lesterm
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UFWDA & Hummer Club
We ain't the only ones fighting for access to public land. We need to get on with joining UFWDA and support their fight with the anti-access crowd.
This message was sent to all Hummer Club Members. Yeah, don't be surprised, some of them do go off road. Skip down to the 5th paragraph.
Happy New Year Hummer Club Member:
The Board has started off this year running and the following updates could not wait for your first quarter AZIMUTH which is due to be mailed the first week in February.
We announced our event schedule in the November issue of AZIMUTH and the new event schedule is now posted on our website. The website is in the process of being transferred to a new server and is now working to accept your membership renewals and changes in your personal database. We are refining our event database and should have the spring events ready for online registration within a week.
February features an event in the Phoenix area. Contact Steve Yee at steve@thehummerclubinc.com for the latest information on this event. March features another Texas Hill Country event. Contact Sam Wallis at sam@youradventureinc.com for the latest information.
HOMECOMING planning is being completed and registration forms will be loaded within the next two to three weeks. Mark your calendar now for this historical event occurring June 19-23rd in South Bend, IN.
When you read the board notes feature in AZIMUTH you will see my personal goal is to bring land advocacy to the forefront of our Club this year. We are losing our rights to recreate on public lands. Soon we will have no place to use our trucks for the purpose they were intended except at privately owned OHV parks. Yesterday I received the following update from United Four Wheel Drive Associations. This pending lawsuit is one of the reasons I urge you to take action for land advocacy. There are many groups that want to keep you and your vehicle off public lands. Their voices are loud! Please take the time to get involved in land advocacy. Call or email UFWDA or the BlueRibbon Coalition (links are provided on our website under Land Advocacy) to learn more about what you can do to affect a change in public land use. Our club has membership in both these fine organizations. They are speaking out for you and your OHVs. Do your part and speak out for motorized recreation on public lands!
UNITED FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ASSOCIATIONS join law suit to prevent off-road vehicle closures in National Park Service units.
United Four Wheel Drive Associations (UFWDA) and other organizations, including the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance, filed a motion in U.S. district court for the District of Columbia today to intervene in a suit brought against the National Park Service by Friends of the Earth, Bluewater Network Division, National Parks Conservation Association, and Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (known as Bluewater Network).
Bluewater Network is asking the court to stop all off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in all National Parks and to stop all OHV use in all recreation areas, seashores, lakeshores, or preserves until such units adopt special regulations for OHV use. Bluewater is hoping the court will issue an injunction to immediately stop all OHV use at places such as Canyonlands National Park, Big Bend National Park, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Death Valley National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Cape Code National Seashore to name a few.
"This case is of vital importance to four wheel drive users and OHV users of all kinds", stated Carla Boucher, long-time attorney for UFWDA. Boucher said, "This case is typical of the mindset of anti-access organizations such as Bluewater and Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads who believe OHV use should be banned in all National Park units, even units such as Cape Hatteras National Seashore that is in the midst of legal planning for OHV management". Cape Hatteras has allowed OHV use since it was established in 1953. Its implementing legislation guaranteed OHV access and the Park Service convened the negotiated rulemaking process in June of 2005 to create a fair and balanced OHV management plan by local stakeholders. UFWDA has been nominated to represent OHV interests on the Hatteras rulemaking advisory committee. A similar OHV rulemaking process was completed by the National Park Service at Fire Island and Padre Island, yet all three national seashores are subject to the ban Bluewater is requesting.
"It appears from the complaint that Bluewater and friends do not want public access at our National Park units, even in those units where the public, the Park Service, and other environmental organizations have worked diligently to establish proper OHV management plans", concluded Boucher who is a nationally recognized land use authority and conservation advocate. UFWDA feels strongly that motorized interests can only be protected from sweeping closures of legal OHV use in our national parks if we intervene in this suit and demonstrate for the court the fallacy of Bluewater's claim and the dire impact wholesale closures will have on public lands access in this country.
United retains a full time attorney dedicated to four wheel drive access issues and is privileged to collaborate with chief council on this case Holland & Knight, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world. United is the leading representative for four wheel drive enthusiasts in the U.S., Canada, and abroad. If you would like more information on how you can be a part of this effort to keep America accessible contact United Four Wheel Drive Associations today at 7135 S. PR Royal Springs Dr., Shelbyville, IN 46176, 1-800-448-3932, legisadvoc@ufwda.org , or call Carla Boucher at (757) 546-7969.
Linda North, President
The HUMMER Club Inc.
© 2006 The HUMMER Club, Inc. info@thehummerclubinc.com
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1/21/2006, 10:03 am
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