HR 1349 "Wheels over Wilderness"

[jmden]

The US is about 3.8 million square miles, much of which is available to mountain bikers. Total designated wilderness in the US is about 170,000 square miles. Shouldn't some of the US be preserved much as it was before the industrial revolution? I guess that's selfish...

 

[JeffRaines]

I've never seen so many selfish people with so little empathy in one place.

Empathy is present I believe, as wheelchairs/wheelchair bound folks are currently allowed in wilderness areas. This isn't granting them access, this is granting mountain bikers access, people who currently have access to some 95%+ of current public land as it is.

I'm with everyone else - disabilities aside, the wilderness is for foot access only. Keep the wheels out.

 

[MIKEYB]

I have reached out to my New Mexico congress reps on this. I have called locally, D.C. and also sent emails. Unfortunately our southern Rep Steve Pearce is a cosponser on this bill. His area houses the first designated wilderness in the US. If you would like to let his DC office know how you feel about this bill, here is his DC contact info. A quick call can make a difference even if he is not your rep.

Stevan Pearce
Washington, DC
2432 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2365

Other NM reps DC contact info. neither has responded with a stance on this bill.

Michelle lujan Grisham
WASHINGTON, DC OFFICE
United States House of Representatives
214 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
P202) 225-6316
F202) 225-4975

Ben Ray Lujan
Washington D.C. Office
2231 Rayburn HOB | Washington, D.C. 20515 | Ph: (202) 225-6190 | Fax: (202) 226-1528

Based on my calls Michelle's camp seemed to be concerned about the bill but acted unaware. I got a different feeling from Ben's camp.

I am not against disabled accessing wilderness with or with out a wheelchair.I am not against forest service using survey wheels or other means of equipment to maintain established trails.

I am against bike access, game carts. I don't even see a game cart being beneficial in most areas. I believe these areas should be preserved. we should use our best efforts to leave these small areas (relative) untouched, untrammeled and primitive.

these are special protected places. we should not roll those protections back. It no different than a closed gate to a vehicle or a restricted to ATV only so wide. or a trail that only allows hiking, horseback and bikes. we restrict to protect, while still providing access to all.

Some day I will be too old or frail to hike back into the wilderness. On that day I will not be upset and want something changed so I can use my hoverboard to access. I will be happy to give those special places to future hunters and hikers as is for them to enjoy. There will still be plenty of places for me to hunt at that time. . . . .hopefully.

 

[mcr-85]

My rep and I don't have the same opinion. I just got this response from him today.


Thank you for reaching out to me with regard to H.R. 1349 which would "amend the Wilderness Act to ensure that the use of bicycles, wheelchairs, strollers, and game carts is not prohibited in Wilderness Areas, and for other purposes." This is an important issue in Utah and I appreciate you sharing your concerns with me.

Like you, I enjoy the many amenities that public lands offer to communities across the United States, particularly the beautiful lands we have here in Utah. Our state offers incredible geographic features and landscapes that deserve proper management. I grew up hunting, fishing, and ranching on our public land. I love rock climbing, hiking, skiing, and being outdoors in general. Access to these areas is why I decided to move back to Utah after my service in the Air Force.

I believe that our public lands should be governed with the philosophy of accommodating multiple uses. I do not believe that the federal government should be able to arbitrarily dictate how public lands are managed. These decisions are best made at the local level.

Currently, H.R. 1349 passed the House Committee on Natural Resources but has not been brought to the House floor for a vote. This bill would give local land managers the discrepancy to decide which trails could be opened to mountain bikers. While I understand your concerns regarding cyclists' use of these areas, I believe local entities know how to best designate land usage among the various recreational activities and can find the best solutions to accommodate them. For example, something that has been successful in other areas is to have a shared use schedule, which would only permit bikes at limited times or areas.

Once again, thank you for writing to me about this issue. While we may not agree entirely on this issue, I will keep your thoughts in mind as I review this and relevant legislation. If you would like to stay informed of the latest issues coming out of Washington, you can visit Newsletter Signup | U.S. House of Representatives to sign up for my e-newsletter.


