years of "Change". And a subsequent Biden administration would only continue to dismantle any remaining "recreational freedoms" that his former boss and cronies overlooked.

I recieved an update on this today. It does not surprise me.

Congressman Attempts to Close Public Lands by Circumventing Legislative Process
Congressman Attempts to Close Public Lands by Circumventing Legislative Process Take Action!

Contact your Representatives to oppose H.R. 1925!

On November 10, U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey of New York, along with 88 other colleagues, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking that he circumvent normal legislative procedures and administratively close more than 9 million public land acres in Utah. Effectively designating Wilderness areas without public debate or congressional approval only further erodes the public's confidence in their government. Hinchey is attempting to thwart the legislative process by having the public lands described in his bill, H.R. 1925, America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2009, administratively protected by the Secretary.

Specifically, the letter directs Salazar to "utilize the considerable authorities granted to you under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and other statutes to administratively protect the wilderness characteristics of the lands contained in the Red Rock legislation until Congress acts to protect them statutorily. "

This letter comes on the heels of an October 1 hearing of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources regarding the consideration of H.R. 1925 in which members of Utah's own Congressional delegation testified in opposition to the bill. In fact, not a single member of Utah's delegation supports this legislation. This legislation will ban off-highway vehicle (OHV) access to public lands to those who live and recreate in Utah.

Cigar Mike