Every year, millions of recreational riders enjoy America’s wilderness areas – but the amount of available public land is always in flux, changing with political trends. Access to this land is an issue which has attracted widespread attention for more than 20 years.
With help from Maxxis, the Idaho-based Blue Ribbon Coalition is working to keep trails open for motorized recreation, including hunting, snowmobiling, ATV riding, and other off-road vehicle use.
Begun in 1987 in response to a local land-use dispute, the coalition is now a broad-based group of more than 1100 organizations and 10,000 individuals (both categories together encompass more than 600,000 recreational riders), which works to protect and expand access to publicly-owned land all across the United States. Seeking to balance safe, responsible vehicle use with the freedom to ride public trails, the group encourages a strict code of conduct among its members, emphasizing courtesy and consideration towards other trail-users. The coalition takes a strong stand against advertising which depicts irresponsible behavior in off-road riding.
Promoting and protecting responsible off-road recreation, the group’s priorities include cooperative trail projects with land managers, rider education programs, working with elected officials, and championing legislative initiatives. The coalition also works through the court system on specific issues, publishes a monthly magazine, runs workshops, and generates media interest in land use issues.
To find out more about how you can help the Blue Ribbon Coalition, please visit www.sharetrails.org.
