AMA Government Relations News
Compiled and edited by the American Motorcyclist Assn (AMA) Government Relations Staff
Reprinted from the Nebraska OHV Advisor, the official publication of the Nebraska Off Highway Vehicle Association March 2004

The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Imperial Sand Dunes, known in the off-highway vehicle community as Glamis, plan for reopening 49,000 acres to motorized recreation is once again on hold. A federal plan that would have reopened a portion of the dunes that has been closed to off-road traffic in recent years was delayed as the US District Court in San Francisco ruled that the BLM must wait for more input from the US Department of Fish and Wildlife before issuing a plan to reopen 49,300 acres to vehicular traffic. The court action was in response to a suit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, which claimed the biological opinion from Fish and Wildlife in the plan was flawed.

A bipartisan bill to end health-care discrimination against motorcyclists and all-terrain vehicle riders has cleared a key U.S. Senate committee. By a unanimous voice vote, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Oct. 29 approved S. 423 that would bar health plans from denying benefits to people injured while riding motorcycles, ATVs, horses, or engaging in other legal recreational or transportation activities. US Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) co-authored the bill. A similar measure, HR 1749, is being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1996, Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which prohibits companies from denying access to employer-sponsored health insurance for motorcyclists and those who participate in other recreational activities. However, federal regulators created a loophole that allows the denial of benefits under various conditions. The AMA is among a number of groups working to get this legislation approved. AMA is working with groups like the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, American Horse Council, American Council of Snowmobile Associations, Blue Ribbon Coalition, and many others.

New guidelines issued by the Bush administration could open up previously restricted federal land to off-highway vehicles. The guidelines rescinded previous quasi-wilderness status for approx. 3 million acres in Utah and millions of additional acres across the West, including Colorado. Under these new directives, the Bureau of Land Management can still set aside lands, but those decisions will be made in a public planning process for each parcel and weighed on equal footing against other potential uses and based on input from local land managers and residents.

Just three weeks after the bill was introduced in Congress, the House Resources Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee held a hearing on a proposal to crack down on people who willfully damage public land. The bill, HR 3247, is called the Trail Responsibility and Accountability for the Improvement of Lands (TRAIL) Act. It would create consistent standards for law enforcement on federal land. Also, the proposal substantially increases the penalties on recreational users of the land who willfully cause damage to public land. The fines would be used for rehabilitation, education, and awareness. At the hearing, Mark Rey, US Agriculture Department undersecretary for natural resources and the environment, and Larry Parkinson, US Interior Department deputy secretary for law enforcement and security, offered support for the goals of the bill and offered to work with the subcommittee on the final language of the bill. The AMA supports responsible riding on public land and believes that those who intentionally damage land should be punished, whether they're motorized vehicle users, horse riders, campers or hikers. The AMA decided to endorse the Tancredo legislation, in part, because another measure -- HR 751, commonly called ROVER -- targets only motorized vehicle users, and doesn't provide for consistent penalties among the various federal land agencies.

Montana's Bitterroot National Forest (BNF) is now requiring off-highway vehicles (OHV) riders to comply with state vehicle and licensing laws. Local foresters are requiring that off-highway vehicles using USFS roads be registered and display a street legal license plate and be properly equipped with mirror, horn, headlights, and brake light. OHV riders on forest roads must also be properly licensed and hold motorcycle endorsement. This new enforcement appears to be a coordinated effort by the Bitterroot, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the Montana Highway Patrol. Local OHV riders are questioning this since state Attorney General's opinion 37-9 prohibits the state from applying state vehicle and licensing laws on US Forest Service roads. While Forest is relying on a 1998 letter from two Montana Highway Patrol officers indicating that state traffic law applies to US Forest Service roads, contradicting the earlier AG opinion. If this enforcement effort stands, and is enacted on other USFS units, it could have a chilling effect on the accessibility of OHV recreation. With the number of miles of trails open for motorized use already dwindling under pressure from special interest groups, many trail rides require a return to the trailhead via roads. Applying state vehicle law to USFS roads would make it very difficult to ride anything but a dual-sport OHV, since true off-highway motorcycles and ATVs would be restricted to loop routes. Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association is working with the Department of Justice to resolve this issue.

