WASHINGTON — A House committee is expected to approve controversial legislation Wednesday that would open all federal wilderness, including almost 15 million acres in California, to mountain bikes.
The bill by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove (Sacramento County) would amend the 1964 Wilderness Act, which specifically bans “mechanical transport,” to allow bicycles on 109 million acres of designated wilderness that constitute some of the most remote and undisturbed areas of the country.
McClintock, chairman of the House Natural Resources panel on public lands, said the bill would “help restore public access to public land.” … More