BLUERIBBON COALITON, INC.
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Don Amador
Phone: 925.625.6287
Date: July 19, 2006
RECREATION GROUP SUPPORTS ACCESS PROTECTIONS IN NOR CAL WILDERNESS BILL
WASHINGTON, DC (July 19) - The BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), a national trail-based recreation group, today expressed support for new access and recreation provisions incorporated into a Northwestern California Wilderness Bill (HR233). The new version of the legislation will recognize off-highway vehicle (OHV) and mountain-bike (MTB) use as legitimate recreational activities on federal lands by codifying said use in statute on a majority of routes affected by the proposal.
Don Amador, Western Representative for the BlueRibbon Coalition, said, "I believe protecting fishing access in the Park, keeping OHV and MTB trails open and deleting non-wilderness areas such as the Mad River Buttes proposal has improved this piece of legislation."
The legislation that will designate over 200,000 acres in
Northern California
will also protect the rights of beach fishermen to access the coastline in
Redwood
National Park
.
In addition, the bill will codify existing equestrian, OHV, and MTB recreation in the
Cow
Mountain
are near
Ukiah
,
California
.
"This bill is not perfect and many recreation groups are disappointed that the reopening of
Black
Sands
Beach
in the
King
Range
was not part of the legislation. Also, we are disappointed that the popular Backcountry designation did not get formally adopted. However, the fact that many of our OHV and MTB routes are being codified in statute is a clear acknowledgement that a Backcountry alternative to Wilderness is a valid and popular concept," Amador concluded.
# # #
The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national recreation group that champions responsible use of public and private lands, and encourages individual environmental stewardship. It represents over 10,000 individual members and 1,200 organization and business members, for a combined total of over 600,000 recreationists nationwide. 1-800-258-3742. www.sharetrails.org