By Charlie Lunan

The platform released by the Republican Party at its convention in Cleveland advocates eliminating one of the bicycling industries’ pet programs and returning some federally managed lands to states.

The items are among several likely to alienate the human-powered outdoor recreation industry, which has spent the last decade trying to persuade local, state and federal elected officials and policy makers of the economic value created by recreation on federally managed public lands. They directly conflict with core portions of the public policy agendas published by Outdoor Industry Association, PeopleforBikes and Snowsports Industries America.

The Republican Platform 2016, which the party released Tuesday at its convention in Cleveland, includes the following  proposals:

  • Congress shall immediately pass universal legislation providing for a timely and orderly mechanism requiring the federal government to convey certain federally controlled public lands to states. We call upon all national and state leaders and representatives to exert their utmost power and influence to urge the transfer of those lands, identified in the review process, to all willing states for the benefit of the states and the nation as a whole.
  • Because we believe states can best promote economic growth while protecting the environment, Congress should give authority to state regulators to manage energy resources on federally controlled public lands within their respective borders.
  • We support the opening of public lands and the outer continental shelf to exploration and responsible production, even if these resources will not be immediately developed.
  • We support the enactment of policies to increase domestic energy production, including production on public lands, to counter market manipulation by OPEC and other nationally owned oil companies. This will reduce America’s vulnerability to energy price volatility.
  • We support expediting the permitting process for mineral production on public lands.
  • Congress should give authority to state regulators to manage energy resources on federally controlled public lands within their respective borders, states the 2015 Republican Party platform.
  • We propose to remove from the Highway Trust Fund programs that should not be the business of the federal government. More than a quarter of the Fund’s spending is diverted from its original purpose. One fifth of its funds are spent on mass transit, an inherently local affair that serves only a small portion of the population, concentrated in six big cities. Additional funds are used for bike-share programs, sidewalks, recreational trails, landscaping, and historical renovations. Other beneficiaries of highway money are ferry boats, the federal lands access program, scenic byways, and education initiatives. These worthwhile enterprises should be funded through other sources.

Photo courtesy the Republican National Committee