BLUERIBBON COALITION, INC.
MEDIA RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brian Hawthorne, Public Lands Policy Director BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102 DATE: February 24, 2009
TRAIL-BASED RECREATION GROUP RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT GAO SURVEY

The BlueRibbon Coalition, an off-highway vehicle (OHV) advocacy group, joined eight other off-highway groups in questioning the validity of a nationwide OHV survey of federal land managers. The groups made their concerns known in a February 5, 2009, letter to the Acting Comptroller General of the United States Government Accountability Office <http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/Letter_To_GAO.pdf>

The GAO review of OHV use was originally requested by Arizona Congressman Raul M. Grijalva, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.

The survey is supposedly designed to determine trends in the amount of OHV use, potential environmental and human health and safety impacts and how federal agencies are managing OHV use and enforcing OHV regulations. Managers from the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service received the survey and were asked to respond. Preservationist groups and OHV access opponents aggressively petitioned President Obama to appoint Representative Grijalva to the Secretary of Interior cabinet post, but Obama declined, opting instead for moderate Ken Salazar of Colorado.

Read more on the BlueRibbon website: http://www.sharetrails.org/