Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance Files Lawsuit to Block Transfer of ORV Funds to State Parks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Olympia, Washington – 5 October 2009
The Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance has teamed up with the Northwest Motorcycle Association to file a lawsuit against the State of Washington to block the transfer of over 9.5 million dollars in offroad vehicle funds from the Nonhighway and Offroad Vehicle Activities (NOVA) account to State Parks. Attorney James Buchal will be representing both organizations.
This spring the Legislature passed House Bill 1244, which transferred the money out of the NOVA account. The NOVA account money comes from the gas tax paid by offroad vehicle users and the license tab fees on offroad vehicles (ORV).
According to the Washington State Constitution gas tax collected must be used only for roads. To comply with that the state allows refunds on gas tax paid for other uses.
In 1972 the offroad vehicle community supported passage of legislation that waived their right to a direct refund of the taxes they paid for ORV fuel in exchanged for having those same funds “refunded” into a dedicated account to promote and protect their sport. Later on, their ORV license tab money was added to this account too. The NOVA program was established to administer these funds.
Now that all the money is going to State Parks and State Parks is not going to spend the money on offroad vehicle recreation, this is no longer a legitimate refund for the benefit of these taxpayers.
The NOVA funding is normally distributed by the State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board in the form of grants. These grants are awarded to governmental agencies such as the United States Forest Service, the Washington Department of Natural Resources and various counties. It is the primary source of funding for offroad vehicle recreation and for law enforcement on public lands in Washington.
If this funding is not returned to benefit the taxpayers that paid for it, families and their children throughout the State of Washington will lose the healthy, outdoor recreational opportunities they were promised and for which they paid their taxes and ORV tab fees, as the trails they have enjoyed together are closed. And public employees throughout Washington who maintain and patrol those trails will lose their jobs.
The Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance and the Northwest Motorcycle Association are nonprofit organizations dedicated to protecting and promoting off highway vehicle and offroad motorcycle recreation.
Tod Petersen
Political Action Committee Chairman – Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance
Legislative/Land Use Coordinator – Northwest Motorcycle Association
P.O. Box 61161
Seattle, WA 98141
tod701@aol.com
www.wohva.org
www.nmaoffroad.org
Categories: Access Tags: land use, motorcycle, nmaoffroad, northwest, nova, offroad, vehicle off highway, washington, wohva
Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route Trip
Over on the forum at OBCDR Trip Report, Decidion posted up a web page with a trip report of a recent 4-day trip through the Oregon Backcountry.
Decidion describes the trip as follows:
“The Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route is a series of gravel and offroad/4×4 trails that leads from the California border all the way up to the Washington border along the eastern edge of the Cascade mountains. It is primarily US Forest Service roads, some of which are maintain, but a lot of them have not seen any cleanup since the last person who ran the route.”
Read the trip report at Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route Trip.
Categories: On The Web Tags: 4x4, backcountry, california, cascade mountains, obcdr, offroad, oregon, oregon backcountry discovery route, washington
OffRoadAtlas.com Launches Wiki-style Off-Road Clubs Map
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Anello
Telephone: 321-698-2340
Email: offroadatlas@gmail.com
OFFROADATLAS.COM LAUNCHES WIKI-STYLE OFF-ROAD CLUBS MAP
More than 1,300 clubs already mapped, users invited to check them out, add and update entries.
More than 1,300 off-road areas throughout the United States are pinpointed on the interactive Google Maps(tm) map at OffRoadAtlas.com thanks to off-road enthusiasts nationwide who have been adding and editing information about clubs in their areas. The site now uses wiki-style club maps so anyone can easily update any content, anytime, and the information appears instantly on OffRoadAtlas.com’s map. The site has a cleaner interface with faster, more interactive map generation and automatic map centering on each user’s region.
Read more…
Vehicle Collisions While Off-Road – How Do You Handle It?
Lets say that you are out on an off-road adventure with a group of other people and the vehicle in front (or back) slides into you and causes damage to your vehicle. What is the right thing to do? Should the person who slides into you pay for the damage? Should you take the responsibility because you should have recognized the situation and waited for the other vehicle to clear the obstacle? Do you call it even and move on?
What are your thoughts? Join the discussion on the forum at Accident Protocol.
Categories: Forum Discussions Tags: 4wd, 4x4, four wheel drive, off road, offroad
Water Crossings
Anybody who ventures away from well-maintained forest roads will eventually be faced with the decision make a water crossing or not. Before you go out for your next adventure, you should learn a little about your vehicle, its capabilities and some modifications that will help you in case you are faced with a water crossing.
Categories: On The Web Tags: adventure, forest road, off road, offroad, overland, travel, vehicle, water crossing
