House rejects bill that would have closed 2 million acres to OHV
The House of Representatives rejected an omnibus public lands bill that would have banned motorized vehicles from more than 2 million acres of public land, according to a press release from the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).
However, Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, says the bill, or one similar to it, could re-emerge in another form soon.
The bill failed to get the required two-thirds vote for approval. The bill was a part of a package of more than 160 bills put together to form a single bill of more than 1,300 pages long. The AMA says the bill was fast-tracked through the Senate and then positioned for a final House vote without the consideration of House members on more than 70 bills in the package.
“AMA members played a significant role in the defeat of this bill,” Moreland said in the release. “We asked all AMA members, off-highway motorcyclists, ATV riders and everyone who supports responsible outdoor recreation to immediately contact their congressional representative and ask them to reject the bill. And people responded, flooding their lawmakers with requests to vote ‘no.’”
