http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5296773.html
It definetly appears the northern part of the state is much more friendly than the southern part for atvs. You guys up north have some stand up guys for legislature, keep voting the good guys in. And I agree with daggin...the dnr is just doing a job for the most part, the legislature makes the rules.

Senate ATV bill defeated in committee
Tom Meersman, Star Tribune
March 17, 2005 ATV0317




A legislative panel rejected a proposal today that would increase penalties for off-road vehicle drivers who break the law by damaging wetlands, trespassing, or driving cross-country on public land.
The measure, proposed by Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, was defeated on a 4-to-7 vote in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources committee that Marty chairs.
It would also prohibit off-road trucks from driving on trails in state forests, require larger registration plates on all-terrain vehicles and extend a reimbursement account for citizens with property damage from illegal off-road driving.
Rejection of the measure illustrated the controversy over how to regulate ATVs, and how it has divided legislators from different parts of the state.
DFL senators from northern Minnesota on the committee voted against Marty's proposal and said they wanted to take up two different bills instead. One measure, proposed by Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, includes less restrictive penalties for off-road lawbreakers and would allow ATV driving along approximately 50 miles of the North Shore trail just north of Duluth. A proposal by Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, DFL-Thief River Falls, would allow ATV driving on all trails--not just those approved by state officials--in state forests in the northern third of Minnesota.
Marty adjourned the meeting abruptly after his bill was defeated, saying that as chairman of the committee he had made it clear that any other proposals needed to be amended onto his bill. Baak and Stumpf charged afterward that Marty short-circuited the legislative process, and they vowed to continue efforts to push their bills forward

 

goes to show you i guess that the politicians down in the cities have a different idea then the ones up here which brings up the same thing that we been saying for a long time what works down in the cities won't necessarily work up here. and well i heard on the radio today that the DNR managed to make alot more people P Oed there is a series of groomed snowmobile trails by the roseau warroad area where there have been i believe 6 cabins on for about 50 years. these cabins are ones people use to deer hunt out of and they lease the land from the dnr. they have to keep these cabins unlocked and anyone can stay or use them anytime of the year. you can go in them and they have journals where people sign that have been there and the date and it is amazing how many people stop there and cook food or maybe just rest for 15 min while out snowmobiling. well the dnr will be burning all these cabins down this summer for what reasons i do not know they didn't propose any problems they were actually a safety where if you had problems on snowmobile or got lost late you could crawl inside one of these cabins and start a fire and survive quite cozily. these cabins are very deep back in the woods and it is truely a shame they are burning them down. everytime i drive to our hunting land on snowmobile which is about 50 miles from here no major long trail ride i always find myself to be stopping at one of these cabins well i guess that won't happen anymore. so put yourself in our shoes DB, you are an intelligent person and you will realize why the dnr is very unliked in our neck of the woods.

 

Looks like you have some friends in the legislature... and some enemies too. Not sure where to look, but I'd guess the committie chairman has at one time or another established a relationship with the eco lobby. Maybe if it were to be made known just how much his campaign fund benefits from them...... well you do the math...

You have to wonder in may cases if our elected officials are serving the interests of the people they serve, or use them as a means to attract large sums from lobby groups. It may be all legal and proper... but morally it stinks....

All the more reason for people to support candidates that DO support the same causes we are fighting for...

Weez, I don't see this as a city versus country thing.... the forces at play here are the same no matter where you live... it is all in the degree of greed that takes place. Also, in these give and takes... you are going to lose some.. and gain some... That is inevitable. Much of what will be decided will be in the form of compromise.. The key is not to criticise, but to become involved. You would be surprised just how much influence your ideas will have if you are there working with the DNR, instead of sitting accross the table from them... Hopefully the two of you will be on one side of the table, and the envirnonmentalist groups will be on the other.

Right now, it looks like the enviro's are balking because it looks like the DNR is biting the hand that feeds them... Well guess what.. the STATE pays for the DNR... and citizens elect the officials that operate that apparatus... and hopefully, with enough input from enthusiasts, and continued pressure on the elected officials, you will build on the momentum. This is just the first salvo...

 

Just adding to DB's thoughts....you really have to go out and educate your fellow riding lobbyists.

The #1 problem I see among those who are interested in making a difference is that most of these people don't have the practical experience with even a "follow the money" concept; as DB suggested above. You really have to be patient with these people and force them to FOCUS on the priorities at hand...not allow them to slide off into these "by God, we ought to be able to do this..." crap that has absolutely nothing to do with solving the immediate problem at hand (this is just a HUGE problem at your average club meeting).

Getting people to stand beside you that one can actually be PROUD of being associated with, is simply not as easy as it one was with the sledders and motorcyclists. By and large, these were older, professional people who had experiences to draw from that served them well in the battles they faced.....and the respect was mutual.

Maybe this problem is unique to 'my' state (the only half-way professional people we have here want to receive some kind of perverted individual "glory" out of any effort put forward)...yet I think you'll find that the average rider needs more than a little schooling in the "ways of the world" before you start in on what your group's actual priorities should be on a daily basis....which a lot of them don't realize might change just as often.