Subject: U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein Responding To Our Concerns Over OHV Access

Date: Friday, February 13, 2009, 9:30 AM

Dear OHV Users:

Thank you for writing to me to express your opposition to the "Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009." I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome the opportunity to respond.

As you know, the "Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009" (S. 22) is a comprehensive public lands package that authorizes programs and activities in the Department of the Interior. Specifically, S. 22 includes measures that I sponsored which address California's water needs and designate wilderness areas in the State.

I understand that you are concerned about the broad scope of this bill and that the number of new park and wilderness designations may restrict public access and recreation opportunities. You may also be interested to know that virtually all of the 159 bills in the "Omnibus Public Land Management Act" were approved by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources during the 110th Congress, and the remainder of the bills were jointly approved by the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Committee.

On January 15, 2009, the Senate voted 73 to 21 to approve S. 22. The bill must be approved by the House of Representatives before it can be sent to President Obama for signature or veto. Please know that I support reasonable access and fair use of our public lands and actively worked to ensure that the wilderness designations in this bill did not limit pack and saddle animal access to the public lands. I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind should the Senate consider legislation to designate additional wilderness areas in the 111th Congress.

Again, thank you for writing. I hope you will continue to contact me about issues that are important to you. If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.
 
 
Sincerely yours,
 
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Editors Note: I think our fine Senator missed the boat of this one! That's her answer about OHV access??? Huh I don't get it...