Access Rights to Public Lands Issue



Time is running out, over 55% or 107,000,000 acres of your public lands have already been closed to most uses. Over 55 acres a minute will be closed based on this year’s Wilderness proposals, all without public involvement. Help stop these massive land closures.



To put it simply there is a vocal minority of people who want to lock you out of your own public lands.

They have been very successful & will continue to be successful until more people stand up & speak out.

The problem we are facing with the public land access issues today is it’s a very small group of people that are well organized with a lot of political influence in that simply put, put their very selfish wants ahead of others.

They claim to be environmentalists, better know as Green People or Tree Huggers, pretending that their main objective is to protect the land from others who will destroy it.



These people have only one objective. They want the public lands to be open only for themselves and their fellow silent sports advocates (the hikers, back packers & primitive campers). These people want no one else on these public lands except their kind. They hate it that other user groups, they don’t care for, are allowed on these multi use public lands. Not only don’t they want any motor sports recreation on these public lands, they don’t even want mountain bikers or horseback riders on these multi-use public lands, just walking. To win their objective they spread false propaganda about the user groups they are opposed to and they scare the public into believing that the land and the animals that live on it will be completely destroyed if the trails and roads are not closed and the bad people (mountain bikers, horseback rides & motor sports trail users, etc.) are not kept out.

We pay our taxes, the public lands are our land, we (taxpayers) should all be able to use these lands as shared recreation land and the majority of us should not be locked out. The land should be for everyone to use and enjoy, in an environmentally friendly way and yes we need to protect it for future generations. But closing the trails, roads and lands down to the majority of the public is not the answer, conservation and good land management is.



There are times when those of us in the motor sports community need to speak out and write, email or call our elected officials, Representatives, Congressmen & Senators and let them know that the majority of outdoor recreational people will not idly stand by and let a small group of a few selfish people take away what is rightfully ours. Now! Is one of those times,.



Over 56,000 of your fellow OHVers have already woken up to the fact that they needed to take part in government or be ruled by laws they disagree with.
If you have not done so already, please sign the Advocates for Access to Public Lands (AAPL) petition so your voice is heard & hopefully you can get your local elected officials to sign a resolution go to: http://access-advocates.org/take_action.htm

Wilderness bills like S493 (a land access closure bill) most definitely affects trails by closing them. This is legit & there are many other bills just like it. None of them require a vote.

Congress will approve these anti-access bills unless more people speak up.

You can read more about & read the actual S493 bill at http://access-advocates.org/issues.htm

Just yesterday (3-13-08) your Congressmen voted on HR 2016 the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) bill,. They voted 3/12 on putting national park like regulations on over 26,000,000 acres of multiple use land. The National Landscape Conservation System passed out of the Resources Committee by a vote of 24 to 13. It will now go to the floor of the House for a vote. You still have a good chance to stop this bill by contacting your own district Congressman today:

Baldwin, Tammy, Wisconsin, 2nd District


Kagen, Steve, Wisconsin, 8th District

Kind, Ron, Wisconsin, 3rd District


Moore, Gwen, Wisconsin, 4th District

Obey, David R., Wisconsin, 7th District


Petri, Thomas, Wisconsin, 6th District

Ryan, Paul, Wisconsin, 1st District


Sensenbrenner, F. James, Wisconsin, 5th


It is very important that your Congressman know you are watching and paying attention to how he votes. So please go to the Action Items below and make your calls. This will help you with your credibility with your Congressman in the future.



Trails In Trouble is a video that is accurate & I hope you will take the time to watch it and follow the program as outlined at www.TrailsInTrouble.org to show the video to your Congressman's office. Contact (call, write or email) our Congressman today, let them know you oppose the closing of access to our public lands.


Advocates for Access to Public Lands (AAPL) was created to help people like yourself speak up quickly & easily to help keep trails & public lands open.
Please consider joining supporting AAPL & donate to help fund their cause to help people take action against public land closures.

Advocates for Access to Public Lands; www.access-advocates.org, Also check out these another access right to public land originations, Blur Ribbon Coalition at www.blueribbon.org and the American Land Rights Association; www.landrights.org



There are some things you just cannot put a price on; the annual family camping trip to that remote spot at the end of the forest road, mountain biking with your friends in the backcountry, ATV riding on primitive forest trails, horse back riding in the vast woods, fishing with your child at your dad’s favorite spot, 4x4ing up that old logging road to your secret hunting camp, winter snowmobiling through the National Forest.

Of course the key to enjoying all these special times is access to your public lands.

Get involved & take action, contact your Congressman today.



Thanks for your time and efforts,



Fox Valley All Terrain Vehicle Association (FVATVA) &

East Central Wisconsin ATV Alliance (ECWATVA)

President
Scott L. Siebert

Scott L. Siebert