FC: Did Sen. Boxer create fake website to show support for her bill?

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.sierratimes.com/02/09/08/arjl090802.htm
                                      
                 Green Ally Learns It Bicycles With Wolves
                            by John G. Lankford
                          Providents News Service
                  Published 09. 8. 02 at 4:44 Sierra Time 
                                      
   Senator Barbara Boxer (D Ca) this past summer cold-shouldered mountain
   bicyclists, usually her environmentalist allies, seeking exceptions to
   her California Wild Heritage bill.
   
   Mountain bicycling interest groups the International Mountain
   Bicyclists Association and the Warriors Society, IMBA's southern
   California affiliate, charge Boxer's staff concocted an ersatz group
   to quote in unqualified support of the bill, expecting many would
   think it speaks for most devotees of the sport. Both groups oppose the
   bill in its current form.
   
   The come-lately organization also misrepresented the IMBA's own
   position, the established groups contend, and Boxer posted the
   misstatements on her senatorial website.
   
   The abruptly shunned IMBA supports the thrust of Boxer's California
   Wild Heritage (Wilderness) bill (S 2535), but wants it adjusted so
   bicyclists will not be excluded from a number of their favorite trails
   by Wilderness designations the bill would impose on 2.5 million acres
   of federal lands in California. All mechanical vehicles, including
   mountain bicycles, are barred from areas designated as Wilderness.
   
   The Warriors Society, the IMBA southern California affiliate, is
   charging that Boxer's staff during the summer helped form Mountain
   Bicyclists For Wilderness to make it appear cyclists support the bill
   despite its denying them access to many trails.
   
   IMBA Advocacy Director Jenn Dice agreed with the Warriors charge,
   saying, "Mountain Bikers for Wilderness is just a group Boxer and the
   California Wild Heritage Campaign put together. They aren't a club,
   just a collection of names."
   
   On July 30, MB4W displayed on its website a letter to Senator Boxer
   supporting the bill and claiming several "chapter presidents" of IMBA
   agree. The same day, the group issued a press release announcing the
   letter.

   [...]




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