Legislation

National Strategy Proposed to Respond to Climate Change’s Impacts on Fish, Wildlife, Plants

MuirNet - Thu, 02/02/2012 - 13:34

Public encouraged to review and provide comments

WASHINGTON (Jan 19, 2012) – In partnership with state, tribal, and federal agency partners, the Obama Administration today released the first draft national strategy to help decision makers and resource managers prepare for and help reduce the impacts of climate change on species, ecosystems, and the people and economies that depend on them.

The strategy represents a draft framework for unified action to safeguard fish, wildlife and plants, as well as the important benefits and services the natural world provides the nation every day, including jobs, food, clean water, clean air, building materials, storm protection, and recreation.

Categories: Legislation

UNITED FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ASSOCIATIONS TO LOBBY for RTP IN WASHINGTON DC

4x4 Wire - Mon, 01/30/2012 - 09:14

The United Four Wheel Drive Associations are sending their Legislative Advocate to Washington DC in early February to discuss the pending Surface Transportation bill that eliminates the dedicated funding mechanism, upon which the entire Recreational Trails Program (RTP) relies.  Without dedicated funding, administrating entities do not have to fund the RTP Program.  While the Program would still exist in name, it is extremely doubtful that adequate funding would be supplied without Federal direction.

Categories: Legislation

Yet Another Lawsuit Threatens Colorado Trail Access - Recreation Groups Respond

4x4 Wire - Thu, 01/19/2012 - 13:10

DENVER, CO (January 19) -- Recreation advocates today filed papers to join a lawsuit about motorized vehicle access to the Rico-West Dolores area in southwest Colorado managed by the San Juan National Forest.  The lawsuit, filed in December 2011 by the Colorado Chapter of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, seeks to have specific trails declared off limits to motorized use.  The Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition (COHVCO), Trails Preservation Alliance, San Juan Trail Riders, Public Access Preservation Association and BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC) today filed a motion to intervene and attain formal party status in the case.  The Colorado groups and the BlueRibbon Coalition have previously worked together in responding to similar threats in Colorado and Utah.  Collectively, the Recreation Groups have defended recreational access in dozens of lawsuits filed by preservationists across the country.

Categories: Legislation

BLUERIBBON SEEKS ROLE IN SNOWMOBILE LAWSUIT

4x4 Wire - Tue, 01/17/2012 - 13:00

BOISE, ID (Jan 17, 2012) -- The BlueRibbon Coalition today filed papers seeking to enter a lawsuit threatening snowmobiling on lands throughout the National Forest System. The suit claims that numerous Idaho Forests have illegally relied on a "snowmobile exemption" in the 2005 Forest Service Travel Management Rule in allowing continuing snowmobile access.  BlueRibbon Coalition is a nonprofit, grassroots organization headquartered in Pocatello, Idaho, which has participated for more than two decades on the administrative, legislative and legal fronts defending reasonable access to public lands.

Categories: Legislation

Nitto Tire Kicks Up Dirt at KING OF THE HAMMERS: The Ultimate Desert Race

4x4 Wire - Tue, 01/17/2012 - 12:14

Nitto Tire Expects Great Results at This Year’s Ultra4 Sanctioned King of the Hammers Race by Showcasing Specially Designed Trail Grappler® Race Tires and Six Sponsored Race Teams

Cypress, Calif. – Jan. 17, 2011 – Nitto Tire, a leading producer of high performance tires is prepping for a big win at this year’s toughest desert race, King of the Hammers: The Ultimate Desert Race (KOH).  Nitto Tire has put together some of the top winning drivers into six officially sponsored teams to tackle this extreme test of strategy, speed and guts.  To further their edge in this competition, Nitto Tire has also developed a new, non-DOT tire specifically for this event called the 40x13.50R17 Trail Grappler K-spec®.  The first tire designed for speed and rock climbing – two essential tests known in the KOH – the 40x13.50R17 Trail Grappler K-spec combines these two attributes in one performance package making it an industry first.

Categories: Legislation

MUIRNet Land Use Resources Updated

4x4 Wire - Fri, 01/13/2012 - 18:28

Ever wonder what that acronym means??  When reading the various news reports about issues affecting motorized recreation and public lands, a number of terms and letter combinations are used.  If you need to know the meaning of ACEC, NEPA, or WSA, MUIRNet Glossaries is now on-line and provides a definition of those and many other terms.

Categories: Legislation

Third Circuit Weighs in on Clean Water Act Jurisdiction under Rapanos

MuirNet - Tue, 01/10/2012 - 02:29

The Third Circuit is the latest federal appeals court to attempt to decipher the U.S. Supreme Court’s Rapanos v. United States[1] decision. Rapanos is the 4:1:4 decision from 2006 – famous in Clean Water Act (“CWA”) circles – in which the Supreme Court announced differing standards for delineating the reach of federal jurisdiction over wetlands and other “isolated waters.” In United States v. Donovan,[2] the Third Circuit, joining two other circuits, holds that a wetland falls within CWA jurisdiction if it satisfies either test announced in the fractured Rapanos decision. Specifically, the court held that a wetland falls within CWA jurisdiction if: (1) Justice Scalia’s plurality test is met – i.e., there is a “continuous surface connection” between a wetland and a water of the United States in its own right, “so that there is no clear demarcation between ‘waters’ and ‘wetlands’”; or (2) Justice Kennedy’s “significant nexus” test is met – i.e., there is “a significant nexus to waters that are or were navigable in fact or that could reasonably be so made” so that, “either alone or in combination with similarly situated lands in the region,” the wetlands “significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the covered waters more readily understood as ‘navigable.’”

Donovan follows on the heels of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (“Corps”) recently released draft guidance regarding CWA jurisdiction.[3] The draft guidance relies heavily on Justice Kennedy’s concurring opinion in Rapanos, and replaces the Corps’ previous 2008 guidance interpreting CWA jurisdiction under Rapanos. Since recent congressional efforts to clarify the CWA following Rapanos have failed and the Supreme Court appears unwilling to revisit the issue anytime soon, lower court decisions and agency guidance will continue to guide CWA jurisdiction for the foreseeable future.

The CWA prohibits the unpermitted discharge of pollutants into “navigable waters” from any point source.

Read more at: http://www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20111206-clean-water-act-jurisdiction

Categories: Legislation

Recreation advocate article to appear in Law Book

4x4 Wire - Mon, 01/09/2012 - 13:09

Lakeside, CA (Jan 4, 2012) - An article advocating recreation inclusion in public lands management policy will be published in law book designed for classroom use in U.S. Law schools. The article, written by John Stewart, Managing Editor of 4x4Wire.com,  will appear in the Natural Resources Law 2nd Edition, authored by Jan Laitos, University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Categories: Legislation

BLM Seeks Comments on Development of Regulations for Competitive Leasing of Solar and Wind Energy on Public Lands

MuirNet - Sat, 01/07/2012 - 14:30

(Jan 7, 2012) - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today published in the Federal Register an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to give the public background information about the BLM’s interest in establishing an efficient, competitive process for issuing right-of-way (ROW) leases for solar and wind energy development on the public lands. The BLM believes such a process would help ensure fair access to leasing opportunities for renewable energy development and capture fair market value for the use of public lands, as required under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. Existing regulations limit the competitive process to procedures for responding to overlapping right-of-way applications. The BLM is seeking input on how best to offer public lands through a nomination and competitive process instead of just by right-of-way application.

Categories: Legislation

FWS To Review Petition To List Sierra Nevada Red Fox

MuirNet - Sat, 01/07/2012 - 14:12

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announced a 90-day finding on a petition to list Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and to designate critical habitat. Based on review, they find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing this subspecies may be warranted. The publication of this notice, initiates a review of the status of the subspecies to determine if listing Sierra Nevada red fox is warranted.

