House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Recreation Permits

TPAC wants to commend the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation for holding an oversight hearing today on “Impediments to Public Recreation on Public Lands.” 

 

As many of you know, electing federal legislators to enact regulatory reform as it pertains to recreational use of public lands was one of our main goals in the 2012 election.  It most certainly will be an objective for TPAC in the 2014 midterm elections.

 

Subcommittee Chairman, Rob Bishop (CD1-UT), stated at the hearing, “Increased fees, bureaucracy, restrictions, regulation, and processing time are driving up the costs of running private business on public lands making profitable operation difficult, putting many out of business, and threatening the continuation of the services that make visitor access possible and affordable for families.”

 

“Unless there is a change in direction, a generation of Americans could lose the opportunity to participate in outdoor adventure and thousands of local jobs could be lost,” Bishop continued.

 

Link to Hearing and Testimony

http://naturalresources.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=332125
 

TPAC encourages you to take time and read the public testimony of recreation businesses that face a growing mountain of red-tape and onerous regulations that impact their livelihood and local economies.

 

It is important to remember that these pro-regulatory reform hearings and subsequent legislation will not be possible if we do not retain a pro-trail majority in the House and work to elect an access majority in the Senate in 2014.

 

If you would like to help TPAC prepare for its work in the 2014 midterm elections, feel free to make a donation today of any amount. 

 

Donate Here to Support our 2014 Midterm Battle
http://www.thetrailpac.com/donate.html
 

 

 

Best Regards

 

Don Amador, Founder

The Trail PAC
www.thetrailpac.com

 

 

REI CEO to Head Department of Interior

TPAC wants to share this "trail news" regarding President Obama's recent naming of Sally Jewell as the Secretary of the Interior.

 

Sally Jewell has been associated with two very active anti-OHV entities. Those include the National Park Conservation Association (NPCA) where she has served as a board member since 2004 and REI where she serves as their CEO.

 

The NPCA has been very active in the legal arena where they have filed at least one lawsuit to ban or severely restrict ATV use at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida.

 

REI has corporately aligned itself with the non-motorized Wilderness agenda of groups such as the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Like NPCA, those groups are actively engaged in lawsuits to ban or restrict OHV recreation on public lands.  

 

However last summer, Jewell as part of an outdoor industry coalition - which included representatives from the powersports industry - helped launch the Western Governor's Association's report on the economic impact of outdoor recreation.

 

June 2012 Recreation Report News Release (link to study included in Release)

http://www.westgov.org/news/261-news-2012/401-outdoor-recreation-a-646-billion-industry

 

 

TPAC will be watching the senate confirmation hearings to see if she indicates a willingness to continue working in a collaborative manner with both motorized and non-motorized recreationists or if she will use her new position to support the anti-OHV agenda of the groups she has been associated with.
 

Best regards,

 

Don

 

The TrailPAC

www.thetrailpac.com
 

Thank You

TPAC wants to send you a heartfelt THANK YOU for your support through the 2012 election cycle.

Your support helped elect several pro-trail candidates to the U.S. Senate in AZ and NV.   You reelected Scott Tipton (CO-CD3) who was in a very tough fight in a battleground state.  You helped Andy Barr ( KY-CD6) defeat the anti-trail incumbent.  

You were the counterweight for our targeted races against the smear campaigns waged by the League of Conservation Voters, Earth Justice, Earth First!, and the Sierra Club.  

You have constructed a strong foundation for TPAC.  Using that momentum, trail voters will be effectively engaged in future elections at the federal level.

There is always a “political itch” in a 2^nd Presidential term.   That itch will be scratched by trail voters in the 2014 midterm (House/Senate) elections. 

TPAC also believes the outcome of this election places additional responsibility on trail voters to be actively engaged in non-election efforts to promote and protect responsible OHV recreation.   That work includes robust participation in the public process/administrative process related to federal land agency planning efforts.  OHVers should also continue working with other stakeholder groups such as county supervisors, outdoor groups, and mainstream conservation organizations.

Thanks again for your support and dedication to this effort.   It is appreciated more than you can ever know.

Don Amador, Founder

The Trail PAC
www.thetrailpac.com

Election Day Predictions - Voters are Tired of Being Tired

TPAC’s Election Day prediction is that you will elect a pro-trail/pro-regulatory reform President, a pro-trail majority in the U.S. Senate, and retain the pro-trail majority in the House of Representatives.

Your energy and enthusiasm are fueled by the fact that you are tired of being tired.   OHVers are tired of having the Forest Service ignore public input during the travel planning process.   We are tired of having to pay $150 dollars to fill up our ¾ ton diesel pickup on the way up to our favorite riding area.  We are tired of the EPA and other federal regulators creating new and politically motivated regulations that impact our access to roads and trails.

Other voting blocks are tired too.   Coal miners in the battleground states are tired of federal regulators implementing plans to put them out of business.   Gun owners in those same states are tired of new proposals by the administration to impact their 2^nd Amendment rights.   Churches are tired of having the federal government impose rules and regulations that violate their religious beliefs.  Family breadwinners are tired of worrying about losing their job.  Parents are tired of their college kids being forced to move back home after graduating because there are no post-graduation jobs.

TPAC believes trail-voters will know by early Wednesday morning who our next President and Senate Majority leader are.   TPAC also believes there will be one or two “surprise” states in the West who will go for our candidates.   Those two states are OR and NV.

You can now see that being “tired” is a huge motivator and it will be the deciding factor in this election.

As results come in tonight watch to see how many of our key targeted races win.   Now go out and vote Pro-Trail!

HERE IS OUR LIST OF KEY TARGETED AND/OR ENDORSED RACES FOR ELECTION 2012

President and Vice-President of the United States

 

Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan

 

U.S. Senate

 

Richard Mourdock (IN-Senate)

Tom Smith (PA - Senate)
Josh Mandel (OH-Senate)
Tommy Thompson (WI-Senate)
Dean Heller (NV - Senate)
Denny Rehberg (MT-Senate)
George Allen (VA- Senate)
Jeff Flake (AZ - Senate)
Heather Wilson (NM-Senate)
Rick Berg (ND-Senate)

 

U.S. House of Representatives

 

Andy Barr (KY CD-6)

John Koster (WA CD-1)
Dan Lungren (CA CD-7)
Chip Cravaack (MN CD-8)
Ricky Gill (CA CD-9)
Scott Tipton (CO-CD-3)

Thanks for voting to protect your FREEDOM to enjoy OHV recreation on public and private lands.

Don Amador, Founder

The Trail PAC
www.thetrailpac.com

 

 

 

 

ACTION ALERT - No-Trail vs. Pro-Trail on Nov. 6

With just two days until trail voters go to the polls, TPAC believes we are still in a dead heat in most, if not all, of our key targeted White House, Senate, and House races.  Dozens of OHV clubs in various states are working hard right now to make sure their members vote for our trail candidates.  However, they need those of you who have not engaged your OHV networks to send out a personal note to your contacts urging them to go and vote PRO-TRAIL on Nov. 6.

Virtually all of TPAC’s key targeted and/or endorsed races are in battleground and/or swing states.   Our candidates continue to get pummeled by huge ad campaigns and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts funded by extreme elements of the environmental movement.    For example, left-wing activists have chartered bus-loads of protesters from the S.F Bay Area into Sacramento to try and defeat our trail champion Dan Lungren (CA –CD7).

HERE IS OUR LIST OF KEY TARGETED AND/OR ENDORSED RACES FOR ELECTION 2012

President and Vice-President of the United States

 Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan

U.S. Senate

Tom Smith (PA-Senate)
Richard Mourdock (IN-Senate)

Josh Mandel (OH-Senate)
Tommy Thompson (WI-Senate)
Dean Heller (NV - Senate)
Denny Rehberg (MT-Senate)
George Allen (VA- Senate)
Jeff Flake (AZ - Senate)
Heather Wilson (NM-Senate)
Rick Berg (ND-Senate)
 

U.S. House of Representatives

 

Andy Barr (KY CD-6)

John Koster (WA CD-1)
Dan Lungren (CA CD-7)
Chip Cravaack (MN CD-8)
Ricky Gill (CA CD-9)
Scott Tipton (CO-CD-3)

Take nothing for granted.  Fire up your computer’s email list and get on your FACEBOOK page and urge your friends and riding buddies to make sure they vote PRO-TRAIL on Nov. 6.   There are two very different political paths that face each one of us in two days.  We still have time to have a positive impact on this election.  Your effort WILL make a difference.

Stay vigilant and continue to work hard  – your FREEDOM to enjoy OHV recreation on public and private lands depends on it!

 

Don Amador, Founder

The Trail PAC
www.thetrailpac.com

 

PS - Stay tuned for more updates and/or breaking news over the next 3 days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fake Outdoor Group Trying to Throw MT Senate Race

Over the last several years, extreme environmental organizations have created fake outdoor recreation or OHV groups to mask their anti-access agenda in various Forest Service and BLM travel planning processes.   So it should come as no surprise that proxies for Green Super PACs and enviro-activists have created a faux group called the Montana Hunters and Anglers Leadership Fund. 

According to the Fairfield Sun Times, this fake group just purchased $500K in TV ads to try and sabotage the campaign of Denny Rehberg who is a TPAC targeted key senate race.  A must win if we are going to elect a pro-trail majority to the U.S. Senate.

Oct. 30 Fairfield Sun Times Article on Fake Outdoor Group

http://www.fairfieldsuntimes.com/articles/2012/10/30/news/doc50902c39b00f1343312234.txt
 

TPAC wanted to bring trail voters this breaking news and is asking you to stay vigilant during the few days until Nov. 6.  Dirty tricks from extreme green groups are nothing new.  Be assured that TPAC will be monitoring and lending support to our targeted key Senate and House races until Election Day.

Donate $25 - $5000 to STOP the assault on family oriented OHV recreation and our candidates

http://www.thetrailpac.com/donate.html

 

Get involved now and help make a difference on Nov. 6.  Don’t let fake outdoor groups steal this election.

 

Thanks for your continued support!

 

Don Amador, Founder

The Trail PAC
www.thetrailpac.com

 

 

Guns, Regulations, and Special Trails

With just a dozen days left until November 6, TPAC believes that “excessive regulation” has replaced the ”gun issue” as a deciding factor in this election.  Many political experts believe that Al Gore’s harsh anti-gun stance cost him the election in the 2000 presidential race against George Bush.

Over-regulation at the EPA, Department of Interior, and other agencies has been a major topic throughout the primary and presidential debates.  Those regulations are impacting energy development – including the reduction of permits issued - on public lands.   It’s not just energy permits that have been reduced or made complex over the last 4 years… the Department of Interior is threatening the issuance of OHV permits due to a myriad of baseless concerns about the impacts that motorized events might have on the Sage Grouse and other species.

 

The Forest Service has also complicated it recreation permitting process for OHV events.  On another access issue, the Forest Service has proposed to basically close ALL sand trails in the forested areas of the Oregon Dunes. TPAC believes a pro-trail and pro-regulatory reform Congress and White House would review and amend those regulations to reduce their impact on family-oriented recreational use of federal lands.

 

Green PACs are going full-bore until Nov. 6 and so should TPAC and our trail voters.  TPAC believes that “every trail is a special trail” and we should do everything we can to make sure those special routes remain open for future generations.

Thanks also to the following donors who stepped up to the plate and hit a homer this last week.

TRAIL CHAMPION -$200 or more

Steve – Reno, NV - $200
Bill – Grants Pass, OR - $200

TRAIL BOSS - $100 or more

Mike – Denver, CO - $100
Gary – Boise, ID - $100
Jody - North Bend, OR - $100
 

DONATE ANY AMOUNT FROM $25 -$5,000 TO PROTECT OUR SPECIAL TRAILS IN THIS ELECTION

http://www.thetrailpac.com/donate.html

  

Thanks for your continued support of the fight. 

 

Don Amador, Founder

The Trail PAC
www.thetrailpac.com