If you thought that environmental groups and their allies in Congress would be happy with just locking up vast tracts of land in Wilderness to eliminate motorized recreation, boy were you wrong.
We received an e-mail today titled: Petition to Remedy Snowmobile Exemption from Travel Management Rule. It is being circulated by the Winter Wildlands Alliance.
Here is an excerpt from the e-mail that is being circulated nationwide. "I am emailing with the hope that you and your organization will sign on to the attached petition asking the Department of Agriculture to remove the over-snow vehicle (OSV) exemption from the 2005 Travel Management Rule and thereby bring snowmobiles and other OSVs under the same management standards as other classes of off-road vehicles. The 2005 Travel Management Rule restricts off-road vehicle use to designated routes, trails and areas on National Forest System lands."
With the e-mail there is an attachment (see the attached PDF) that goes into great detail about what the Winter Wildlands Alliance (along with anyone else who will sign on) is proposing. In short, they want to eliminate cross country travel from all national forest lands.
Go ahead and have a look. It might just ruin your whole day.
Stay alert sledders and be involved in keeping public lands open to the public and not restricted to a select few.