There is a bill that is getting pushed thru that would create more
wilderness areas on BLM land. I am not fully opposed to wilderness
designation, but it dose greatly limit recreation and access to many
areas and its obviously very bad for Mt biking (as they are not allowed
in Wilderness areas). For me its kind of a case by case basis if I
think its a bad thing or not.

Anyhow I thought I would pass along some basic info I was sent which
opposes it, so folks would know about it...

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"//*Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently announced his plans to
call back the Senate on November 17 to vote on a massive land grab bill
that will lock up millions of additional acres of public land, close
thousands of miles of recreation trails, harm already struggling rural
economies, further reduce renewable resource harvesting, be detrimental
to forest health by eliminating all forest management, restrict property
rights and hamstring energy exploration in the United States.*

*The bill would create over 100 new Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study
Areas & Conservation Areas, many without Public or local involvement or
support. It would eliminate existing energy production leases, forcing
more dependency on foreign energy sources & further increasing the cost
of energy in the US. The proposed Wilderness areas do not even meet the
intent of the Wilderness Act as untouched by the hand of man.

The bill would codify the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS)
currently consisting of 40 million acres of land administered by the
BLM. The NLCS would threaten the Bureau of Land Management's
long-standing multiple use strategy by placing conservation and
preservation of "nationally significant landscapes" above traditional
uses."*

/

http://72.167.145.231/savethetrails/Default.aspx?PetitionID=31"
<http://72.167.145.231/savethetrails/Default.aspx?PetitionID=31>