Sincerely,
Chris Stewart Signature
Chris Stewart
Member of Congress

 

[twall13]

My rep and I don't have the same opinion. I just got this response from him today.


Thank you for reaching out to me with regard to H.R. 1349 which would "amend the Wilderness Act to ensure that the use of bicycles, wheelchairs, strollers, and game carts is not prohibited in Wilderness Areas, and for other purposes." This is an important issue in Utah and I appreciate you sharing your concerns with me.

Like you, I enjoy the many amenities that public lands offer to communities across the United States, particularly the beautiful lands we have here in Utah. Our state offers incredible geographic features and landscapes that deserve proper management. I grew up hunting, fishing, and ranching on our public land. I love rock climbing, hiking, skiing, and being outdoors in general. Access to these areas is why I decided to move back to Utah after my service in the Air Force.

I believe that our public lands should be governed with the philosophy of accommodating multiple uses. I do not believe that the federal government should be able to arbitrarily dictate how public lands are managed. These decisions are best made at the local level.

Currently, H.R. 1349 passed the House Committee on Natural Resources but has not been brought to the House floor for a vote. This bill would give local land managers the discrepancy to decide which trails could be opened to mountain bikers. While I understand your concerns regarding cyclists' use of these areas, I believe local entities know how to best designate land usage among the various recreational activities and can find the best solutions to accommodate them. For example, something that has been successful in other areas is to have a shared use schedule, which would only permit bikes at limited times or areas.

Once again, thank you for writing to me about this issue. While we may not agree entirely on this issue, I will keep your thoughts in mind as I review this and relevant legislation. If you would like to stay informed of the latest issues coming out of Washington, you can visit Newsletter Signup | U.S. House of Representatives to sign up for my e-newsletter.


Sincerely,
Chris Stewart Signature
Chris Stewart
Member of Congress

My response from Rep. Stewart was similar on this issue. At least I know that he has heard from two of us at a minimum on this issue.

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[dreamingbig]

I emailed my rep! Opposed to HR 1349!


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[CorbLand]

Emailed Bishop. We all know how good that will do.


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[dotman]

I'm sure I am part of a tiny portion hit by this, but currently, gains on the sale of a home can be exempt from capital gains taxes after living there for 2 years. Both the senate and house version of the new bill change this to 5 years. I hit 2 years in January of 2018. If I sell before the end of the year, I get hit with capital gains under the current tax code. If I sell after January 2018 I get hit with cap gains under the proposed 2018 tax code. I have been planning this move for the better part of a year, and in a few weeks just had the cost go way up.

I work in financial planning, and noticed they also snuck in an underhanded raise to cap gains taxes for those that have multiple lots of the same investment.

So it’s only good if you benefit? You must be making some money off it to increase your taxes, you could sell it at a slight loss and not take the tax hit

I always thought I was middle class, I’ll be paying more in taxes next year and I’m ok with that. The tax reform benefits those that don’t own a home, zero retirement and had very few exemptions. I think most don’t realize the personal exemptions are gone and the std deduction increase doesn’t make up for what a family of 4 that itemized had, taxes are going up.

 

[texag10]

That is not what I said. I am for tax cuts, I found the rhetoric disingenuous. I was also pissed, which I think is understandable given I was going to have a much higher tax bill than anticipated when I filed 2018.

For the record, they kept the 2 year rule in place, so I did not get hit with taxes on my home. They did change the tax exemption of the relocation package my company gave me, so I'll probably get a $15k hit in taxes instead of the $10k hit the house would've been.

 

[Phaseolus]

I am a hard core mtn biker and hunter. I do not support bikes in wilderness. We are building more trails and have access to many millions of acres outside of wilderness. This is plain and simple an attempt to grab many more miles of pre-existing trails without having to go through the process that it takes to build more trails.

