DEM needs money

[rideitall]

Did anyone else catch news 7 sunday nite?an interview with the DEM. they claim a 23% loss of revenue thats 10 mill.big chunk of change. the lady made the point to say that certian ares would be closed or not maintained,she also went on to say the DEM would now be looking to "tax" users that until now had not genarated revenue.how long before the state will want a reg fee for my mtn. bike?

[knucklebuste]

Theres no way those crooks are gonna get any money out of me for registering my fu*king mtb's. I'll pay $3 at the door or whatever, but if it doesn't have a motor, I'm not registering it. Forget it. Knuckle

[AA]

One of the ways that the ORV crowd maintains clout is the fact that they do pay a reg fee. Would it be so bad to pay a nominal fee to register you mountain bike for state property use if in turn we get a greater say?

As a user group we think nothing of paying thousands of dollars for bikes, $150 helmets, CO2 cartridges to pump up our tires, over priced shoes....... hell you get my point. I think most people are too f'ing cheap.

My .02

[knucklebuste]

Yeah I'm too cheap, especially when a bunch of big wigs and corrupt elected officials are living fat and we have to pay for the fact that the "BIG DIG" costed more than they thought. I'm not sure if thats the major reason that the state is the way that it is, but there are a lot of people living real fat with millions, billions of dollars that could help bail out the state. How bout this. Every millionaire with over 10 million dollars has to donate 1M to the state to help recover. How's that sound? I donate enough of my check to the state. What's it do for me as an individual? NOTHING. Do I see my money being well spent? NO. Is there too much fat at the top, sucking up all the money? YES. Way too much government. Way too many fat politicians making way too much money and exploiting the system. Make the little guy pay for the fact that we overspent? FU*K THAT. Do I care about the BIG DIG? Fu*k no. What's it do for me? Nothing. Is it going to help the traffic problem? NO. You'll see when it's done. There are too many cars, too many people. Nothing is going to fix the problem of traffic. Solution. Do what I do. Stay the hell out of the city. I couldn't tell you how much you'd have to pay me to drive to Boston everyday to work. FU*K THAT. Like I said $3 at the door at all state parks. That's all they are gonna get to me. If it gets to the point where you have to register your bike, I'd say the state is at a total loss. Knuckle

[rideitall]

why not pay up?in 2001 sportsman purchased 12403.46 acers of land,how fast did mtn. bike trails get cut in?if the state is going to continue to purchase land other user groups will have to help.you people like to brag about all the trail maintainance you do,how about pickin up the tab for the land?or at least stop protesting my ORVs use of it.i helped pay for it,the state cannot continue to do this,whats wrong with helping out?nam is what 47 acers?not much to brag about,as sportsman we have 1.4 mill$ available for land purchase,how much is you fund?

[bdee]

Why is this even a surprise to anyone? The state is seriously hurting for cash (and no it isn't the average schmoe's fault). Really think about how much cash you blow on riding and any other sport you enjoy, snowboarding, skiing etc. I had to pay cash at the door every time I wanted to ride at Markham Park in S. Florida, it blows if you ride on a regular basis. Upfront fees would obviously suck, (and we all would agree that the general state of affairs in Mass and RI when it comes to taxes sucks royally), but they are way more convenient. A reg fee would be the least evil way the state could go (and it would probably be the easiest/cheapest thing to enforce ). I'm in no way saying I'm psyched at the prospect of a reg fee. If it means the DEM doesn't have to close parks, stop programs that expose kids to the outdoors, or even sell public land (faster than the state already allows this to happen) then I'll pay the fee. If it gave us more clout (we'd be paying customers) then this could be a blessing in disguise. Now you could actually look some of the uppitty hikers in the eye and say "hey schmuck I'm paying to be here too" (if that makes you happy). Anyway that's my 2 cents.

[knucklebuste]

Hey now thats a fine lookin gato. He's looking like a champ. Knuckle

[rideitall]

in 2002 we added 10,771 acers,at an average cost of 1,600$ per acer.i cannot see how this can continue,all i am asking for is a little help.sportsman have paid since 1968,1$ until 1990,now its 5$ for each license, we have added 50,000 acers i dont think 3$ every now and then will do much,but if thats the best you can do thanks anyways.

[CouchingTiger]

First of all, what the hell is the point of this post? Second, they still offer adult writing (grammer/punctuation) and typing courses at most community colleges. Maybe some of the money going towards land purchase would be better spent ;)

I don't know where you are getting your numbers RE: "sportsman" based land purchase or what state these land are in but I have yet to see anything like that in the NorthEast. There are next to no places in MA to ride a legally ORV registered vehicle. NH actually has some lands for ORV use and ME has a fair amount as well. Technically though, much/most trail is private land and even with ORV registration you are required to obtain land owner permission to ride there.

I suspect that sportsman actually means hunting lands. This would open the door for the NRA, which as an organization has gobs of cashola.

The bottom line is that no one "private organization" holds "large" amounts of lands for "recreational purposes". There are lots of individuals who own large tracts of land upon which they allow recreational activity, but I don't believe any club or group owns 10k acres somewhere set aside for dirtbiking. If they do, I'll guarantee it isn't prime development land, such as the 47 acres in Vietnam which is worth serious money. Any fool with money can get large tracts of land (200+ acres) if they are willing to travel for it. Hell, half the state of ME (Northern part) is currently for sale by the owning paper companies. Depending on who buys it, we'll see what happens with ORV use there in the future.

-Couch


why not pay up?in 2001 sportsman purchased 12403.46 acers of land,how fast did mtn. bike trails get cut in?if the state is going to continue to purchase land other user groups will have to help.you people like to brag about all the trail maintainance you do,how about pickin up the tab for the land?or at least stop protesting my ORVs use of it.i helped pay for it,the state cannot continue to do this,whats wrong with helping out?nam is what 47 acers?not much to brag about,as sportsman we have 1.4 mill$ available for land purchase,how much is you fund?

[Sci Teach]

Don't forget that OHRV's have a lot of their strength coming from the fedeal gas tax dollars......which is why the state of NH is starting to allow OHRV's on more and more state lands.....nothing more than income to the state. States have no choice but to have income from all of their resources.....recreational areas = resources. If MTN Bikers don't want to pay for play...the OHRV's will be more than happy pay the few bucks and ride on our favorite singletrack. If MTN biking helps to bring revenue...it does nothing but make our case (in conjuntion with our maintenance help) stronger...and helps the land managers justify "No OHRV Use" areas.

You wanna play you gotta pay!

[Adam]

*If* it will directly fund areas for our recreation, I'd support a type of day use fee (or seasons pass) for mtn. biking. The model used at Tsali in NC works well from a rider standpoint. There's a self-serve trail pass system at the trailhead, and regular ranger checks out on the trails occur to help keep people honest. In exchange for a 2 or 3$ day fee, you get signed trails, maps, and a bikewash rack at the trailhead. I'm against using day use fees to fund miscellaneous other state agencies that can't be managed effectively on-budget, however. Sure, in a perfect world we wouldn't have to pay a cent to ride trails, but those state-provided parking lots & water fountains cost money to provide.

-Adam

[rideitall]

you can check the state web site for the names and sizes of all land purchases. www.masswildlife.org wildlands fund,and it is not just for hunting.the land is for everybody.

[huff'npuff]

Any bets that after they charge for day use,there will soon come a day when bikes will have to be registered,too? Cars are registered,but the owners are still charged a day use fee at most parks. The Massachusetts government's inept management (translate:corrupt) will milk the little guy for every penny it can get.