Good job.....we need to fight to stay open and free but we have to keep the 5% that are making this mess for us under control.....

Apparently Senator Jacobsen is considering re-introducing SB5128 next legislative session.

He has scheduled a public hearing for today at 2pm.
The meeting notice was published yesterday, giving the public less than one business day prior notice

You can send written comments.
Email them to the Senate Natural Resources, Ocean and Recreation Committee Coordinator:

gavigan.curt@leg.wa.gov


Here is what I’ve sent:
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Dear Committee Chairman and committee members,

I wish to submit the following as written testimony for the 15-june-2009 public hearing:

On behalf of the Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance, its member organizations and the over 13,000 motorized recreation enthusiasts that belong to those organizations we are writing you today to request that you oppose SB5128.

While we strongly support protecting our natural resources, public lands and the private property of other citizens, that sort of damage is already illegal and people who do that should be punished using the existing laws.

This piece of legislation would send someone to jail for damaging any vegetation with an offroad vehicle.

If that is appropriate, why wouldn’t doing the same harm with an automobile, horse hoof or boot be just as heinous a crime and be punished equally severely?

Sending someone to jail for merely damaging any vegetation while otherwise legally operating an offroad vehicle is more than a bit disproportional in a state where the Washington State Court Rules list the maximum penalty for something as serious as driving the wrong way on the freeway as $182.

Additionally, if this bill were to pass a nonhighway vehicle would be subject to seizure and forfeiture based merely on probable cause and without process.

This bill would also require that State agencies receive Non-highway and Offroad Vehicle Activities (NOVA) account funds to repair damage that may have been caused by offroad vehicle use prior to any agency expending any of these funds on recreation.

The NOVA account is funded solely by the fuel taxes paid by offroad vehicle users and the vehicle license tabs they purchase.

Taking funds from the Non-highway and Offroad Vehicle Activities account to pay for damage done by offroad vehicles at places where offroad vehicles may not even be allowed is like taxing sober drivers to pay restitution to the victims of drunken drivers.

Please do not support SB5128.

Respectfully submitted,


Tod Petersen
Political Action Committee Chairman
Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance
XX XXX Ave NW
Stanwood, WA 98292
Email:  tod701@aol.com




And Dirtcheapjohn’s comments from last spring:

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My name is John Eaton, I live in Mason County; I sit on numerous recreation boards at the local, county and state level and am a member of many diverse organizations. I believe I have a very broad view of recreation within this state. I have not asked any of my boards to review my statements of today as they were written this morning and I appear before this committee simply as a concerned American and Washingtonian.

I respectfully request all of you: Please do not support Senate Bill 5128.

5128 targets off road vehicle users specifically in regard to creating erosion or injuring or damaging vegetation and penalizes the recreational user for such acts by seizure and forfeiture of their vehicle.

The truth is this bill is NOT what it states on its face, it is about blatant discrimination.

The facts are motorized recreation represents a small portion of total recreation within this state, a small portion of recreational lands and also a small portion of NOVA monies.

Should the intent of 5128 actually be to control damage to vegetation, this bill would NOT NEGLECT vegetative damage caused by equestrians, bicyclists, hikers, pedestrians and any other outdoor recreational activity.

To effectively control damage to vegetation the other users MUST be included (SHOW PHOTO)

This photo was taken January 19th at a recreation facility in Mason County; all damage to vegetation in this photo was caused specifically by pedestrian use.

Also, 5128 has no provision for litter caused by recreational enthusiasts, the garbage left by irresponsible park users, hikers and mountain climbers; the environmental impact of such garbage and the cost incurred by this state to address such issues would have been included in 5128 had environmental concerns truly been the issue.

In addition to seizing recreational user's vehicles with little or no due process, 5128 would also restructure disbursement of NOVA funds by prioritizing agencies request for funds for repair of damaged vegetation ahead of funding for recreational facilities, many which have relied upon NOVA for maintenance and operational monies for years.

I understand that in times of economic downturn and state budgetary shortfalls one must be creative in order to obtain funding for ones own goals or projects; and the idea of raiding funds from groups with little political power may seem a viable option.

But is this option the right thing to do? And does it benefit the many or the few?

I do not understand how it is that those that say "I do not discriminate" discriminate the most in issues such as these.

Questions???

I just got this from committee staff:

Tod –

I’m just now learning about this.  Apparently there was some work done on the Capitol electrical system this weekend.  In testing the system afterwards, computer staff accidentally sent out a mocked up agenda.  However, no meeting was scheduled and there were never any plans to hold a meeting on these bills.

My sincere apologies for this confusion.  

Curt


False alarm -

tod701 said:

Mind games I tell ya!!!

So this piece of legislation that was sitting in Jacobsen's draft folder seemed to inadvertently get sent due to an electrical failure? It shows what he's crafting on the sideline.

tod701 said:

Doh!

I just about clicked "send" on the following mail, I only came back here to paste in:lol:

Well here's what it said but it never got sent:bonk:

Dear Committee Chairman and committee members,

I wish to submit the following as written testimony for the 15-june-2009 public hearing:

I am a 42 year old native of Washington state, my 17 year old son is a fourth generation off road motorcycle rider. This form of recreation is how we bond and enjoy life as a family. The laws and policies being considered in this bill are not only redundant but blatantly discriminatory towards motorized recreation.

There is obviously an agenda in play here with this proposed legislation and the fact that it is being re-introduced for hearing with little, or no public notice is alarming! It is the opinion of most motorized recreation users that this type of activity is aimed at eradicating our sport in this state. I have seen this sport, or form of recreation, go from being viewed as a positive, northwest family activity, almost a tradition... to being viewed as an irresponsible, evil activity detrimental to our natural resources and beautiful forests. This could not be further from truth, what our sport is detrimental to is the peace and solace the elitist environmental and hiking groups feel they should have EVERYWHERE and these groups continue to lobby in manipulative ways to form public opinion and support for this type of ridiculous legislation found in SB5128.

I know that some of my fellow citizens have contacted you Mr. Chairman and your committee detailing the obvious shortcomings and discriminatory language in the proposed legislation. Please consider our comments and concerns while discussing and hearing comments.

Thank you for your time and consideration in reading this.




FALSE ALARMS ARE GOOD.... if it were a drill I hope a got a good grade:thumbsup:

SJMC_DON said:

No worries, I warned Curt that the gears of action had already stated churning

Funny, of all the bills that were introduced that one gets sent by "mistake"

I think it was a test of the "are the pro ORVers paying attention system"

The anser to that is you bet your lying,thieven asses we are! We are watching you like a hawk.

I was about to head for Olympia when I got a call from my friend who works at the capitol.  She thought it was very strange, almost too strange.

False alarm for now, I am ready to go at a moments notice, we need to have a rapid response team, and I would like to be the first member, any more?

KTMKATE said:

Go get em baby !

KTMKATE said:

I think that CLOUT was building one.

I'll check into it

WOW!  my typing fingers were itchin' too! we are ready and able at a moments notice.

Joe

I'm going to volunteer to help remove this man from office.  I hope we can get a force out on the streets where his district is and ensure he never gets a chance to make another law again.  Anyone interested?

sawdog881 said:

Map of Senator Jacobsen's district:

http://apps.leg.wa.g...spx?District=46

He will be up for re-election in 2010

Here is his re-election website:

http://kenjacobsen.com/

sawdog881 said:

  I'm game ! We also need to get a list of every OHV user in the district and make sure they are aware of this guys actions.