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PLEASE CONTACT SENATOR FEINSTEIN REGARDING PROPOSED NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDERNESS
-- Senator may soon support bill pending in Congress that could close important bicycling trails
For Immediate Release: July 16, 2003
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein indicated recently her general support for the proposed northern California Wilderness bill, H.R.1501, introduced by U.S. Representative Mike Thompson. Senator Feinstein has not formalized her backing and IMBA encourages Californians to contact the senator to request changes that allow for continued bicycle access.
Wilderness designation prohibits bicycling. Bicyclists seek modifications of Wilderness proposals that will protect the land while continuing to allow this quiet, low-impact, muscle-powered recreation on trails.
Thompson’s bill is essentially a subset of the bill introduced in June 2002 by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, but it covers only the land within his First Congressional District.
At stake are fabulous riding routes such as the Kings Crest and Lost Coast trails in the King Range National Conservation Area and the Red Bud and Judge Davis trails in Cache Creek in Napa and Lake counties.
IMBA has analyzed the bill and found that two-thirds of the proposed areas do not conflict with bicycling. For the remaining one-third, IMBA recommends boundary adjustments, corridors or alternative designations to protect the land while allowing bicycling.
Please write or call Senator Feinstein and Congressman Thompson. IMBA recommends the following:
1. Emphasize that mountain bikers support protecting all of the lands under consideration. But Wilderness is not the only appropriate method. Congress can and has used diverse land protection tools, which can both promote land preservation and allow bicycling.
2. Ask Senator Feinstein to not formally endorse the Thompson bill until the Wilderness/bicycling conflicts are resolved.
3. If you have specific information about any areas in the bill or have visited any of the places, include that information in your letter. See IMBA’s database of proposed California Wilderness at http://www.imba.com/news/action_alerts/ca_wilderness/thompson.html
4. Note that Wilderness designations that close bicycling trails will reduce bicycling-related tourism in the district.
5. Suggest that the conservation movement should be more inclusive. Excluding the second largest trail user group is not a way to build a land protection constituency.
CONTACT INFO:
SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Attn: John Watts
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954
HONORABLE MIKE THOMPSON
Attn: Jonathan Birdsong
119 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3311
Fax: (202) 225-4335
VIEW LEGISLATION MAPS AT: http://boxer.senate.gov/senate/maps_2535.html
IMBA is a national and international education and advocacy organization with 500 member clubs, 32,000 individual members, and more than 400 corporate partners and dealer members. IMBA creates, enhances and preserves trail opportunities for mountain bicyclists worldwide.
In 1988, five California mountain biking clubs created IMBA. Today, more than 60 bicycling clubs in California are IMBA affiliated. California bicycle manufacturing, retailing, tourism and publishing businesses generate an estimated $2 billion per year in economic activity.
Contact: Gary Sprung, gary@imba.com
303 545 9011end
