ORBA urges the house of representatives to oppose S. 22

The Off-Road Business Association (ORBA) urges the house of representatives to oppose s. 22, an omnibus bill that will make off-highway vehicle (OHV) use illegal on over 2 million acres of public land

BAKERSFIELD, CA (February 10, 2009) S. 22, an omnibus public lands bill approved by the Senate January 15, 2009 has now moved to the House of Representatives. This bill would designate over 2 million acres of public lands as wilderness, the most restrictive land use designation available. All forms of motorized and mechanized recreation are prohibited in wilderness areas. In a time when our economy is seeing a dramatic slow down it makes no sense to eliminate one of the few income makers in some of the rural communities effected by this bill, OHV recreation.

We recognize the need for wilderness in the appropriate areas and with the proper local input so that trails and areas of high recreation value are cherry stemmed or excluded totally from this type of designation. It is not good public policy for congress to push a 1200 page piece of legislation through without giving people the proper time to digest and understand it, as they are attempting to do with this bill.

A recent addition to this bill is the codification of the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS). The NLCS would, in our opinion, create an additional and undue level of bureaucracy for the national system of public lands.

ORBA urges its members and anyone who enjoys motorized recreation on public lands to contact their representative and ask them to oppose S.22. If you are not sure who your U.S. Representative is go to the following link to find out. https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml


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ORBA is a national trade association composed of off-road related businesses united to promote common goals that support the prosperity and growth of the off-road industry. ORBA can be found on the internet at http://www.orba.biz/.

http://www.utvguide.net/

Yamaha Awards Grant to Off-Road Business Association (ORBA)

YAMAHA AWARDS GRANT OF $15,000 TO THE OFF-ROAD BUSINESS ASSOCIATION (ORBA)

The donation supports ORBAs work preserving and Promoting responsible OHV use on public lands.

BAKERSFIELD, CA (November 13, 2008) ORBA is pleased to announce it has received a Yamaha OHV Access Initiative GRANT (Guaranteeing Responsible Access to our Nation’s Trails) of $15,000 for trail identification and mapping equipment. The GRANT was awarded as a part of Yamaha’s OHV Access Initiative promoting safe, responsible riding and open, sustainable riding areas.

The funding will be used to purchase equipment that will enable ORBA to expand its efforts on behalf of its members and the OHV community as a whole. The GPS mapping equipment, mapping software, and laptop computers will enable ORBA staff to inventory current trails and provide accurate, detailed information to land managers involved in travel planning and route designation. This information will assist land managers to identify routes that they may not be aware of or to update information. We expect that this will reduce arbitrary closures because of a lack of current information and that the end result will be that more existing routes will ultimately be formally designated for OHV use. With all National Forests currently going through the Route Designation process, and many BLM offices also revising their Resource Management Plans or Travel Management Plans, this equipment will be a very valuable tool to make our input more effective.

Fred Wiley, Executive Director of ORBA, stated “We are honored to have our application approved by the GRANT funding committee. We look forward to using the equipment and funding to help provide continued access to trails that are threatened by closure and hopefully enable the designation of many routes not currently on agency inventories or designated for motorized travel.”


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ORBA is a national trade association composed of off-road related businesses united to promote common goals that support the prosperity and growth of the off-road industry. www.orba.biz