If we do have to resort to private land, then take away the DCNR plate and insurance. There is a heck of alot of "public" land to hunt on. Let's stick to the topic here.

 

jcv: public land for hunting is great,especially if you like not seeing a deer all day, as what Mike touched on,the game commission is a bunch of "bad guys" these days. Bought off by insurance company's and paper company's,they take our money and hire this Dr.Gary Alt to persuade them into further annialation of the deer heard. In Erie County this year they say that a buck will have to have at least 4 points on one side to be legal,I don't know the point count for your county,but this sucks! The game commision wants the does slaughtered off,Dr.Alt wants the bucks to be older when harvested, so they hire a "so called" pro in the field to go along with them.Maybe in Kane there is plenty of public land that has animals on it.
Jack: I didn't know about the atvers going against the sportsman,,explain more plz.

 

My humble opinion is that the only thing that matters in this debate is where did the money go. I don't have a problem with pay for use, but our registration money is supposed to go for trail maintenance etc. If they have 1 mil. in the coffers, then that money should go to the designated purpose. I get the feeling they are trying to justify using the money elsewhere. This is wrong. But they have the money and we get screwed again. At the same time, I don't think taking a confrontational attitude to the trail, ie. not paying and riding anyways, is the right approach. This will hurt our cause alot more than help. Write your congressman/woman, boycott the trails on the day they start charging, etc. Something not so confrontational and alot more effective. We may be right but we have to be carefull how we approach this challenge.

 

State of NH wants to raise registrations to $60, so "kwit-cher-belley-akin"! Imagine paying $60 a year to ride anywhere in NH... anywhere except your own property - no registration needed on your own property (great - Imagine: you can ride on your 1/3rd acre house lot all I want for free).

That's up from something like $35 (I think it was $35), and simply because the state needs more money to maintain the state snowmobile/ATV trails.

 

your right Mark,,thx for settling us down [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Basically what patvcc is advocating that the game commission change their charter to report to the general assembly like any other agency that uses public funds. The only problem is that the game commission does not use "public" land or "public" funds. The agency is funded mainly by hunting license sales. There is no "public" funds and the general assembly of pa does not contribute one dime to the game fund. Only sportsmen's dollars and Pittman-Robertson tax funds on gun and ammo sales are used for land purchases.

What patvcc wants is to take the game commission property and make it "public" land and then be able to ride on it. They want to take away the fact that this land is earmarked for hunting and make it public. They are teamed with the mountain bikers and horse riders. No damn way. Buy your own land and pay your own way like the sportsmen of Pennsylvania have done for many years. This is only going to **** off the PA Game Comm. and Pa Sportsmen and the ATV'ers will pay the price for it in more aggressive law enforcement and more posted land.

If atv'ers really are serious about riding areas then start you own clubs, buy or lease your own land and you will have access. But no, they want to take what is not theirs. Sorry, I cannot support that line of thinking. I don't completely support the PA Game Commission on law enforcemnt or deer herd management, aamong other issues, but I don't want the general assembly to take this land away from the sportsmen of Pennsylvania and grant the general public complete access in the name or tourism. No way.

It's too bad that ATV'ers had to be the ones drawing a line in the sand against the sportsmen of Pennsylvania. If anyone wants to see a copy of this stupid idea search for house bill 2181 or go the the patvcc site. It's disgusting and makes me want to distance myself from groups like patvcc.

 

It's a shame that things are headed this way for all sportsmen alike. This thread is quite interesting and I encourage you to start some chatter about this in PaAtving....which is in no way affiliated with the patvcc.

As an atv'er, I feel the system is not justified for the funds that we've put into it. Also as a hunter, it's not right to insert atv usage into SGL's which are bought for the purpose of hunting. I don't see this coming to pass anyway...too much political pressure on the PGC.

How do you think the DCNR is doing for your riding needs here in Pa? Hmmmmmmm.

 

In case no one noticed, the release about the fees states that, starting in 03, the fees will be for the calender year. In other words, your permit for this "year" will only be good for 6 months, and the trails will be closed for 3 of those months. GRRRRRRRR!!!!

So, lets add. For my 2 bikes, $40 for plates, $70 for trail permits, and $ 134 for insurance. That's $250. Nice. I think the plates should say for their motto "PA, assume the position".

 

Steve,

It's already in there.

I don't know what the right thing to do about this is. But I know that "writing to my congressman" is out of the question. I've sent numerous faxes/emails to him, and he hasn't done anything for me.

I think we do need to do some type of a protest though. I want to see what I'm getting into by giving them $35. I don't believe in "good faith" anymore with these guys. I think a couple members of the larger local ATV groups need to get involved with trail maintence. I know Steel City Riders have been down a couple of times. But I think someone from "us"( the riders) needs to be involved with the program.

I'm sorry, but I still don't agree with the club thing. The land is there. Let's use it wisely. From our perspective and theirs. We need to use it with respect, and they need to listen to us for input. This CAN work. Just going to take some bending. Last year was by far, the worst year I've ever had at the trail. Guys with beer, going off trail and ripping it up, not wearing helmets and the GC was no where to be found enforcing the laws. They really slacked off last year to justify this fee.