YellowSub1962
05-14-2002, 10:22 PM
I realize some of these were posted seperately, so sorry for the double post
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 5:42 PM
Subject: CLORV News Update/Action Alert #8
Dear Off Roaders:
Here is a brief update on recent news releases and alerts.
The recent appointments to the California Desert District Advisory Council are a direct result of the OHV leadership trip to Washington DC, in April.
These appointments were discussed with Rebecca Watson, Assistant to Secretary of the Interior for Land and Mineral Management. We appreciate that she took our recommendations seriously and our preferred appointments were made.
We are also pleased to have gotten permission to reprint the below article by Congressman Hansen, from Utah. Congressman Hansen has authored HR 3936, which will designate a National Recreation Trail (Shoshore National Recreation Trail) in Utah to provide recreational opportunities for Motorized Vehicles on Federal Land. Non-motorized recreation would be allowed only to the extent that it is compatible with motorized use. For more information, click on this Congressional bill tracking site.
Congressman Hansen has requested support letters from the off-road community in California. You may fax him at (202) 225-5857. His Washington DC mailing address is: Congressman James Hansen, 242 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. His office number is (202)225-0453.
Concerning AB 1058; The bill’s sponsors, the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resource Defense Council, have not taken the bill up in the Assembly because of the lobbying efforts by Off Roaders, as well as others in the Coalition (which grows daily).
We may actually be able to stop this bad bill so please keep up the phone calls, emails and faxes. The contact information and news release from last week are listed at the end of this email for reference.
Please help: If you speak with a Member’s office staff from one of the listed offices, and they assure you that their member will NOT vote for AB 1058, please contact us so we may take the Assemblymember’s name off our list.
Thus far, Assemblymen Ed Chavez (LA Area) and Juan Vargas (SD) have pledged to not vote for this very bad bill. Their names have been removed from our contact list.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April, 2002
Protecting Our Environment Requires Common Sense,
Compromise and Balanced Choices
By James V. Hansen, U.S. House of Representatives, (R) Utah
Resources Committee Chairman
Most Americans consider themselves environmentalists and conservationists. We all want clean air, clean water, abundant wildlife and wilderness to which we can escape.
I want those. I have worked hard to create and preserve these things. But, in recent years, I have watched the environmental movement become more extreme in its demands.
To hear environmental groups these days, everything should be untouched wilderness. Public lands should be left wild and touched. Dams should be busted and reservoirs drained. Mineral and energy development on public lands should be stopped. Cattle and sheep should be shooed from public lands on which herds have grazed for 150 years.
Much of the public, lured by the glossy ad campaigns and the romantic notion of wilderness, have bought into these notions without considering the costs. Extremism in any area of our lives comes at a price. Environmental extremism is no different.
I smile when some people write to me about wanting more wilderness. In their letters, they talk about loading their families up in the RV and going up to these now wilderness areas to get away from it all, smell the pines, enjoy campfire-roasted food and reconnect with each other.
They don't understand what "wilderness" means. They don't understand these lands will be closed to all but the hardiest hiker. No roads. No vehicles, not even a mountain bike.
In embracing the romantic idea of millions and millions of acres of more wilderness, people don't understand that closing off our public lands to recreation, grazing, resource development and even efforts to prevent wild fires has staggering implications. Such a move would hobble our economy and our national security.
It would even affect our ability to do something as simple as switch on the light in the kitchen. Right now, Los Angeles' electricity comes from clean Utah coal that is within a nine-million-acre swath of land some environmental groups want to put into wilderness. If that happens, Los Angeles loses its abundant electricity and joins the rest of California on the roller coaster of fluctuating price and availability.
Ironically, implementing such extreme notions of environmentalism would also curtail our ability to enjoy the outdoors. It wouldn't just be the elderly and handicapped who couldn't walk these public lands. Without even a trail to climb, most families, youngsters, middle-aged people and anyone even mildly out of shape would never enjoy these lands.
If we closed off our public lands like this - halted all resource development, recreation and grazing, the same public who supports the romantic notion would be outraged at the reality. Congressional phone lines would be tied up and our congressional offices crammed with angry citizens.
If we stop grazing on public lands, the price of meat will skyrocket. Pull out the dams and electricity bills would go up sharply while the reliability of power would nose dive. Stop the development of oil and natural gas on public lands and you'll see the result in your heat bill and the prices at the gas pump. Stop mineral development and the cost of the thousands of things in our daily lives with metal in them would climb.
