RENO, NEVADA, (July 21, 2004) - An important meeting took place on this date between representatives from the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) recreation community and key members of the Nevada State Bureau of Land Management (BLM) staff at BLM offices in Reno, Nevada.

During a recent National Recreation Forum in Las Vegas, National BLM Director Kathleen Clarke stated that the BLM can no longer provide the resources necessary to manage BLM recreation areas on its own. She indicated that the agency will be relying on partnerships with recreation groups and gateway communities that can provide volunteer support to help with land planning and land management efforts.

With that goal in mind, Roy Denner, President & CEO of the national Off-Road Business Association (ORBA) met with Bob Abbey, Nevada State BLM Director, to offer the support of the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) recreation community to help with the huge task underway to develop land management plans for the State of Nevada. Abbey invited Denner to bring a few off-road leaders to the Nevada BLM's quarterly State Leadership Team meeting. Director Abbey stated that "with 48 million acres of BLM land in the State of Nevada, we need all of the help we can get to make sure that recreation interests are adequately considered in the BLM's new plans being developed for Nevada."

Assisting Denner with the OHV presentation to the BLM managers were Del Albright, representing the national BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC); Jon Crowley, past President of Friends of Sand Mountain; and Nate Littrell, President of the Pine Nut Mountain Trails Association. Albright told the managers' group that "there is an army of volunteers available that the BRC can enlist to help with on-the-ground efforts such as route and trail identification and recreation area management." Crowley and Littrell each gave a short history of current OHV recreation area planning efforts in Nevada that their organizations are already involved in. Both expressed concerns about potential large-scale closures to OHV recreation in their areas of interest.

During his summary, Denner stated, "The OHV recreation community understands that there will be areas in Nevada that will be excluded from OHV recreation to satisfy environmental concerns. Most OHV recreation families are rational environmentalists. We only ask that decisions made regarding environmental concerns be based on sound, proven science. We would also ask that when necessary closures of public lands, based on sound science, are deemed necessary, those closures be mitigated by designating areas where OHV recreation is appropriate to compensate for necessary closures."

Director Abbey made it clear that "the BLM welcomes the OHV community's support as we attempt to engage all stakeholders in the development of Nevada's new land management plans. It is important to the BLM that OHV opportunities are included in new management plans. Furthermore, with the ever-increasing interest in OHV recreation, we also need to provide for future needs of the OHV recreation community."

OHV PANEL PRESENTATION
To
NEVADA BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT