Back in October 2016, I penned a letter to the Herald noting a potential Republican push to open designated wilderness areas to wheeled travel (Senate Bill 3205).
They’re back! With all the hubbub nonsense about important national priorities going on in the Capitol, Republican representative Tom McClintock (Calif.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, is pushing HR 1349, which is ”intended to amend the Wilderness Act to ensure that the use of bicycles, wheelchairs, strollers and game carts is not prohibited in Wilderness Areas.”
Interestingly, the International Mountain Bicycling Association has provided a letter stating “IMBA’s longstanding position on trail access in federally designated Wilderness is as follows: IMBA will continue to respect both the Wilderness Act and the federal land agencies’ regulations that bicycles are not allowed in existing congressionally designated Wilderness areas. IMBA is not supporting H.R. 1349.”
The bill has already passed in committee by a vote of 22-18. The Secretary of Interior has already showed his hand in support of diminishing national parks and monuments and opening federal lands up to wheeled uses.
If you do not want to see the Wilderness Act changed, call or write your representatives and senators and voice your feelings.
Bob Thompson
Vallecito
