United Four Wheel Drive Associations
An International Organization

Category: Press Releases
Date: Mar 22 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUCCESS! Court Rules in Favor of UFWDA and its Recreation Partners Against Bluewater Network, Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads, and other Environmentalists

UFWDA and its recreation partners intervened on behalf of the National Park
Service (NPS) in a 2005 lawsuit brought by Bluewater Network, Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (Wildlands CPR), and National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) against the NPS. The purpose of the suit was to prohibit ORV use in parks across the country.

UFWDA and our recreation partners Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance (CHAPA), American Sportfishing Association (ASA), Dare and Hyde Counties, North Carolina, and United Mobile Sportfishermen (UMS) asked the court to dismiss all 8 issues in the case, arguing that the environmental groups lacked standing and failed to properly state their claim. The other intervenors in the case filed similar claims as UFWDA and included the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA), the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), and the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC).

“The case will move forward but is restricted to a very narrow set of issues”, stated Carla Boucher, nationally-recognized attorney for United Four Wheel Drive Associations. “The court ruled on March 21, 2007 that Bluewater did not have standing on any of the issues and granted our request to dismiss them from the case entirely. The court found in our favor on all but 2 of the issues and limited another issue to just 3 of the 18 park units cited”, commented Boucher.

“Recreation will continue to vigilantly protect access in the 3 remaining parks at issue in the case and fulfill our UFWDA mission to protect, promote, and provide 4x4 recreational access worldwide”, Boucher stated.

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United Four Wheel Drive Associations (UFWDA) is the leading representative for four wheel drive enthusiasts. UFWDA is a group of individuals, clubs, state, regional, provincial and national associations and businesses in the United States and around the world; our members span the globe from the U.S. and Canada, New Zealand, Australia, England, Japan, South Africa, and Iceland. If you would like more information on how you can be a part of this effort contact United Four Wheel Drive Associations today at 14525 SW Millikan Way #22622, Beaverton, OR 97005-2343, 1-800-448-3932 or visit www.ufwda.org.

CONTACT Carla Boucher (757) 546-7969 or attorney@ufwda.org