[Sjmcnews] FW: CLOUT Legislative Alert: ESHB 2765, action needed by constituents in your district!

[Stumpjumpers Event Info]

Forwarded on behalf of CLOUT - see details below.



As you may already be aware, the current legislative session has come to a
close, but in a last-minute amendment, your lawmakers have seen fit to
inserted language into the proposed state budget that effectively bans the
creation of new off-road riding facilities and trails for at least a year.

The proposed state budget (ESHB 2765) -- which covers the period from July
1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 -- is now on Gov. Christine Gregoire's desk
awaiting her signature.

This language was inserted by a six-member conference committee charged with
hammering out Senate and House differences over the proposed budget before
sending the document to the floors of both chambers for final approval. The
conference committee members were Sens. Karen Fraser (D-Thurston County),
Debbie Regala (D-Tacoma) and Dale Brandland (R-Bellingham); and House
members Bill Fromhold (D-Vancouver-Clark County), Shay Schual-Berke
(D-SeaTac) and Joyce McDonald (R-Puyallup). 

In the section of the budget that provides funding for the Department of
Natural Resources recreation renovations, these lawmakers have inserted the
following language:

"The department shall not plan for, or construct, new or expanded facilities
or trails for off-road vehicles for recreation on state lands until after
June 30, 2009, unless the project is already funded, has been considered as
part of a landscape-level plan for recreation that has completed State
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review, which included public participation,
and is the best alternative to protect environmental or trust resources and
public safety from immediate risk."

What is not affected is the state's ability to continue to collect these
funds (gas tax and ORV registration fees), nor the ability of the
non-motorized community to apply for these same monies unencumbered by this
same language. No compelling information has surfaced to indicate any reason
for such action by the conference committee, and it is simply unacceptable
that this was allowed to happen with no opportunity for public participation
or hearings. We are requesting the Governor use her line item veto power to
strike this section, and would like for every Washington State AMA member to
tell the governor that this  last minute attack on this user funded program
is unacceptable.

Please contact Governor Gregoire  http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/
immediately!  

You can visit her website immediately by clicking this link:
http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/ 

Sample text that you can copy and paste into the EMAIL link ON THAT SITE is
provided below, or write your own.  It is vital that you make your voice
heard on this important issue!  

For more information:
.on this legislation,
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2765&year=2007


** You are receiving this notification because you are a member of the
Washington CLOUT Action List.   To update your status, or remove yourself
from this list, please contact the CLOUT Administrator at
mailto:clout at getclout.org.  Forward this notice freely to your associates,
and get them involved, too!

Have your PRO-OHV friends get their own personalized CLOUT Alerts by having
them send an email to mailto:clout at getclout.org with "CLOUT" in the subject
line along with their Name, their voting Zip Code AND your name as a
reference.  That's all there is to it.  Get them to do it TODAY so motorized
recreation will have an even stronger voice in Olympia.

SAMPLE TEXT (use if it you like!) You can just copy and paste it into the
form on the hot linked site:

Enter "Other" in  the Message Subject: box just above where you enter your
detailed message and start your message with a title of, "ORV Facilities and
Opportunities Ban Deserves Public Hearing."

As a resident of the state of Washington and an Off Road Vehicle (ORV)
enthusiast I am contacting you today to request a line item veto of the last
minute language that was inserted in ESHB 2765. This language would ban any
new facilities or trails for ORV use on state land, while still allowing the
state to collect gas tax and registration fees from these vehicles.

The language which needs to be removed is, "The department shall not plan
for, or construct, new or expanded facilities or trails for off-road
vehicles for recreation on state lands until after June 30, 2009, unless the
project is already funded, has been considered as part of a landscape-level
plan for recreation that has completed State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)
review, which included public participation, and is the best alternative to
protect environmental or trust resources and public safety from immediate
risk."

No public hearing or debate has been held on this issue, nor has any
compelling information been offered by the members of the conference
committee who added this language. The ORV public deserves better, and is
counting on your office to rectify this injustice.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,