Dozens of Federal Lawmakers Oppose New 'Wild Lands' Land-Use Policy

Nearly 60 federal lawmakers have joined forces to ask Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to withdraw a recent order creating a new land-use designation that could bar responsible off-highway riding from public land, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports. In a letter dated Jan. 28, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), the outgoing chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus; Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Western Caucus; and 47 other House members and eight other senators asked Salazar to rescind Secretarial Order 3310, which Salazar signed on Dec. 22. The order created a new land-use designation called "Wild Lands" that essentially allows officials in the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to manage public land as if it had received a "Wilderness" land-use designation from Congress, but without requiring congressional approval...more