Sac Bee info.important!!!!

[worknplay]

Just got this:

In today's Bee (7.7.07) there is an article on the potential closure of eight OHV areas due to the legislation that authorizes them expiring this year. The closures would include Prairie City and Oceana Dunes in Pismo. Apparently the trail riders groups and the enviro-fascists are negotiating with the legislature on "changes", which at this point include doubling entrance fees and roughly tripling OHV sticker registration fees.


WTF...............................

Dont have the link, but should not be hard to find.

[randii]

This is a real threat. The Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Program sunsets out this year, and needs renewed... or better yetbe replaced with more permanent legislation.

Randii

[randii]

I haven't found the link to the Sac Bee yet, and lack the time to keep looking a this juncture. I'm sure it discusses that the OHV program sunsets in 2007 and that the OHMVR Commission expires in 2008.

Good background from me, better details from Ed:
/forum/general-4x4-discussion/285098-green-stickers-fyi.html

Still more from the AMA:
http://www.ama-d36.org/blogs/home-pa...unds-in-limbo/

FWIW, the OHMVR laws are imperfect, but something is certainly better than nothing. I think SB742 is the legal discussion in question: http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bil...sen_floor.html

This is related to Rubicon in that OHMVR has been a good source of funding.
/forum/rubicon-trail/183493-rubicon-grant-2004-a.html

BTW, OHMVR = Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation

Randii

[shooter]

Any more info on this? Im not having much luck finding any. Also it probbly needs to be in the general land use section....

So what happens when the OHV comission sunsets and this bill or one simillar doesnt get passed?

[Sewie]

The bill was sent back to the appropriations committee yesterday. I've been following it here.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/po...thor=steinberg

[shooter]

Came across this...sounds promising
http://www.muirnet.net/?p=95

[Sewie]

Originally Posted by shooter

Came across this...sounds promising
http://www.muirnet.net/?p=95

Good find. Thanks.

[kf6zpl]

Originally Posted by shooter

Came across this...sounds promising
http://www.muirnet.net/?p=95

That is the latest official word (as of Jul 10). As updates are available, I will be posting them to my blog and to the CA4WDC forums.

I would suggest that if you have never visited with your elected officials, you might alert them as to your concern for this bill.

You might also look at: http://www.muirnet.net/?p=62

That is AB 616 that change the smog laws and drop the 3 year cut off.

[Teriod]

this woman is an enemy of all outdoor motorized enthusiast, and should be remembered next time you vote(eighth district) along with others
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/mem...egislation.htm

[MissFJ]

Just FYI, everyone else's link seems to cover it but for those that missed the article: I could never find the link to this article but it was forwarded to us via email from Daphne Greene:

*************************

Riders, environmental groups negotiate on fees, land protection as a state deadline nears.
By Jim Sanders - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, July 8, 2007
Millions of motorcycle, dune buggy, four-wheel-drive and other off-road riders could see California's vehicle recreation parks shut down next year unless agreement can be reached on overhauling the state program.

Prairie City in Rancho Cordova is one of eight off-road riding parks whose fate could be decided by sensitive, behind-the-scenes talks between environmentalists and recreational riding groups.

"The stakes are very high," said Daphne Greene, deputy director of the off-highway program, a branch of the state parks department.

Vehicle parks allow thrill-seeking, trail-loving motorists to gun their engines on thousands of acres where environmental degradation can be monitored and damage treated.

State law authorizes the 36-year-old, off-highway program only until Dec. 31. Nobody is pushing to eliminate it, but a tug of war has developed between groups pushing for new trails, more environmental protection and better policing.

Any agreement to preserve the off-highway riding program is likely to more than double entrance fees at the eight state parks, which generally charge $5 per vehicle.

Besides Prairie City, the parks are Carnegie in Alameda and San Joaquin counties; Hollister Hills in San Benito County; Hungry Valley in Los Angeles, Ventura and Kern counties; Oceano Dunes in San Luis Obispo County; Clay Pit in Butte County; Ocotillo Wells in San Diego and Imperial counties; and Heber Dunes in Imperial County.

Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has jumped into the fray by proposing Senate Bill 742, which would keep the off-highway program alive while overhauling its funding and operation.

Steinberg's bill has passed the Senate, 21-17. But many issues remain unresolved and, at Steinberg's urging, officials for recreational riders, environmentalists and other interest groups are scrambling to reach consensus.

"My message is, if the program expires, everyone loses -- so figure it out," Steinberg said.

SB 742, by preserving existing fuel-tax revenue while increasing rider fees, could generate more than $30 million annually in new funds. Steinberg said the money should benefit all sides.

"Riders want to ensure that there's maximum opportunity to ride, and environmentalists want to make sure that as much land is protected from riding as possible," he said. "Compromise is the order of the day."

Carol Moreland, a Sacramento off-road rider who has not been involved in the fight over SB 742, said she does not think motorists would abandon the sport if fees rise.

"It's pretty cheap entertainment, if you want to look at it that way," said Moreland, of the Capital City Mountain Goat Four Wheel Drive Club. "I just think it would be a tragedy to close (Prairie City)."

Elimination of the vehicle parks, all sides concede, could lead to uncontrolled off-road riding on unguarded public lands that would strip vegetation and erode soils with no program, or money, for restoration.

California's vehicle parks attract about 5 million patrons per year.

"It makes sense for all of us, it certainly makes sense for the state of California, to have a balanced program," said Terry McHale, a lobbyist representing off-road riders.

Pete Conaty, who is teaming with McHale, said he is optimistic that agreement can be reached on SB 742, which is scheduled to be heard Tuesday by the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

"I'd say we have a 75 percent chance of reaching agreement on the remaining big issues," Conaty said.

Brent Schoradt, of the California Wilderness Coalition, said eliminating the program would be a "loss for the environment and a loss for the public."

But SB 742 does not go far enough to address environmental concerns or crack down on rogue riders, he said.

"We feel the current version of the bill is extremely one-sided," he said.

Under SB 742, park entrance fees would double to $10 per vehicle, and motorists pulling a trailer would pay an additional $10. The price of state-issued stickers to qualify a vehicle for admission also would rise -- from $25 every two years to $84 every two years.

SB 742's details might change if competing factions can settle on a compromise, but the bill would extend the program until 2013, and key elements call for:

• At least 45 percent of the program's grants to be spent on maintenance and operation, 20 percent on law enforcement, 20 percent on restoration and 5 percent on education programs, leaving the remaining 10 percent uncommitted.

• The governor, rather than legislative leaders, to appoint a majority of the off-road commission that helps oversee the program. Membership would be expanded from seven to nine, with five appointed by the governor.

• Changing the commission's role to more of an advisory body. It no longer would approve grants or capital outlay projects, but it would continue to review and approve the program's general and strategic plans.

Pending negotiations will cover issues ranging from the extent of fee hikes to whether the off-highway park program should be extended for an indefinite period, rather than to 2013.

Environmentalists are pushing, among other things, to ensure that the eight parks better serve hikers, campers and fishermen who use the unpaved roads, too, and that state funds are not used to create new riding trails on key federal lands.

SB 742 is likely to die unless a deal is struck, Steinberg said.

"Closing is always the difficult part," Steinberg said of talks between environmentalists and riding groups. "They need to close."

[randii]

Brent Schoradt, of the California Wilderness Coalition, said eliminating the program would be a "loss for the environment and a loss for the public."

I find it spooky as hell to agree with CWC on much of anything... it almost made me feel better when he continued on to say...

"We feel the current version of the bill is extremely one-sided," he said.

They are two-faced as always, though.

Restacking the commission membership and breaking the bottleneck that it has become makes good sense -- it was intended as an advisory group, IMHO. I sure hope they can make this, the oldest sunsetted program of its size in California, a program that goes forward planfully into the future... I'm tired of the 5-year-at-a-time herky-jerk.

Randii

[worknplay]

[QUOTE=MissFJ;7021361]Just FYI, everyone else's link seems to cover it but for those that missed the article: I could never find the link to this article but it was forwarded to us via email from Daphne Greene:

QUOTE]

Thanks for the info and welcome to Pirate. Been awhile since I have checked this thread.