Big Game
May 25th, 2005, 11:09 AM
I've been talking with CFPA about pending ATV Legislation HB 5599. I think we should work together on this one.
This is the letter from them --
Please send this out to your mountain biking crowd. This went out to the hiking, land trust and enviro community. My organization, Connecticut Forest & Park Association started, has maintained and continues to expand the Blue Trail System for almost 80 years now. While there has been some contention between our trail managers and the mountain biking community in the past, I believe we are coming to terms with the need for muscle powered recreation to band together in order to deal with the motorized threat - which is more devastating to ecosystems, habitats and open spaces than anything we could have dealt with in the past.
HB 5599 - This bill expands the registration requirements for ATVs; increases the registration fee and the fine for operating an unregistered ATVs or snowmobile; creates an ATV account within the Conservation Fund to fund ATV-related uses and restricts ATVs and snowmobile use on state-owned and managed-lands. If many of us had our druthers ATVuse would be banned from the state - but this is a good bill that will get us protections we need and get them places to ride their ATVs. At this time law enforcement (many who are ATV riders) don't really enforce ATV trespass because they sympathise with the fact that ATV have no place to go. It will be easier to get enforcement and cooperation if this bill is passed.
I am going to ask you all to send notes to and call your elected officials - State House and Senate, and ask them to support HB 5599 as it stands without amendments and to vote down any other amendments brought to the floor that would create loopholes for ATV owners to avoid registration AND IDENTIFICATION. I would also like you to contact Senator Don Williams office with the same message, to give him some 'cover' and remind him of his promise to kill any bill that allows for loopholes in the registration effort. Senator William's contact information email - Williams@senatedems.ct.gov
The phone number is 860-240-8600 (In this case you won't get to speak to the Senator directly, but ask if you can talk to May Flexor in Senator Williams office. He has a long history with the ATV issue and is informally assigned to it for the Senator.
You should both call and email - particularly if you have photos of ATV damage you can add to the email.
If you want to find out who your state legislators are go to the website http://www.cga.ct.gov and follow the search engine links. You can also view 5599 and other ATVrelated bills and information.
Good points to make when talking about the registration and identification issue for ATV.
1. There is currently a loophole in the registration statutes allowing ATV to be unregistered for use on their own land. Out of the 70,000 ATV estimated in CT now, only 4000 of them of registered.
2. Registration allows the ATV community to create a pot of money that will buy them lands to ride on.
3. Land trusts, trails groups, conservation non-profits, private landowners all raise the money to buy their own lands - these lands are being illegally trespassed on now by the unregistered ATVriders.
Why should the ATV riders get a free ride?
4. Land trusts, nonprofits, trails groups also raise money to maintain land and trails, they organize volunteers to do the work, hiring lawyers, doing surveys etc. Why should the ATV community be held to less of a standard than the conservation community...for a more impactive use?
5. ATV are not the same as farm equipment or riding lawnmowers. Most opponents of ATV registration do not want to pay local property taxes on their recreational vehicles. At this time boat owners, hunters and
horse back riders are paying property taxes and fees for their recreation. ATV dealers do not want the registration because they feel that people who are in the market to buy an ATV will leave the state to do so if their is off dealership registration requirements.
6. We encourage the state to find places for ATV use, but that shouldn't include our state forests. State forests were created for natural resource protection, as wildlife habitat for plants and animals and for passive recreation. They were not purchased to become race tracks. ATV use creates considerable damage to trails, wetlands,
and plant life.
Please pass this along to anyone you know who cares about this issue.
Thanks -
Patty Pendergast
Connecticut Forest & Park Association
860-346-2372
ppendergast@ctwoodlands.org
* * *
Please do your part...take 5 minutes call and email....the bill is at a critical juncture...it may fail in the next two days
This is the letter from them --
Please send this out to your mountain biking crowd. This went out to the hiking, land trust and enviro community. My organization, Connecticut Forest & Park Association started, has maintained and continues to expand the Blue Trail System for almost 80 years now. While there has been some contention between our trail managers and the mountain biking community in the past, I believe we are coming to terms with the need for muscle powered recreation to band together in order to deal with the motorized threat - which is more devastating to ecosystems, habitats and open spaces than anything we could have dealt with in the past.
HB 5599 - This bill expands the registration requirements for ATVs; increases the registration fee and the fine for operating an unregistered ATVs or snowmobile; creates an ATV account within the Conservation Fund to fund ATV-related uses and restricts ATVs and snowmobile use on state-owned and managed-lands. If many of us had our druthers ATVuse would be banned from the state - but this is a good bill that will get us protections we need and get them places to ride their ATVs. At this time law enforcement (many who are ATV riders) don't really enforce ATV trespass because they sympathise with the fact that ATV have no place to go. It will be easier to get enforcement and cooperation if this bill is passed.
I am going to ask you all to send notes to and call your elected officials - State House and Senate, and ask them to support HB 5599 as it stands without amendments and to vote down any other amendments brought to the floor that would create loopholes for ATV owners to avoid registration AND IDENTIFICATION. I would also like you to contact Senator Don Williams office with the same message, to give him some 'cover' and remind him of his promise to kill any bill that allows for loopholes in the registration effort. Senator William's contact information email - Williams@senatedems.ct.gov
The phone number is 860-240-8600 (In this case you won't get to speak to the Senator directly, but ask if you can talk to May Flexor in Senator Williams office. He has a long history with the ATV issue and is informally assigned to it for the Senator.
You should both call and email - particularly if you have photos of ATV damage you can add to the email.
If you want to find out who your state legislators are go to the website http://www.cga.ct.gov and follow the search engine links. You can also view 5599 and other ATVrelated bills and information.
Good points to make when talking about the registration and identification issue for ATV.
1. There is currently a loophole in the registration statutes allowing ATV to be unregistered for use on their own land. Out of the 70,000 ATV estimated in CT now, only 4000 of them of registered.
2. Registration allows the ATV community to create a pot of money that will buy them lands to ride on.
3. Land trusts, trails groups, conservation non-profits, private landowners all raise the money to buy their own lands - these lands are being illegally trespassed on now by the unregistered ATVriders.
Why should the ATV riders get a free ride?
4. Land trusts, nonprofits, trails groups also raise money to maintain land and trails, they organize volunteers to do the work, hiring lawyers, doing surveys etc. Why should the ATV community be held to less of a standard than the conservation community...for a more impactive use?
5. ATV are not the same as farm equipment or riding lawnmowers. Most opponents of ATV registration do not want to pay local property taxes on their recreational vehicles. At this time boat owners, hunters and
horse back riders are paying property taxes and fees for their recreation. ATV dealers do not want the registration because they feel that people who are in the market to buy an ATV will leave the state to do so if their is off dealership registration requirements.
6. We encourage the state to find places for ATV use, but that shouldn't include our state forests. State forests were created for natural resource protection, as wildlife habitat for plants and animals and for passive recreation. They were not purchased to become race tracks. ATV use creates considerable damage to trails, wetlands,
and plant life.
Please pass this along to anyone you know who cares about this issue.
Thanks -
Patty Pendergast
Connecticut Forest & Park Association
860-346-2372
ppendergast@ctwoodlands.org
* * *
Please do your part...take 5 minutes call and email....the bill is at a critical juncture...it may fail in the next two days