Thursday, April 24, 2008

Washington State Gov Vetoes New Trail Ban

According to this press release from the AMA Washington State governor Christine Gregoire vetoed a portion of the state's annual budget that included a last-minute rider to ban all new ORV trail construction until 2009.

The AMA today praised Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire's line-item veto of a measure that would have banned all construction of new trails or facilities for off-road motorized recreation for at least a year.

The measure, which had been inserted in the state budget in a last-minute maneuver, without the opportunity for public debate, would have prohibited the state’s Department of Natural Resources from building or expanding trails or facilities for off-road recreational vehicles until July, 2009. It was one of seven sections of the proposed capital budget that Gov. Gregoire vetoed.

The AMA attributes the veto to activist participation, and credits the 500 members who used the AMA's Rapid Response Center with having an impact on the outcome.

Maybe so. But 500 people - just 500 people - using this simple, easy tool from the AMA is pathetic. There are thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of off-road motorcyclists in Washington State. And only 500 used the system. This is wrong on so many levels. It speaks to the incredibly poor job the AMA has done in serving the off road community. It speaks to the weak nature of the AMA's media reach. And it speaks to a certain amount of apathy on the part of off road riders in Washington.

No doubt many riders used some other method for contacting their state representatives, or the bill would not have been defeated. Then again, maybe it was the snowmobilers and 4x4 guys who did all the work. I don't know. But in any case you would think the AMA should muster more than a measly 500. Maybe it's just me, but we have to do better than this if we're ever going to have a prayer of beating the eco-Nazis at their own game.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Know Your Enemy - PEER's Off Road Wreckreation

I've just come across a scary group of virulent, anti-off road activists whose salaries we pay, whose jobs depend on our taxes, whose sole purpose in life seems to be stopping normal, hard-working taxpayers from using public lands. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a great example of why we need, more than ever, to become involved in the fight to keep our public lands open. The environmental wackos have infiltrated our government at all levels (mostly because they can't do anything productive) and have increasingly rigged the system in their favor.

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Sunday, March 9, 2008

Will the AMA Become AAA?

AMA President Rob Dingman continues to emphasize that the AMA needs to be a better member services organization, providing better benefits to members. This has been a consistent theme in every interview Dingman has held over the past year. That worries me. While Dingman is always careful to mention that the AMA needs to protect the future of motorcycling and be stronger on the legislative and government front, it is always secondary to member benefits.

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Saturday, March 8, 2008

Dingman and Edmondson Interviewed by SPEED

From Mike Kincaid of Rampant Racing comes this link to two video interviews over at SPEED. There is a 4 1/2-minute interview with Rob Dingman, AMA president, and a much more informative 10-minute interview with Roger Edmondson of the Daytona Motorsports Group. If you are concerned about the future of American motorcycle racing I think the Edmondson interview will give you hope.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Guest Response: AMA Selects Daytona Group for Pro Racing

It's a wonder that after 25 years of running roadracing, and flat track into the ground the AMA finally woke up and decided it was time to get rid those those cycle sports. Gone are the days when the average dirtbike riding kid (or adult for that matter) knows the name of even one RR or FT star. Do you? I don't. Ever since the AMA blundered into the golden goose that is Supercross, the AMA abandoned RR, FT, and to some degree motocross. For the AMA to sell to the people that control the tracks was a no brainer.

It's Official - AMA Selects Daytona Group for Pro Racing

It's official, the AMA is selling virtually all the Pro Racing properties (everything but SuperCross and ArenaCross) to the the Daytona investment group led by Jim France of NASCAR and ISC, and Roger Edmondson, President of the Grand American Road Race Series. Here is a video of the Daytona press conference and here is a complete transcript.

I think this is good, for a lot of reasons, but I wonder how it will affect the National Promoters Group that has worked so hard to build outdoor MX into the first-rate show that it is today. I suspect they will be fine, but it's probably a difficult time for them right now. This is a big day. More later...

Update: The National Promoters Group has issued a press release in support of the AMA sale. The language of it indicates to me that they were pretty much left out in the cold on this deal. But I have to think the Daytona Motorsports Group will rely heavily on NPG to keep doing what they've been doing, which is work to better outdoor MX. One thing I don't think will happen – I don't think DMG will try to kill off outdoor MX which what it often looked like the AMA was trying to do.