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Coalition for Public Accesse-Newsletter (October 2008) |
CPA is inaugurating a newsletter to keep supporters up to date in the world of public access. Please let us know if this information is useful or if there is anything else you would like to see in a newsletter. You can contact us at cpa@cfpa-nv.org.
CPA has become a nonprofit corporation in the State of Nevada complete with Bylaws and a bank account. Donations may now be made directly to CPA. The Board of Directors is now applying to IRS for a 501(c)(4) tax exemption. Stay tuned.
Our neighbors in Inyo and Mono Counties, California are battling a wilderness bill. Government officials and public access people negotiated in good faith the area to be made into wilderness. The Boxer-McKeon Bill (HR 6156) then went to congress and changed drastically. This is why the CPA headed off our wilderness before it got to congress. CPA has attended hearings and will continue to help where we can.
Inyo County depends on recreation dollars. The folks there are proposing a new concept: “Semi-Primitive Backcountry”. They argue that this would preserve public access for generations in perpetuity. The idea includes ATV use on existing trails as well as active resource management to reduce wildfire fuels.
Wilderness advocates continue to survey areas in Mineral County for wilderness possibilities. This is why CPA must remain vigilant in the work of protecting multiple use access.
Both the Forest Service and BLM are working on Road Inventory Maps to determine which roads will be open to ATV’s, cars only, or closed. CPA has volunteers mapping the roads in Lyon and Mineral counties and researching their histories in order to be ready when draft maps are issued.
Be sure to check our website regularly at cfpa-nv.org. It is user-friendly and you are sure to find a lot of information there. This is a continuing battle so we must be alert.