Staff from the Motorcycle Industry Council’s Government Relations Office met recently with high-level Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service officials to discuss the importance of outdoor recreation on Forest Service lands. The MIC urged Department officials to prioritize recreational access, stating that OHV recreation in national forests is vital to the industry and that it is a local and national economic engine.
Representing the MIC, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America and the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association, the Government Relations Office staff was part of a delegation of members of the Outdoor Recreation Industry Roundtable.
“Working as part of ORIR, we are better able to garner the attention of high-level land management agency officials and harness the power of a collective industry that generates $887 billion in economic impact and supports 7.6 million jobs across the country,” said Kathy Van Kleeck, senior vice president, government relations for the MIC. “And, as we said in the meeting, the industry values its relationship with the USFS..”
MIC staff expressed the need to embrace partnerships to enhance recreational opportunities, and said that the industry associations, in cooperation with the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council, stand ready to partner and assist in increasing access for responsible use on forest lands.
Dan Jiron, the USDA’s acting under secretary for natural resources and the environment, told the group that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is an outdoor recreation advocate and committed to improve the experience for forest visitors nationwide, and further help with overcoming any barriers to effective partnerships.
The meeting ended with an agreement to plan further meetings involving the department’s leadership and its recreation partners focusing on action steps, overcoming barriers to partnerships and improving rural prosperity.
“Much work remains for the MIC, its partners and the roundtable,” Van Kleeck said. “But this was another positive step to ensure that powersports enthusiasts nationwide, young and old, continue to have riding areas open to them for responsible use well into the future.
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