Monty Hayes and I attended the Washington, D.C. Summit for Motorized Off Highway Vehicle Recreation on July 11-14. O.H.V. Representatives from motorized off highway vehicle recreation groups in the U.S. were invited to participate in a national O.H.V. summit event to be held in Washington, D.C. Attendees were divided into teams that walked the halls of Congress to meet with congressional representatives and their staff members. Our primary objective was to encourage congressional representatives to support House Resources Chairman Richard W. Pombo’s efforts to reform and update the endangered species act and to educate legislators about the popularity and economic importance of O.H.V. recreation in this country. Organizations were able to meet with their congressional representatives and their staff to discuss these issues. The O.H.V. summit was co-chaired by Jack Welch, Board Chairman of the Blue Ribbon Coalition and Roy Denner, President and C.E.O. of Off Road Business Association. The following clubs and organizations that were represented in D.C. were: Blue Ribbon Coalition, Off-Road Business Association, Specialty Equipment Market Association, American Sand Association, California Association of 4 Wheel Drive clubs, Colorado Association of 4WD Clubs, California Off-Road Vehicle Association, East Coast 4 WD Association, EcoBalance, Friends of Sand Mountain, Gilmore Off-Road, Idaho Snowmobile Association, International Snowmobile Manufacturing Association, KD Cycle, Personal Watercraft Association, San Diego Off Road Coalition, Texas Off-Roaders Association and Northeast Jeep Organization, Inc.

I was able to meet with the following representatives: Rep. Burgess, R-TX, Rep. Gary Miller, R-CA, Rep. Platts, R-PA, Rep. Cooper, D-TN, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-AL, Rep. Harris, R-FL, Rep. Calvert, R-CA, Rep. Shays, R-CT, Rep. Bilirakis, R-FL, Rep. Tom Davis, R-VA and Rep. Simmons, R-CT. We also attended a hearing on motorized recreation use on federal lands and heard the following speakers: Dale Boswoth, Chief, Forest Service, Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.; Ed Shepard, Assistant Director for Renewable Resources and Planning, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior, Washington, D.C.; Roy Denner, President, Off Road Business Association, Santee, CA; Jack Welch, President, Blue Ribbon Coalition, Pocatello, ID; Edward Moreland, Vice President, American Motorcyclist Association, Washington, D.C.; Larry Smith, Americans for Responsible Recreational Access, Washington, D.C.; Dan Heinz, Reno, NV and Dr. Mary Dowd, Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO.

The American Academy of Pediatrics in D.C. would like to see children under the age of 16 not operate off road motorized vehicles (i.e. ATV, personal water craft, snowmobile or mini-bike) on federal lands because of injuries and fatalities. It’s important that we keep on top of these issues that affect the sport we love to do. EC4WDA was well represented in D.C. and they know where we stand on these issues. It’s important that we fight to keep the public and federal lands open for the public and continue to build our membership. If we don’t stick together, some day there may not be organized four wheeling. I would encourage you to write letters or visit your state representatives and let them know how you feel and about everything that affects your community. Believe it or not, there are a lot of our representatives against off highway vehicle use.

It was a pleasure to represent EC4WDA in D.C. and I plan to do it in the future.


Sincerely,
Steve Forrester
Vice Chairman, EC4WDA