The Victory Continues

THE VICTORY CONTINUES

ROUNDUP

From the Motorcycle Industry Council comes a press release about a press

release, namely an announcement by Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus.

As a follow-up to the latest executive order concerning off-road vehicles on federal land, Andrus repeated that the order will only ban vehicles from fragile areas actually threatened with serious damage.

“As we have said several times now, it does not amount to anything resembling a general ban against the use of off-road vehicles on federal lands,” Andrus said, “and we have no intention of exceeding the scope of its limited intent.

“Further, there is no new broad grant of authority to close off large blocks of land. The agency head can close off‘portions’ of the lands his agency manages, and we interpret that to mean limited areas.” Those are words we like to hear. As will be remembered, last spring there was a leak from Washington about a contemplated closure of virtually all federal land to recreational vehicles. The motorcycle industry, press and off-road riders got mad in unison and some 80,000 people wrote and called the White House. The executive order which appeared in public was much weaker than the one we’d heard about and it’s our opinion that the public reaction is what did it.

Andrus also said that what happens from here on will depend in large part on the actions of land users, i.e. bikers, 4WD drivers, and various other people who ride, drive, hike or whatever on federal land. The more conscious these people are of proper land use, he said, the less need there will be for land closures of any kind. Again, we have no quarrel with that.

In that vein, the MIC is working on a land-use planning program. As is well known, the public and various government agencies tend to assume that the off-road biker is a lout, interested only in making maximum noise and ripping through fields of wildflowers with knobbies spinning. And in truth, there are people like that.

The solution, says MIC, is helping planners and resource managers become aware of who the off-road user is and what his needs and expectations are.

First step for the MIC in getting this message across to the right people has been the retention of a professional planning consultant, Garrell E. Nicholes. He’s an environmentalist, a sportsman, a former university teacher and an off-road biker for many years. He was in charge of compiling the nation’s first comprehensive resource inventories, for the states of Wyoming and Utah. A good man and one who can speak the languages of the recreational motorcyclist and government agencies. He’ll be working for the MIC as liason among off-road enthusiasts, the motorcycle industry, state planners and the various federal agencies responsible for government lands. >