 

[kicker338]

Been staying away from this thread but time to way in some. As far as bikes in wilderness areas, I would prefer them not to be there. That said I have my doubts that even if allowed you would see very many going there. Why ?? Here at least in Idaho, there miles and miles of forest service roads that are water barred, gated or marked with stay on designated roads. I've hunted, walked a bunch of them and biked them too.The one thing that stood out to me was almost zero bike activity on them. I've hiked and back packed wilderness areas for yrs. and to compare biking in those areas to biking on closed roads is why I doubt one would see many bikes in wilderness areas. On flat land areas maybe yes but in mountain areas no. The steep tarain here in Idaho even on closed roads requires a lot of walking your bike as well as riding it.

 

[twall13]

Kicker, I suspect you are right; in many wilderness areas bikes and wheelchairs are not a feasible means of transportation due to the terrain. That said, there are wilderness areas that would be overrun with bikers if allowed. I'd prefer we not open the door to that on any wilderness areas.

 

[cuerro viejo]

Emailed and called mine.

 

[bigdesert10]

Been staying away from this thread but time to way in some. As far as bikes in wilderness areas, I would prefer them not to be there. That said I have my doubts that even if allowed you would see very many going there. Why ?? Here at least in Idaho, there miles and miles of forest service roads that are water barred, gated or marked with stay on designated roads. I've hunted, walked a bunch of them and biked them too.The one thing that stood out to me was almost zero bike activity on them. I've hiked and back packed wilderness areas for yrs. and to compare biking in those areas to biking on closed roads is why I doubt one would see many bikes in wilderness areas. On flat land areas maybe yes but in mountain areas no. The steep tarain here in Idaho even on closed roads requires a lot of walking your bike as well as riding it.

There are some trails in the Boulder-White Clouds that were accessible to mountain bikers that are not since the wilderness designation. This bill might reverse that ban. I think that having them off those particular trails has been an improvement.

 

[RickH]

originally posted by kicker338
"Been staying away from this thread but time to way in some. As far as bikes in wilderness areas, I would prefer them not to be there. That said I have my doubts that even if allowed you would see very many going there. Why ?? Here at least in Idaho, there miles and miles of forest service roads that are water barred, gated or marked with stay on designated roads. I've hunted, walked a bunch of them and biked them too.The one thing that stood out to me was almost zero bike activity on them. I've hiked and back packed wilderness areas for yrs. and to compare biking in those areas to biking on closed roads is why I doubt one would see many bikes in wilderness areas. On flat land areas maybe yes but in mountain areas no. The steep tarain here in Idaho even on closed roads requires a lot of walking your bike as well as riding it."

As I said earlier I am 100% against this and hope it doesn't pass. Down here in SW Colorado mountain bikers will overrun certain trails in the Weminuche if this passes. The new thing down here now is the "free ride mountain bikers", which are building illegal trails for their downhill speed. I've had mountain bikers tell me that when they're in the backcountry it's usually a slow rock crawling pace. This is BS. There will be huge conflicts and safety issues. Going Dutch - YouTube
Imagine hiking up this trail or with pack stock.

 

[kicker338]

There are some trails in the Boulder-White Clouds that were accessible to mountain bikers that are not since the wilderness designation. This bill might reverse that ban. I think that having them off those particular trails has been an improvement.

I think you might have misunderstood my post a little, to make it clear I don't want to see mountain bikes in wilderness areas. The only exception to wheels in wilderness ares would be wheelchairs for the handicapped. Game carts, I'm nutreal on that, doubt you will ever see someone riding a game cart down hill, it would be interesting to watch though.

 

[bigdesert10]

I think you might have misunderstood my post a little, to make it clear I don't want to see mountain bikes in wilderness areas. The only exception to wheels in wilderness ares would be wheelchairs for the handicapped. Game carts, I'm nutreal on that, doubt you will ever see someone riding a game cart down hill, it would be interesting to watch though.

Yeah, I might be misunderstanding what you're saying. I was mostly replying to your comment on doubting there would be a marked increase in bike traffic. I was simply stating that Antz Basin and a couple others would definitely see a huge influx of cyclists.

 

[kicker338]

Gotty there, up horth here the country is so steep that it's hard to walk over 200yds without going up hill or down. Wish we had had a lot more of the southern rolling hill type of country.