The Bush administration recently weighed in to support a Wyoming judge's ruling that a Clinton administration roadless initiative was illegal. In 2001, President Clinton signed a rule preserving 58 million acres of U.S. Forest Service land as roadless. Industry groups launched an attack on the rule. "Environmental" organizations appealed the decision of US District Judge Clarence Brimmer. In an amicus ("friend of the court") brief submitted to the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Justice Department lawyers argued that environmentalists have no right to appeal. Those same groups volunteered as co-defendants when the state of Wyoming sued the US Department of Agriculture over the Clinton administration's 2001 roadless plan in federal court in Cheyenne. Brimmer allowed them to enter the case as defendants over the government's objection. In July, Brimmer ruled in Wyoming's favor, a decision the administration did not appeal. In August, critics from these groups in Washington, D.C., filed an ethics complaint against Brimmer. They said he had a conflict of interest, because he owned oil and gas stocks or royalty contracts when he took the roadless case. Deanell Rece Tacha, chief judge of the 10th Circuit, dismissed that complaint Sept. 10. (Denver Post)

Ohio Farm Bureau Federation says it will develop legislation to require ATVs to display a motorcycle-style registration plate. The Bureau claims that a visible ATV-registration number is necessary to identify ATV-mounted trespassers who damage farmlands.

Rockford, Illinois All-terrain vehicle (ATV) riders may have to keep 100 feet from any residence or face fines of up to $500 as the City Council looks to control the problem of illegal ATV use. The Code and Regulation Committee approved the 100-foot ban in addition to approving a resolution requesting the Legislature to pass a law requiring the licensing of all-terrain vehicles. The proposal for the 100-foot ban came as a result of a series of meetings over the past three months between the city, aldermen and ATV supporters including Kishwaukee Valley Chapter of ABATE. ATV supporters handed in more than 100 signatures to the committee opposing the new 100-foot ban. Illegal riders in the city now face fines of $100 for the first offense and up to $500 for the second offense. In June 2003, the City Council was poised to ban the operating of an ATV anywhere within city limits. Activists protested the complete ban and agreed to meet with aldermen to discuss alternatives. The group also recommended creation of an all-terrain vehicle park and better enforcement of existing laws as ways to deal with illegal activity plaguing the city's east and southeast sides. The City Council is expected to vote on the 100-foot ban in the next few weeks. (Rockford Register Star)

The East Peoria, Illinois City Council, which last July banned any use of ATVs and off-highway motorcycles within city limits, has approved a new ordinance to amend the law. Under the new law, approved January 20, residents are now allowed to ride their ATVs and off-highway motorcycles on their own land, but they need to get the permission of any neighbors who have homes within 10 feet first. The new law also provides for trespassing fines ranging from $250 to $750. The law is seen as a compromise because the July law banned the use of ATVs and off-highway motorcycles completely within city limits, even on a rider's own land. That law outraged ATV and off-highway motorcycle riders, who contacted the AMA/ATVA for help. The enthusiasts formed an AMA Community Council to carry on the fight locally with continued support from the AMA/ATVA Government Relations Department, AMA Clubs and ABATE of Illinois. At an August 5 Council meeting, Bobbie Berryman, secretary for the AMA Community Council-East Peoria, presented the City Council with a petition containing more than 1,000 signatures opposing the ban. The Council then voted to allow ATVs and off-highway motorcycles to be used for property-related chores, and formed a committee made up of citizens and city officials to study recreational use of the vehicles on private land, and possibly make recommendations to amend the law. Those efforts resulted in the new, compromise law.

Trivia
What is the average age of dirt bikers? An ATV rider? And what percent is male and female in both categories?
The average age of a dirt biker is 30 years old while an ATV rider is 40. Males make up 95% of the dirt bike category with 90% of the ATV riders being male.

More Trivia
If you replace your dirtbike or ATV's rear sprocket with one that has fewer teeth (smaller size), does that increase your machine's top speed or decrease it?

A smaller rear (drive) sprocket increases a machine's top speed, while a bigger one decreases it. The opposite holds true for the countershaft (front) sprocket; smaller = slower, bigger = faster.


Even More Trivia
Three of the following are NOT names of popular public ride areas in the U.S. Which ones are phony and which states are the real ones located in?
1. Mark Twain
2. Little Sahara
3. Big Muddy
4. Hungry Valley
5. Will Rogers
6. Cheese Country Trail
7. The Rubicon Trail
8. Giggle Gulch
9. Land Between the Lakes
10. Hatfield/McCoy

The phony names are #3 Big Muddy, #5 Will Rogers and #9 Giggle Gulch. Mark Twain is in Missouri, there are actually two Little Sahara sand dunes ride areas (Oklahoma and Utah), Hungry Valley and the Rubicon are in California, Cheese Country is of course in Wisconsin, Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky and Hatfield/McCoy is in West Virginia.