Close down all our military training ranges on public lands and our national security would falter. Prohibit wildfire prevention on public lands and watch summer wildfires eat millions of acres of pristine forests each year.
If we do even half of what the extremists want, the simple pleasure of driving into a canyon to picnic in a national forest will become a memory from a bygone era.
Even urban transportation would become a nightmare. As we discovered with the Sierra Club's lawsuit over the Legacy Parkway, their extreme agenda even prohibits building needed highways on public lands near urban areas.
So the question becomes: Where do we draw the line? How do we protect our wild places, wildlife, clean air and clean water and still enjoy a strong economy and the ease of modern life?
Congress and the White House work every day to strike this balance. So do tens of thousands of public policy leaders around the country. We work to preserve the many good things about the American way of life - including our prosperity, safety and beautiful public lands - without sacrificing one for the other.
I wish we could come up with poetic ad campaigns and issue glossy calendars that reflect that complex balancing act.
I think it's easier to be a one-issue extremist. It's easier to slap a cute picture of a polar bear and her cub on TV as a warning against oil development in ANWR. Extremist groups can do that without mentioning that polar bears aren't even found in the region being considered for energy development. They can do it without a thought toward meeting this nation's growing energy needs because, hey, that doesn't happen to be their single issue.
It's left to those of us responsible for hammering out public policy to find that delicate balance among all of America's urgent, competing needs. That's a tough job whether you're in the White House, Congress or in state and city offices around the country.
It requires reasonable minds, a breadth of expertise and an adamant refusal to simplify our world for the sake of a great ad campaign. It requires compromise. Just like every solution to every problem that has plagued any civilization since the dawn of time, finding that balance requires compromise.
Some day I'd like to see a glossy calendar reflecting that hard reality.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission Goes Green
Despite the best efforts of CLORV Executive Director Pete Conaty, Terry McHale and others, who will remain nameless, Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D), has appointed John Brissenden to the OHMVR Commission. This means that all four legislative appointments are pro environmental extremists, while the three remaining Governor's appointments (by Governor Davis) have gone to pro-off roaders.
Obviously, the environmental extremists have more influence with the liberal leaders of the California Legislature.
Until off roaders are willing to get involved in all phases of politics (including, but not limited to, campaign contributions) we will continue to be on the losing end since the Democrat legislative leadership is so heavily influenced by environmental extremists.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Release: May 9, 2002
Secretary of the Interior Appoints New District Advisory Council Members
The Secretary of the Interior has appointed/re appointed four members to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) California Desert District Advisory Council for the 2002-2004 3-year term.
The appointees and their areas of expertise on the Council are:
Bill Betterley, Hisperia, CA, reappointed to a 3-year term to represent the public-at-large;
Howard Brown, Apple Valley, CA, appointed to a 3-year term representing non-renewable resources (mining);
Roy Denner, Lakeside, CA, reappointed to a 3-year term to represent recreation interests;
Jeri Ferguson, Victorville, CA, appointed to a 3-year term also representing recreation.
"I am very pleased with the appointments to the Council," said Linda Hansen, Acting District Manager. "Their diverse expertise and advice will be crucial as BLM addresses many issues regarding the management of public lands throughout southern California."
The California Desert District Advisory Council consists of 15 members, which include five representatives from the public-at-large, and ten representatives from the following interests: wildlife, recreation, environmental protection, renewable resources, nonrenewable resources, elected officials representing county government, and transportation and rights-of-way. Council members can serve a maximum of two 3-year terms.
The California Desert District Advisory Council was established by Congress through the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. Council meetings are open to the public and are held several times a year at various locations throughout southern California.
With the appointment/re appointment of the Council members, BLM will schedule an Advisory Council meeting shortly. The public will be notified when meeting and agenda has been finalized.
-BLM-
California Desert District Office - 6221 Box Springs Blvd. Riverside, California (909) 697-5217/5220
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retread from last week's legislative alert #1
AB 1058 (Pavley – D)
AB 1058 will give un-elected bureaucrats at the California Air Resources Board (CARB) the ability to levy additional taxes on all minivans, light pickups and SUVs in order to help reduce “global warming” by reducing “greenhouse gases”. Never mind that global warming is not a scientifically proven fact and that there is great debate over whether or not it even exists. Because California is so big, according to the sponsors of this bill, we are home to 25% of the world's greenhouse gases.
A large coalition of diverse groups including motorists, businesses, labor unions, and now off road groups, are opposing this bill because it would allow the CARB to impose additional taxes on your vehicles.
