When a Phd Writes a Comment Saving Trails

David Schweikert
U.S. Representative District 5

Dennis Stadel Ph.D.
Former Saguaro H.S Teacher
President Arizona ATV Riders
5820 N 81 St
Scottsdale, AZ 85250

Dear Mr. Schweikert:

Please do not allow the federal Government to establish any more Wilderness or Monument areas in the United States. They will increase Taxes.

Congress is considering two major Tax Increasing Bills:
1. Treasured Landscape Initiative
New Wilderness and Expanded National Parks
2. America's Great Outdoor Initiative

Please oppose!

I do not understand the desire to create more and more wilderness, it eliminates humans from using acres and acres of America. I have ridden outside many and many Wilderness areas and there are no hikers or anyone using these areas. I do not understand why people are pushing these projects, they must hate humans.

Designation of areas in the western United States as Wilderness or Monuments means humans cannot use the area for Recreation. I am living in the outdoors over three months every year and I do not see hikers anywhere. I do not see their Parked cars. I see hundreds of cars at local Fitness gyms.

Outdoor recreation is said to contribute over one trillion dollars annually to the U.S. economy, and the vast majority of this outdoor recreation takes place on public lands and waters managed by federal, state and local governments. Should the public have access to these lands and waters for hunting, fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, mountain biking, etc.? There are long-standing tensions between those who desire to use such lands and waters for recreation and those who want to preserve and protect the public lands.
The United States Government controls millions of acres. There are 2,500,000,000 acres of land in the United States. The Department of Interior controls 500,000,000 and the U.S. Forest Service manages 193,000,000 acres. State parks comprise 14 million acres for a total over 707 million acres, under government control. This means of the approximately 707 million acres, over 28% of America is under Government control.

If you go to Blueribbon Coalition webpage they list 135 new Conservation Projects proposed in the United States by President Obama. These projects which are being proposed or will be completed this year or in the near future. These Conservation projects will add 79,808,380 acres under government control. This represents approximately a 3% increase in government control of land in America.

Many of these projects are near cities and are small additions to city or county parks, but with 79.8 million acres in these projects it means many are very large. There so many different groups that are contributing money I do not want to list them all. They include cities, counties, state and federal government Many financial institutions and companies are contributing money for these purchases. Hunting and fishing organizations are working to protect their hobby.

I have looked at all these projects and do not find any which include trails for OHV entertainment. The projects are for hiking and Wildlife protection. Motorized recreation is sadly absent from these 79 million acres of projects. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent developing for public restrooms, parking, trail development, piknicing and hiking in these protected area. Millions of acres will be managed to eliminate human entrance or human use, by blocking existing roads. Many of these 79.8 million will be undesirable for fishing or hunting.

The Wilderness Act was passed in 1964, with 9 million acres, there are now 110 million acres of wilderness acres. Congress could soon add 20 to 30 million more acres of Wilderness.

I am 69 years old and I ride my 4X4 Ranger RZR ATV over two months out of the year. I guess you could say my purpose in life is to ride into the sunset. ATV riding is what I want to do all the time. I camp and ride in National Forests, Arizona State Lands, BLM LAnds and other Public lands over 2 months out of the year. Happiness, to me, is sitting beside a fire, cooking supper, after riding some old mining or ranching roads.

I am a President of Arizona ATV Riders and the Off Road Vehicle Community that use our 4X4 vehicles for recreation. We use old Ranch Roads, Mining Roads and Public Lands Roads and since we are Street Legal, we use public roads to access our desired 4X4 drive roads for recreation. Off Road recreation is very popular in the Western States. There are over 400,000 ATV's owned by individuals in Arizona.

There are 35 active ATV Clubs plus many Four Wheel Drive clubs in Arizona. There are thousands of individuals driving registered 4X4 vehicles in Arizona. We use the Public Lands in the State of Arizona for picnicking, hiking, observing wildlife, rock hounding, flower picking, and other Outdoor activities. Every summer Arizona 4X4 owners travel to other Western Mountain states for the cool weather. So every issue affecting the 4X4 community is important to us

I also have a PhD in Environmental Studies and a Masters in Wildlife Management. Closing thousands or millions of acres to humans does not increase wildlife populations. The largest wildlife populations in Arizona are in Paradise Valley and Scottsdale, because of the landscaped yard plants and available water. Driving 4X4 vehicles on Public Lands does not decrease wildlife populations.

There are over 500,000 4X4 jeep type registered vehicle. The 4X4 owners represent approximately 1,000,000 registered voters in the State of Arizona, out of a population of 5,000,000. We want politicians to understand we are going to vote as a block against individuals that do not protect our Four Wheel Drive Recreation.

The economic impact on the State and national economy is tremendous.

Sincerely,

Dennis Stadel PhD