by Bruce Hosking,
Boomer Biker ExaminerAMA
President and CEO Rob Dingman has been leading the world's largest
member-based motorcyclists' rights organization since taking the reins
in April 2007. In this, Part 1, Mr. Dingman discusses OHV access.
During
that time, he has reorganized many of the AMA's programs to rededicate
the Association to its core mission: protecting and promoting the
future of motorcycling and the motorcycle lifestyle. With numerous
legislative and regulatory challenges confronting American motorcycling
both on the street and the trail, the AMA enters 2009 with a sense of
purpose and urgency.
AmericanMotorcyclist.com,
the website of the AMA, sat down with Dingman to discuss the challenges
-- and opportunities -- that lie ahead. In the first of a three-part
series, Dingman discusses how the AMA and the AMA's sister organization
the ATVA (All-Terrain Vehicle Association) are fighting to preserve OHV
(off-highway vehicle) access to America's public lands.
AM:
The motorcycling community is engaged in a pitched battle with
so-called environmentalists who would ban OHVs from public lands. How
did we get to this point?
RD: I'm glad
you said "so-called environmentalists" because, like many AMA and ATVA
members, I consider myself an environmentalist, and the groups we are
confronting are perhaps better labeled "exclusionists" or "anti-access
advocates." They would be completely happy if all of our public lands
were excluded from any use except their own.
At the core of the
anti-access creed is a philosophical belief that only a handful of
Americans can be trusted to be good stewards of our public lands, and
that most Americans are incapable of acting responsibly when they are
on public lands. The AMA fundamentally rejects this elitist assumption.
America's
public lands are owned by all of us. And all who recreate responsibly
should therefore have the right to share in the splendor of our public
lands. OHV recreation is enjoyed by millions of individuals and their
families, as well as by many less-abled Americans who also rely on OHVs
for recreation.
There are countless examples of OHV users, many
of them AMA and ATVA members, doing their part to protect and preserve
the natural environments where we recreate. Our members consider it a
sacred trust to act as responsible caretakers of our public lands so
that their children -- and many generations to follow -- will have the
same opportunities.
AM: How are America's motorcycle and ATV riders doing their part to keep public lands open to OHV recreation?
RD:
We can look at the ongoing success of the Recreational Trails Program,
which started in 1990, as an example of how the OHV community has
worked collaboratively with non-motorized trail users and the federal
government to create a program that funds the construction and
maintenance of trails for hundreds of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts.
That program has helped nurture the latest generation of responsible
OHV users.
The AMA believes that personal responsibility is
paramount for all motorcyclists. That said, the vast majority of OHV
riders do act responsibly, stay on designated trails, use a quiet
exhaust and spark arrester, and respect the rights of other trail
users. Through education, peer-pressure and support for appropriate law
enforcement, we hope to teach all riders that it is incumbent upon us
all to ride responsibly on public lands. What we do today will impact
what we, and countless others, will be allowed to do well into the
future.
AM: What is the latest threat?
RD: Where
do I begin? First, we have an ongoing threat with the Forest Service's
Travel Management rule. It decrees an unfunded mandate to inventory all
trail systems in the United States, has artificial deadlines and
rejects user input in many areas. Second -- and more urgent -- we are
now facing an additional public lands grab.
The battlefield has
shifted from our local communities, national forests and desert lands
to the floor of the U.S. Congress. In early January, the U.S. Senate
passed a massive package of bills -- over 160 in all -- that would
close off more than 2 million acres to motorized recreation. Thrown out
in that process were the recommendations of local public lands
managers, city and county governments, their citizens and the outdoor
enthusiasts who spent thousands of hours developing responsible,
multiple-use recreation plans for their communities. It's a massive
land-grab that, if passed by the House of Representatives and signed by
President Obama, would lock-up millions of acres of public lands,
lock-out millions of people and decimate the coffers of the small towns
and counties whose economic vitality relies heavily upon recreational
tourism.
AM: Is it too late to act?
RD:
No, there is still time. Legislators pay attention to their
constituents, and I urge every OHV rider -- in fact, every motorcyclist
-- to write or call their U.S. Representative and insist that their
voice be heard. Share with them your personal story. Tell them that you
ride responsibly and that actively managed and responsible OHV
recreation has a place on our public lands.
AM: Is the AMA all alone in this fight?
RD:
No, I am happy to report that the AMA and the ATVA are working with a
number of other organizations to preserve our right to access our
public lands. Groups like the BlueRibbon Coalition, the National
Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council, the Motorcycle Industry
Council, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, the Off Road
Business Association and the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle
Association, to name a few. Additionally, aligned with our coalition
are snowmobile and personal watercraft users, as well as advocates of
non-motorized recreation, such as the American Horse Council. These
groups work together as part of the Americans for Responsible
Recreational Access in an effort to share resources and strengthen our
collective voice.
AM: What can we do to prevent these crises from arising in the future?
RD: I
urge readers who are not AMA or ATVA members to join and help fund the
battle to preserve OHV recreation for this and future generations.
While there are no guarantees, the more riders we represent, the louder
our voice and the stronger we become, whether we are acting proactively
or responding to an imminent threat. I am confident that by acting
together we will make a difference.
Readers who
wish to contact their U.S. Representatives today can do so in the
"Issues & Legislation" area of the Rights section of AMA’s website here.
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