US House of Representatives Hearings on "The Impacts of Unmanaged Off-Road Vehicles on Federal Land"
The House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, led by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), will hold an Oversight Hearing on "The Impacts of Unmanaged Off-Road Vehicles on Federal Land" Thursday, March 13, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
For resources on the hearing, including a list of those testifying:
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=27&extmode=view&extid=151
Subcommittee members: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=58
There will be a live webcast: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=27&extmode=view&extid=151
(Be sure to have a media palyer so you can hear this) The focus will be primarily on safety and enforcement issues, with more hearings to follow. The focus is NOT on NM but on the national issues in general.
Please e-mail the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, led by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), to go on record with support for strict control over OHV's on public lands at domenick.carroll@mail.house.gov
New Mexico Legislature unanimously passes Joint Memorial #13 - Traditional Ways of Life in Forest Plan
New Mexico State Senate Conservation Committee introduces Joint Memorial #40 "Study Off-Road Motorized Vehicle Use"
US Senate to Hold Hearings on Off-Road Vehicle Use on Public Lands - January, 2008; the US Senate will be holding hearings on the environmental impact of Off-Road Vehicles on public lands. According to Sen. Jeff Bingaman's office, the hearings will be scheduled for February or March of 2008.
Nature Overrun - ( a sobering NY Times Editorial on BLMs failure to rein in ORV use)
Off-Road Vehicles to be Banned in Parts of Sonoran Desert - Associated Press
Dec. 25, 2007 10:39 AM TUCSON - Off-road vehicles will be banned on part of a southwestern Arizona national monument early in 2008 because of extensive environmental damage caused by reckless riders, federal officials say.
Bureau of Land Management staffers are working on a closure, likely in January, for the northern third of the Sonoran Desert National Monument, said program field manager Kevin Harper.
Harper and others said riders who have ignored postings and other restrictions, taking their three- or four-wheelers and dirt bikes off designated roads, have carved new trails and mangled often-fragile vegetation. In doing so, they've created ugly, landscape-scarring ruts and other problems for the desert ecology. See full story
Surge in Off-Roading Stirs Dust and Debate in West (New York Times)
My view: Travel Management Plan must rein in OHVs (Santa Fe New Mexican)
ATV Crackdown Needed, State Fish and Wildlife Managers Say (Pioneer Press)
Glorietta Rowe Mesa Seriously Threatened by ORV Use (Share the Mesa)
Feds Let ATVs Off with a Warning (OregonLive.com)
ATV Drivers Invade, Damage Roadless Forests (USA Today)
ATV Accidents, Deaths On the Rise (Idaho Statesman)
Study: More Kids Die on ATVs Than Bikes (Yahoo News)
44,000 Children Injured on ATVs in 2004 (NY Times - free registration required)
NM Dept of Tourism Encourages ATVs to Destroy New Mexico Public Lands (NM Dept. of Tourism Web Site)
Hell on Wheels: a New Wave of Bigger, Faster Machines is Driving Americans from the Wilderness (OnEarth Magazine)
13 Year-old Girl, Missing on ATV, Found Dead in Arizona Coal Mine (ABC News)
Concerned Families for ATV Safety Formed by Parents of Children Killed on ATVs (Boston Herald)
ATV Drivers Invading Roadless Forests (Yahoo.com)
Off-Road Vehicles Get Carte Blanche (Letter to the Editor Albuquerque Journal North)
Off-Road Vehicles Rev Up Controversy (CBS News)
Can ORVs Drive Anywhere They Damn Well Please? (Mother Jones)
Group Seeks Tougher Off-Road-Vehicle Rules (The Oregonian)
Off-Road Vehicles #1 Crime Threat on SW BLM Lands (Daniel's Blogspot)
Lawsuit Alleges Off-Road Vehicle Damage to National Parks (Environmental News Service)
ATVs Not the Only Off-Road Danger to Kids (MedlinePlus)
