Latest news with #IMBA
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania parks officials learn tips for building; connecting trails
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (WTAJ) — Parks and recreation officials attended a learning seminar to help develop more trails in the state. The Trail Symposium, held at Brass 16823 on Axemann Road, drew over 75 people to a daylong session focused on creating efficient trails for running, biking, and equestrian use. Topics of discussion ranged from planning to fundraising, design and marketing. 'It's a very broad interest, but that's how the National Parks Service trails get on the ground,' Mary Monroe Brown, senior vice president of advocacy and engagement for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, said. 'It's a collaboration of all these groups and people understanding this vision of trails.' State grant awarded to Cambria County Historical Society to preserve century-old Buck House Attendees got a chance to network and share ideas in between sessions about their management of trails. These ideas were a way to take each piece of advice back to the home trails and create ways to connect each trail for a larger network of paths. With each connection, a new way to attract visitors and boost local commerce arises. 'The people that go hiking, camping and mountain biking, they spend a lot of money on their affinity and their recreation,' Phillip Millburn, the vice president of IMBA, said. 'The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has this data to back this case up. The economic potential is significant.' Pennsylvania has 650 trails that span over 14,000 miles. The IMBA sees the potential in developing these connecting trails to create a statewide network. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
IMBA Addresses Public Lands Sell-Off Proposal
The International Mountain Bicycling Association has issued a statement concerning a House Committee on Natural Resources amendment to the reconciliation bill that would sell off nearly 500,000 acres of public land in Utah and Nevada. 'IMBA is concerned that proposed public land disposal sales have not allowed for proper public review to assess the value of recreation against the intended goal of the sale. IMBA discourages large-scale public land sales. Public lands are essential for trails, outdoor recreation, and healthy communities. Any proposed sale should carefully consider impacts to recreation and overall landscape health, and should include the opportunity for public review and public comment.'- Todd Keller, Director of Government Affairs, International Mountain Bicycling Association On May 7 the House Natural Resources Committee passed a reconciliation bill that, if it progresses and passes into law, would in part sell off nearly half a million acres of land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. That public land includes 300 acres adjacent to Zion National Monument in Utah and land surrounding Las Vegas, Nevada. The public land sell provision of the full reconciliation bill was added after midnight on the morning of the vote and had not been included in the initial draft, avoiding public scrutiny and debate. The land sell amendment is part of the reconciliation package that the Trump Administration's "Big, Beautiful Bill" that Republicans say could add $18.5 billion in revenue and savings to help fund tax cuts in the bill. See a map of the proposed public land to be sold here. Supporters of the proposed bill argue that federal land should be monetized to support local communities and the country, and that the land sold off would be a small percentage of federally owned land. Detractors say that allowing this bill to pass would pave the way for more federal land to be sold, thereby denying the public use of it to recreated and hunt, destroy critical habitat for wildlife, and profit only private citizens wealthy enough to purchase the land. The land sale provision was introduced by representatives Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT). Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO) was the only Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee to not vote for the sell off. Rep. Adam Gray (D-CA) joined Republicans in voting to advance the full reconciliation bill. The vote was 26 to 17 in favor of the bill. Under the proposal, the land would be sold to local governments which could then sell the land to private owners for everything from mining to vacation homes. In Utah, popular outdoor recreation areas in the St. George area that could be impacted by the proposal include Bear Claw Poppy Trail System, Coral Canyon Ridge Climbing Area, the Plateau Passage Bikepacking Route, and the Hurricane Cliffs Trail System. In Nevada, acreage in Clark County that includes Las Vegas, and Pershing, Lyon and Washoe counties could be impacted. 'The sales from these small parcels of land will generate significant federal revenue, and have broad local support. It's a tailored, parochial budgetary measure,' said House Natural Resources Committee spokesperson John Seibels. 'In the dead of night, Representative Mark Amodei pushed House Republicans to move forward with an insane plan that cuts funding from water conservation and public schools across Nevada,' Sen. Cortez Masto (D-NV) said. 'This is a land grab to fund Republicans 'billionaire giveaway tax bill, and I'll fight it with everything I have.' Former Dept. of Interior Secretary Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) has joined with Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) to lead a bipartisan Public Lands Caucus who's intention is to protect and expand public lands. "As Co-Chairs, Vasquez and Zinke bring a shared passion for public lands from two very different parts of the country—Vasquez as a first-generation conservationist from the borderlands of New Mexico, and Zinke as a Navy SEAL and former Secretary of the Interior from Big Sky Country. Alongside Vice-Chairs Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) and Chairman Mike Simpson (R-ID-02), the Caucus bridges rural and urban, East and West, conservationists and sportsmen alike," a statement on Rep. Zinke's web page says. IMBA joins several outdoor recreation, environmental, hunting and conservation groups that have voiced concern over the proposal, including Trout Unlimited and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. The full reconciliation bill is expected to be voted on by the full House before Memorial Day, May 26. It would then go to the full Senate for a vote. If passed it would go to the President for signing into law. Groups opposed to the public land amendment are asking constituents to contact their representatives to voice their opposition. Representatives' contact information can be found here.
