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Call to voice opposition to latest conservation bill |
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Written by Amy Granat
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Thursday, 05 August 2010 14:03 |
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Important Alert! Please call to oppose the passage of the Land and Water Conservation Bill that would enhance and enlarge the Endangered Species Act and also grant the government monies to buy and control private lands to the tune of $900 million dollars. This has the potential to be a massive intrusion into private property rights, and strengthen the ability of land managers to prohibit entry to public lands. This bill has already passed the House by a few votes, and is supported by Senator Harry Reid and will come up very soon for a vote in the house.
Please call your State Senators, and the following Senators to tell them that you don't support the provisions in this bill: Senators Mike Crapo, Rom Coburn and James Risch at 202-224-3121. |
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GPS to GIS - Map it or lose it |
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Written by John Stewart
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Sunday, 11 July 2010 10:54 |
Over the past two years I have been collecting GPS data from a number of different sources with the intent of converting it into GIS layer data that can be compared with what the agencies are using for their various planning efforts.
The concept involves the use of industry standard GIS (Geographic Information System) software used by local, state, and federal agencies. GIS software provides that ability to develop a basemap (ie, the state of California) and overlay it with a number of layers depicting different things. The "things" are county boundaries, national forest boundaries, political boundaries, roads, cities, and anything else that is a feature on the land. That “feature” is described and placed on a map layer to show its relationship to other features.
So, how does that impact OHV recreation? Recreation management is moving forward by determining impact on resources. In other words, the agencies are basing their recreation decisions on interactions with other resources. And, they are using GIS data to accomplish that analysis.
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Update on US Forest Service planning rule development |
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Written by US Forest Service
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Thursday, 08 July 2010 16:59 |
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As you may know, the planning rule team intended to begin sharing draft rule concepts on our blog in mid-June for review and feedback. The team is working very hard to craft the incredible amount of internal and external input we've received into rule concepts that reflect what we've heard. This is a demanding process that is taking longer to complete than we anticipated. The concepts will be ready to post soon, and we very much look forward to your feedback.
The planning rule team had also hoped to have our updated blog interface up and running by now. That too has proved challenging; however, we are hopeful the improvements will "go live" in the coming weeks. We are also aware that the Forest Service server has been down intermittently agency-wide in the last couple of weeks, which means the planning rule website has been unavailable. Our technology staff is working to fix the website; in the meantime we will share any new developments for the rule on the current planning rule blog: http://blogs.usda.gov/usdablogs/planningrule/
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Written by John H. Stewart
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Sunday, 10 August 2008 21:46 |
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The Forest Service is embarked on a mission to evaluate and designate routes of travel within the National Forest System. The final product will be a Motor Vehicle Use Map. The central theme of the MVUM is to designate the routes of travel open for public use. Current policy stipulates the MVUM will be subject to annual review and update.
The map will highlight the terms and definitions which are provided below. The USDA Forest Service recognizes five road maintenance levels (Source: Forest Service Handbook 7709.58.10):
Level 1: Is assigned to intermittent service roads during the time they are closed. The closure period must exceed 1 year. Basic maintenance is performed to keep damage to adjacent resources to an acceptable level and to perpetuate the road for future use. The road may be of any type or construction standard or may be managed at any other maintenance level when open. When at level 1, roads are closed to vehicular traffic, but may be open and suitable to non-motorized uses.
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Written by SEMA
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Sunday, 10 August 2008 21:40 |
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 Ten tips to effectively lobby your lawmakers
For many people, after hearing about everything that goes on in politics and government, lobbying has become a dirty word. However, it's important to remember that our system of representative democracy was created to give citizens a voice in government operations.
Getting involved in the political process and staying vigilant are the best ways you, as a hobbyist, can help keep the automotive hobby thriving and protect it from unfair laws and restrictions.
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Access News 
Jul.10