Some believe CARB, an un-elected body, will levy a 2-cent per mile travel tax and a 50-cent per gallon additional tax on gasoline for larger vehicles.
This bill has already passed out of the Senate, after being gutted and amended, on a straight party line vote, Democrats - aye, Republicans - no.
If we are to stop this bill in the Assembly, you MUST call the Democrat Assemblymembers listed below. They are our only hope to kill this bill before it gets to the Governor.
Please act today or we all lose.
Thank you,
Pete Conaty,
Executive Director, California League of Off Road Voters
Lobbyist for off road groups
Region (County)
District/Party Name Phone Fax
Los Angeles
AD 58 (D) Thomas Calderon (916) 319-2058 (916) 319-2158
Contra Costa
AD 11 (D) Joe Canciamilla (916) 319-2011 (916) 319-2111
Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus
AD 26 (D) Dennis Cardoza (916) 319-2026 (916) 319-2126
Los Angeles
AD 49 (D) Judy Chu (916) 319-2049 (916) 319-2149
Santa Clara
AD 24 (D) Rebecca Cohn (916) 319-2024 (916) 319-2124
Orange
AD 69 (D) Lou Correa (916) 319-2069 (916) 319-2169
Santa Clara
AD 23 (D) Manny Diaz (916) 319-2023 (916) 319-2123
Los Angeles
AD 50 (D) Marco Firebaugh (916) 319-2050 (916) 319-2150
Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera
AD 30 (D) Dean Florez (916) 319-2030 (916) 319-2130
Los Angeles
AD 43 (D) Dario Frommer (916) 319-2043 (916) 319-2143
San Diego
AD 76 (D) Christina Kehoe (916) 319-2076 (916) 319-2176
San Joaquin
AD 17 (D) Barbara Matthews (916) 319-2017 (916) 319-2117
Los Angeles, San Bernardino
AD 61 (D) Gloria Negrete McLeod (916) 319-2061 (916) 319-2161
Los Angeles
AD 55 (D) Jenny Oropezo (916) 319-2055 (916) 319-2155
Monterey, San Beneto, Santa Cruz
AD 75 (D) Simon Salinas (916) 319-2075 (916) 319-2175
San Mateo, Santa Clara
AD 21 (D) Joe Simitian (916) 319-2021 (916) 319-2121
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please visit CLORV on the web at www.clorv.org
:usa:
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 5:42 PM
Subject: CLORV News Update/Action Alert #8
Dear Off Roaders:
Here is a brief update on recent news releases and alerts.
The recent appointments to the California Desert District Advisory Council are a direct result of the OHV leadership trip to Washington DC, in April.
These appointments were discussed with Rebecca Watson, Assistant to Secretary of the Interior for Land and Mineral Management. We appreciate that she took our recommendations seriously and our preferred appointments were made.
We are also pleased to have gotten permission to reprint the below article by Congressman Hansen, from Utah. Congressman Hansen has authored HR 3936, which will designate a National Recreation Trail (Shoshore National Recreation Trail) in Utah to provide recreational opportunities for Motorized Vehicles on Federal Land. Non-motorized recreation would be allowed only to the extent that it is compatible with motorized use. For more information, click on this Congressional bill tracking site.
Congressman Hansen has requested support letters from the off-road community in California. You may fax him at (202) 225-5857. His Washington DC mailing address is: Congressman James Hansen, 242 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. His office number is (202)225-0453.
Concerning AB 1058; The bill’s sponsors, the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resource Defense Council, have not taken the bill up in the Assembly because of the lobbying efforts by Off Roaders, as well as others in the Coalition (which grows daily).
We may actually be able to stop this bad bill so please keep up the phone calls, emails and faxes. The contact information and news release from last week are listed at the end of this email for reference.
Please help: If you speak with a Member’s office staff from one of the listed offices, and they assure you that their member will NOT vote for AB 1058, please contact us so we may take the Assemblymember’s name off our list.
Thus far, Assemblymen Ed Chavez (LA Area) and Juan Vargas (SD) have pledged to not vote for this very bad bill. Their names have been removed from our contact list.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April, 2002
Protecting Our Environment Requires Common Sense,
Compromise and Balanced Choices
By James V. Hansen, U.S. House of Representatives, (R) Utah
Resources Committee Chairman
Most Americans consider themselves environmentalists and conservationists. We all want clean air, clean water, abundant wildlife and wilderness to which we can escape.
I want those. I have worked hard to create and preserve these things. But, in recent years, I have watched the environmental movement become more extreme in its demands.
