The Washington State Governor's proposed budget includes new DNR funding for "sustainable public access" and specificly mentions Reiter.

See page 4 in the document linked below.

http://www.ofm.wa.go.../recsum/490.pdf

If you would like to see Reiter move toward being an approved ORV area tell your State Senator and House of Representatives members that you support the Governor's proposed funding of DNR "sustainable public access".

http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature

Wow! THanks Tod for bringing this to our attention. I'm surprised to see it in her budget.

mrudy said:

The DNR has put an effort into getting "sustainable public access" onto her radar screen. I don't have the number at my fingertips, but the big issue with the DNR is that they are expected to facilitate recreational access when possible, but compared to the state parks department, they get something like over ten times less per acre to do that.

Reiter is specifically included as a way to gain our support and to keep Rick Rice and myself from immediately waging another campaign to publicly annoy Commissioner Sutherland.

To put things in perspective:

Washington State Parks spends about $280 per acre per year to facilitate recreation.

The Washington DNR currently spends about 57 cents per acre per year to facilitate recreation.

We're from the Gubmint. We're here to help.

I've never been so sure I would like Reiter to be managed like Walker Valley. The Queen probably is envisioning management like Nort Fork.

(Ooohh, here's Mr. Sunny Day...)

MACE said:

As you know, I am not a big fan of government intervention, but with Reiter we are quickly approaching that spot between the rack and a hard place.

If the leftists wanted to spool up the greenies over Reiter, it could quickly get the North Fork / P5000 treatment.

Or if Wild Sky Wilderness is enacted, Reiter would become prime Wilderness Area buffer zone area. There would be alot of green support and political pressure on the DNR to manage in a way that prevent "new" uses that would not be considered compatible with Wilderness Area viewshed, noiseshed and other other habitat characteristics. Natural Resources Conservation Area status (read: Wilderness-lite) would be viewed as an ideal solution by many of our foe.

I fear that if we don't put Reiter on the "map" soon it will be very easy for it not to exist because it never offically existed in the first place.

Another positive about getting Reiter offically designated is then it would be eligible for the IAC/NOVA/NRTP (gas tax, ORV tabs, etc) funds that we pay for out our pockets but cannot recieved to enhance ORV use in locations where it does not offically exist.

That said, there are some things that are fun about unmanaged ORV use that could be compromised if the area was offically designated as an ORV area.

Just curious, anything in particular about the way that Walker is currently being managed do you feel would be inappropriate for Reiter?

No challenging single track. No user defined trails. Tahuya is closer to meeting the needs of the riders than is Walker. Reiter is gubmint free zone. I'd like a little frontier justice at Reiter, but I will hate to see it "tamed".

MACE said:

By that you mean?

I hear you, I am all for Rieter in it's current state less the Tweekers and the irresponsible dickhead, in-bred jeepers :busted: (Did I just type that?)

Anyway, also in agreement with Tod - Get it designated or lose it regardless of it's ability to provide what we need or want in a park like setting...

I know that I have ridden some pretty stealth technical single track up at Walker, user built stuff that I was told by my goofy - ass guide that day (go ahead and guess who...) was approved by DNR.:excuseme:

I love Reiter, I have been a Reiter die hard for 34 years and cherish the environment up there and the riding it offers.....

MACE said:

Might have been the case in the past, but every inch of new trail created in the last two years has been defined by the Walker ORV advisory committee.

Weber participates in that process so you can rest assured that it isn't all kiddie trails.:ride:

I can see them blocking and closing all the good stuff that Rieter has. All that needs to be done is find a way to keep out the Tweekers and the irresponsible dickheads that leave their trash.

tod701 said:

!!!!:applause: :applause: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Maybe I need to go to Walker more often. I had sort of lost the love during the dark days of closures and all quad trails. :excuseme:

Tod, you ever ride those things anymore?

Blac said:

That is the biggest downside risk of making it an offical area. Trails that cause silt in streams will be the most at risk of closure, but those same trails are the ones that can be used as ammo to close the whole area instead.

Blac said:

Unfortunately that is a pure law enforcement issue and probably won't be signifigantly impacted whether Reiter is an ORV area or not.
The county would like the DNR to take the lead on that since it is DNR land, but the DNR doesn't have the law enforcement resources to get it done.

MACE said:

Not often enough. Lately I have spend far more time defending/promoting our sport than doing it.
That must change soon.:ride:

The governor's proposed budget is currently before the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The members of those committees could use some encouragement relation to supporting the DNR Sustainable Public Access proposal.

Here is an example letter:








Dear (Representative XXXX or Senator XXXX),


Please support the Department of Natural Resource “Sustainable Public Access” funding as outlined in the Governor’s proposed budget.

Recreational access to the millions of DNR acres is a largely underutilized asset. In addition to the DNR’s primary responsibility to manage this land to generate revenue, it could facilitate much more public assess than it currently does.

With 5.6 million acres of land to manage and presently having $3.2 million annually budgeted for recreational access related spending, they have roughly 50 cents an acre to do that job.

Pursuant to RCW 79.10, the DNR is required to provide public access for a variety of purposes. Unfortunately, at the current funding level very little can be accomplished.

Compare this to the State Parks. They have 260 thousand acres of land to manage and approximately $60 million budgeted annually to manage than land. That is about $230 an acre.

While due to the type and density of recreation that would typically be seen on DNR land, they do not need the level of funding that the State Parks receive, but something more that the tiny 50 cents an acre seems appropriate.

Funding the DNR’s Sustainable Public Access program is a very cost effective way of greatly increasing recreational opportunities for the citizens of Washington. Please give it your support.


Respectfully,

(Mr. Citizen)
(Address)
(phone)
(email)

Members of the House Appropriations committee are:

Helen Sommers - Chair (D)
Hans Dunshee - Vice Chair (D)
Gary Alexander - Ranking Minority Member ®
Barbara Bailey - Asst Ranking Minority Member ®
Larry Haler - Asst Ranking Minority Member ®
Glenn Anderson ®
David Buri ®
Bruce Chandler ®
Eileen Cody (D)
Steve Conway (D)
Jeannie Darneille (D)
Jim Dunn ®
Mark Ericks (D)
Bill Fromhold (D)
Bill Grant (D)
Kathy Haigh (D)
Bill Hinkle ®
Sam Hunt (D)
Ross Hunter (D)
Ruth Kagi (D)
Phyllis Kenney (D)
Lynn Kessler (D)
Joel Kretz ®
Kelli Linville (D)
Joe McDermott (D)
Joyce McDonald ®
Jim McIntire (D)
Dawn Morrell (D)
Eric Pettigrew (D)
Skip Priest ®
Shay Schual-Berke (D)
Larry Seaquist (D)
Pat Sullivan (D)
Maureen Walsh ®



Members of the Senate Ways and Means committe are:

Margarita Prentice - Chair (D)
Karen Fraser - Vice Chair, Capital Budget Chair (D)
Craig Pridemore - Vice Chair, Operating Budget (D)
Joseph Zarelli - Ranking Minority Member ®
Dale Brandland ®
Mike Carrell ®
Darlene Fairley (D)
Brian Hatfield (D)
Mike Hewitt ®
Steve Hobbs (D)
Jim Honeyford ®
Karen Keiser (D)
Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D)
Eric Oemig (D)
Linda Evans Parlette ®
Marilyn Rasmussen (D)
Debbie Regala (D)
Pam Roach ®
Phil Rockefeller (D)
Mark Schoesler ®
Rodney Tom (D)

you've been doing your homework havn't you...