For Immediate Release

Date: September 18, 2000
Contact: Clark Collins, Executive Director, BlueRibbon Coalition
Viki B. Eggers, Public Relations, BlueRibbon Coalition

The BlueRibbon Coalition announced today that Viki B. Eggers, long-time tourism industry advocate for the State of Montana and the Yellowstone area, will leave her post with Yellowstone Country Montana to join the Coalition in its efforts to preserve public access to public lands on a full time basis, beginning December 1st.

In a September 15th letter to the Board of Directors of Yellowstone Country Montana, Eggers said, The war on tourism and recreation that has been launched by so-called environmental groups is destined to destroy the economy of this region and perhaps all of Montana if we continue to pussy-foot around the issues. I appreciate your need, as a group, to attempt to represent everyone. I understand that you have no wish to offend the few folks who dont understand the importance of snowmobiling. Some of your constituents may even agree with the Sierra Clubs recent attempts to litigate the closure of the Gallatin National Forest to off road recreation, or that same organizations lawsuit against the State of Hawaii for over-promoting tourism to those islands. Nevertheless, when situations are as critical - as lifestyle threatening as the ones in which we find ourselves entangled, leaders have to make hard and often unpopular decisions, and Ive made mine!

I cannot stand quietly by and allow my friends and neighbors to be destroyed. We are at war, and Im headed for the trenches to do my part. In my new role Ill stand and fight beside Montanas Congressional Delegation, the Governor, and the Counties of Gallatin and Park in support of traditional winter tourism in Yellowstone Park.

Yellowstone Country, one of Montanas six tourism regions, is chartered to promote tourism within the five counties nearest Yellowstone Park. The region has taken what Ms. Eggers calls a troublingly soft stance on winter use issues.

Eggers, who has spent much of her life in West Yellowstone, has been deeply entrenched in Yellowstone winter use issues for the past ten years, first as the Executive Director of the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce, then as Administrative Assistant to Yellowstone Country. She has been seated on the BlueRibbon Yellowstone Defense Team since its inception in 1997 when the Fund For Animals and other environmental extremists filed a lawsuit to end snowmobiling in the first national park. In January of 1999, Ms. Eggers entered into a limited contract with the BlueRibbon Coalition to assist with Public Relations. This new move is an expansion of that contract.

Eggers will continue to live and work in West Yellowstone, but will be traveling extensively on behalf of the BlueRibbon Coalition in her new position. The Coalition is not as well known in the mid-west and the East as it is here in the West. We hope to change that in a hurry! We have a lot of network building to accomplish, and a good bit of educating to do. All recreationists need to get better at pulling together if we are to continue to protect our access to public land. This is not just about snowmobilers. The BlueRibbon Coalition represents recreationists of all kinds all across the nation. Its about kayakers, and horse packers, and fly-fishers too. If anybody thinks that one day the assault on our enjoyment of OUR land will just evaporate, they need to take a reality pill. My job is to dispense those reality pills liberally. This disease I call enviromania as an insidious virus that is threatening our nation and our lifestyle. Im going to do everything within my power to stamp it out, Eggers said, I intend to be a full time rabble-rouser, and I intend to be a very successful one.

The Blue Ribbon Coalition is a national non-profit advocacy group that champions responsible multiple use of public lands. It represents over 550 businesses and organizations with 600,000 members.