To hear environmental groups these days, everything should be untouched wilderness. Public lands should be left wild and touched. Dams should be busted and reservoirs drained. Mineral and energy development on public lands should be stopped. Cattle and sheep should be shooed from public lands on which herds have grazed for 150 years.
Much of the public, lured by the glossy ad campaigns and the romantic notion of wilderness, have bought into these notions without considering the costs. Extremism in any area of our lives comes at a price. Environmental extremism is no different.
I smile when some people write to me about wanting more wilderness. In their letters, they talk about loading their families up in the RV and going up to these now wilderness areas to get away from it all, smell the pines, enjoy campfire-roasted food and reconnect with each other.
They don't understand what "wilderness" means. They don't understand these lands will be closed to all but the hardiest hiker. No roads. No vehicles, not even a mountain bike.
In embracing the romantic idea of millions and millions of acres of more wilderness, people don't understand that closing off our public lands to recreation, grazing, resource development and even efforts to prevent wild fires has staggering implications. Such a move would hobble our economy and our national security.
It would even affect our ability to do something as simple as switch on the light in the kitchen. Right now, Los Angeles' electricity comes from clean Utah coal that is within a nine-million-acre swath of land some environmental groups want to put into wilderness. If that happens, Los Angeles loses its abundant electricity and joins the rest of California on the roller coaster of fluctuating price and availability.
Ironically, implementing such extreme notions of environmentalism would also curtail our ability to enjoy the outdoors. It wouldn't just be the elderly and handicapped who couldn't walk these public lands. Without even a trail to climb, most families, youngsters, middle-aged people and anyone even mildly out of shape would never enjoy these lands.
If we closed off our public lands like this - halted all resource development, recreation and grazing, the same public who supports the romantic notion would be outraged at the reality. Congressional phone lines would be tied up and our congressional offices crammed with angry citizens.
If we stop grazing on public lands, the price of meat will skyrocket. Pull out the dams and electricity bills would go up sharply while the reliability of power would nose dive. Stop the development of oil and natural gas on public lands and you'll see the result in your heat bill and the prices at the gas pump. Stop mineral development and the cost of the thousands of things in our daily lives with metal in them would climb.
Close down all our military training ranges on public lands and our national security would falter. Prohibit wildfire prevention on public lands and watch summer wildfires eat millions of acres of pristine forests each year.
If we do even half of what the extremists want, the simple pleasure of driving into a canyon to picnic in a national forest will become a memory from a bygone era.
Even urban transportation would become a nightmare. As we discovered with the Sierra Club's lawsuit over the Legacy Parkway, their extreme agenda even prohibits building needed highways on public lands near urban areas.
So the question becomes: Where do we draw the line? How do we protect our wild places, wildlife, clean air and clean water and still enjoy a strong economy and the ease of modern life?
Congress and the White House work every day to strike this balance. So do tens of thousands of public policy leaders around the country. We work to preserve the many good things about the American way of life - including our prosperity, safety and beautiful public lands - without sacrificing one for the other.
I wish we could come up with poetic ad campaigns and issue glossy calendars that reflect that complex balancing act.
I think it's easier to be a one-issue extremist. It's easier to slap a cute picture of a polar bear and her cub on TV as a warning against oil development in ANWR. Extremist groups can do that without mentioning that polar bears aren't even found in the region being considered for energy development. They can do it without a thought toward meeting this nation's growing energy needs because, hey, that doesn't happen to be their single issue.
It's left to those of us responsible for hammering out public policy to find that delicate balance among all of America's urgent, competing needs. That's a tough job whether you're in the White House, Congress or in state and city offices around the country.
It requires reasonable minds, a breadth of expertise and an adamant refusal to simplify our world for the sake of a great ad campaign. It requires compromise. Just like every solution to every problem that has plagued any civilization since the dawn of time, finding that balance requires compromise.
Some day I'd like to see a glossy calendar reflecting that hard reality.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission Goes Green
Despite the best efforts of CLORV Executive Director Pete Conaty, Terry McHale and others, who will remain nameless, Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D), has appointed John Brissenden to the OHMVR Commission. This means that all four legislative appointments are pro environmental extremists, while the three remaining Governor's appointments (by Governor Davis) have gone to pro-off roaders.
Obviously, the environmental extremists have more influence with the liberal leaders of the California Legislature.
Until off roaders are willing to get involved in all phases of politics (including, but not limited to, campaign contributions) we will continue to be on the losing end since the Democrat legislative leadership is so heavily influenced by environmental extremists.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Release: May 9, 2002
Secretary of the Interior Appoints New District Advisory Council Members
The Secretary of the Interior has appointed/re appointed four members to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) California Desert District Advisory Council for the 2002-2004 3-year term.
