The Open Gate

March/April 2009
By Greg Mumm

There are big things in the works in our world right now. The uncertainty of the economy and the political changes the New Year brought at all levels have set us all to wondering, “What does the future hold?” But at least two things are certain—yesterday is gone and today is here. The real question is, what do we focus on today to make sure recreation is there tomorrow? We can make a difference.

Among the top issues organized OHV recreation needs to focus on in 2009 are funding, administrative management planning, and legislative action. I don’t intend to state those in any particular order of importance nor am I saying they are the only issues—only the broad categories.

Breaking it down to specifics, I include funding as a broad category because funding is and always will be one of the big challenges we always face. Funding for OHV access advocacy comes from the grassroots membership in organized advocacy groups and when money gets tight for grassroots, there is the very real tendency to let that membership and support go by the wayside. When that happens, we all suffer because of the reduction of advocacy presence in a time when it is needed more than ever. This year is no exception. If anything, it is more important than it has ever been before.

Another funding concern is preserving and expanding agency budgets for OHV recreation and management. And it isn’t just agency budgets that are in the crosshairs. There are very real threats to even staple funding sources such as the Recreational Trails Program, which is part of the Highway Transportation Bill and provides millions of dollars to fund trails. The point is that in times of financial crisis, the budget axe always swings through recreation first. We need to collectively ensure that funding for our issues doesn’t fall off the radar. Recreation is important. Numerous studies have been done and a lot has been written and discussed about the importance and multiple benefits of outdoor recreation to the human condition. The facts are without question and include healthy rural economies, strengthened families, better personal health, quality of life and much more.

I also include administrative OHV recreation management planning as a broad category of focus concern. We still have a long way to go with federal planning efforts such as the Travel Management Rule (TMR) in the Forest Service and the BLM focus on Revised Management Planning (RMP). Both of these federal planning processes have a broadbrush effect on OHV access for recreation. On top of that, similar planning efforts take place with county and state agencies that potentially accounts for a greater portion of the recreational access in the eastern half of the nation. Tag this with the funding concerns and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize we need to maximize our efforts in each of these processes to protect our access.

I identify legislative action as another top issue of concern with good reason. Even as I write this, the Senate has pushed its version of the Omnibus Bill (S22) through a rushed vote. This behemoth bill is actually the product of compiling some 160-plus bills all into one massive, all-ornothing package. At well over 1,200 pages, it includes many lands bills including designating some 2.2 million more acres of land into Wilderness, identifies three new National Parks, 10 national heritage areas, and designates over 1,000 miles of wild and scenic rivers. The illustration here is that if this behemoth bill is any indication of the aggressive agenda in store for this Congress, the American recreating public has a long road ahead. All along that road we need to be there reminding them of the value of motorized recreational access. After all, I don’t care what form of recreation you prefer, we are all motorized at some point when we visit our public lands. It is simply a question of where or if you park your vehicle to enjoy that recreation.