Categories: Legislation

BLM Issues Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Guidance

MuirNet - Tue, 12/27/2011 - 12:59

The Bureau of Land Management today issued two Instructional Memorandums (IMs) that will help guide both immediate and longer-term conservation actions aimed at conserving the greater sage-grouse and its sagebrush habitat in 10 western states – aimed at benefitting the species while maintaining a robust economy in the West:

Categories: Legislation

BLM Issues Guidance on Carbon Sequestration Studies

MuirNet - Tue, 12/27/2011 - 12:37

The BLM recently issued guidance on processing land use proposals and permit applications for exploration and site characterization studies for potential subsurface carbon sequestration projects on BLM lands.

Categories: Legislation

Public Meetings Scheduled to Address West Mojave Desert Routes of Travel Designations

4x4 Wire - Tue, 12/27/2011 - 12:30

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) California Desert District has scheduled eight public scoping meetings to gather public comments and recommendations on the preparation of environmental assessments for eight travel management areas within the West Mojave Planning Area.  These eight travel management areas are identified on the attached map, and each one will be a focus of one of the eight meetings.  This information will be used to compile travel management area information and develop preliminary route network alternatives for the West Mojave planning area.

Categories: Legislation

Spending Bill Reaffirms Restriction on “Wild Lands” Designations

4x4 Wire - Tue, 12/27/2011 - 11:48

WASHINGTON, D.C.(Dec 16, 2011) – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today unveiled language included in the 2012 Interior spending bill that blocks federal land management agencies from creating new wilderness areas without first getting Congressional approval.

Categories: Legislation

Making It All Fit

4x4 Wire - Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:15

For more than 50 years, 4 wheelers have been facing the problem of limited cargo space. If you own a large four-wheel drive SUV, wagon, or pickup, storage space is not usually problematic. Of course, the larger machines are hampered by their size during off-highway travel. If you wheel in a smaller 4 wheel drive, you will relate to the topic of this article, namely, "making it all fit."

Categories: Legislation

BLM Issues Report on Lands Deserving Protection

MuirNet - Sun, 11/13/2011 - 14:11

Salazar Highlights 18 Backcountry Areas Deserving Congressional Protection as Conservation Lands or Wilderness

Washington, DC - Beauty Mountain in California, the San Juan Islands of Washington, and Castle Peak in Colorado are among 18 backcountry areas in nine states that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar highlighted today as deserving protection by Congress as national conservation areas or wilderness areas.

Categories: Legislation

Historical Maps Now Covering 36 States

4x4 Wire - Sun, 11/13/2011 - 13:05

The release of more than 13,688 historical topographic maps covering California highlights the rapid pace of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Historical Topographic Map Collection.

Nearly 124,000 high resolution scans of the more than 200,000 historical USGS topographic maps, some dating as far back as 1884, are now available online. The Historical Topographic Map Collection includes published U.S. maps of all scales and editions, and are offered as a georeferenced digital download or as a scanned print from the USGS Store.

Categories: Legislation

Draft PEIS for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States Available

MuirNet - Sun, 11/13/2011 - 11:12

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Energy (DOE) have announced the availability of the Supplement to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States.  The BLM and the DOE will hold four public meetings on the Supplement to provide an overview of the document, answer questions, and receive public comments.

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The meeting site will open to the public at 6 p.m. The official meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and close after all individuals who wish to speak have been heard. The meeting dates and locations are given below. The specific venues will be announced at least 15 days in advance via local media, the project Web site (http://solareis.anl.gov/), and the DOE NEPA Web site (http://energy.gov/nepa).

• Las Vegas, Nevada—Wednesday, November 30, 2011
• Phoenix, Arizona—Thursday, December 1, 2011
• El Centro, California—Wednesday, December 7, 2011
• Palm Desert, California—Thursday, December 8, 2011

Click here to read the complete Federal Register Notice

Categories: Legislation