The appointees and their areas of expertise on the Council are:
Bill Betterley, Hisperia, CA, reappointed to a 3-year term to represent the public-at-large;
Howard Brown, Apple Valley, CA, appointed to a 3-year term representing non-renewable resources (mining);
Roy Denner, Lakeside, CA, reappointed to a 3-year term to represent recreation interests;
Jeri Ferguson, Victorville, CA, appointed to a 3-year term also representing recreation.
"I am very pleased with the appointments to the Council," said Linda Hansen, Acting District Manager. "Their diverse expertise and advice will be crucial as BLM addresses many issues regarding the management of public lands throughout southern California."
The California Desert District Advisory Council consists of 15 members, which include five representatives from the public-at-large, and ten representatives from the following interests: wildlife, recreation, environmental protection, renewable resources, nonrenewable resources, elected officials representing county government, and transportation and rights-of-way. Council members can serve a maximum of two 3-year terms.
The California Desert District Advisory Council was established by Congress through the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. Council meetings are open to the public and are held several times a year at various locations throughout southern California.
With the appointment/re appointment of the Council members, BLM will schedule an Advisory Council meeting shortly. The public will be notified when meeting and agenda has been finalized.
-BLM-
California Desert District Office - 6221 Box Springs Blvd. Riverside, California (909) 697-5217/5220
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retread from last week's legislative alert #1
AB 1058 (Pavley – D)
AB 1058 will give un-elected bureaucrats at the California Air Resources Board (CARB) the ability to levy additional taxes on all minivans, light pickups and SUVs in order to help reduce “global warming” by reducing “greenhouse gases”. Never mind that global warming is not a scientifically proven fact and that there is great debate over whether or not it even exists. Because California is so big, according to the sponsors of this bill, we are home to 25% of the world's greenhouse gases.
A large coalition of diverse groups including motorists, businesses, labor unions, and now off road groups, are opposing this bill because it would allow the CARB to impose additional taxes on your vehicles.
Some believe CARB, an un-elected body, will levy a 2-cent per mile travel tax and a 50-cent per gallon additional tax on gasoline for larger vehicles.
This bill has already passed out of the Senate, after being gutted and amended, on a straight party line vote, Democrats - aye, Republicans - no.
If we are to stop this bill in the Assembly, you MUST call the Democrat Assemblymembers listed below. They are our only hope to kill this bill before it gets to the Governor.
Please act today or we all lose.
Thank you,
Pete Conaty,
Executive Director, California League of Off Road Voters
Lobbyist for off road groups
Region (County)
District/Party Name Phone Fax
Los Angeles
AD 58 (D) Thomas Calderon (916) 319-2058 (916) 319-2158
Contra Costa
AD 11 (D) Joe Canciamilla (916) 319-2011 (916) 319-2111
Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus
AD 26 (D) Dennis Cardoza (916) 319-2026 (916) 319-2126
Los Angeles
AD 49 (D) Judy Chu (916) 319-2049 (916) 319-2149
Santa Clara
AD 24 (D) Rebecca Cohn (916) 319-2024 (916) 319-2124
Orange
AD 69 (D) Lou Correa (916) 319-2069 (916) 319-2169
Santa Clara
AD 23 (D) Manny Diaz (916) 319-2023 (916) 319-2123
Los Angeles
AD 50 (D) Marco Firebaugh (916) 319-2050 (916) 319-2150
Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera
AD 30 (D) Dean Florez (916) 319-2030 (916) 319-2130
Los Angeles
AD 43 (D) Dario Frommer (916) 319-2043 (916) 319-2143
San Diego
AD 76 (D) Christina Kehoe (916) 319-2076 (916) 319-2176
San Joaquin
AD 17 (D) Barbara Matthews (916) 319-2017 (916) 319-2117
Los Angeles, San Bernardino
AD 61 (D) Gloria Negrete McLeod (916) 319-2061 (916) 319-2161
Los Angeles
AD 55 (D) Jenny Oropezo (916) 319-2055 (916) 319-2155
Monterey, San Beneto, Santa Cruz
AD 75 (D) Simon Salinas (916) 319-2075 (916) 319-2175
San Mateo, Santa Clara
AD 21 (D) Joe Simitian (916) 319-2021 (916) 319-2121
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please visit CLORV on the web at www.clorv.org
:usa: