"All trail-access decisions are political decisions"

The Trail Political Action Committee (TPAC) was founded as the first national non-partisan political action committee dedicated solely to championing responsible off-highway vehicle recreation on designated roads, trails, and areas on public lands through the electoral and legislative processes.
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The TPAC tactical goal is to target key races using state-of-the art real-time analysis where there is a tough election and the pro-access candidate needs some extra support to help to defeat their opponent.
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TPAC is needed to counter the anti-access special interests in Washington DC who have long ago figured that contributing to closure-oriented politicians is how they will accomplish their goal of restricting OHV access on federal lands.
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TPAC is ready to stand in that political breach to stop the flow of anti-access politicians into the Capital. TPAC will work hard to reverse that trend so that pro-access legislators will exist as the majority in Congress and the White House.
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Friday, February 8, 2013

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