WASHINGTON - The House on Thursday defeated a bill that would have continued payments to rural counties hurt by federal cutbacks in logging.

A majority of lawmakers voted for the bill, but under special House rules, the bill was defeated. Supporters had brought up the bill under rules that did not allow any amendments. The 218-193 vote in favor of the bill - largely along party lines - was well short of the required two-thirds needed.

POCATELLO, ID (June 5) -- Greg Mumm, Executive Director of the BlueRibbon Coalition, testified today before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources regarding off-highway vehicle management on public lands.

In summarizing his written comments at the hearing, Mumm stated that "BRC recognizes the marked growth in the popularity of OHV recreation over the last several decades...Motorized off-highway vehicles are also used to reach remote areas when taking part in other forms of recreational activity such as hunting, fishing, mountain-biking, and hiking...Virtually every public land user is motorized at some point in their visits to federal lands and it is simply a question of where they depart from their vehicle."