Guys,

I agree with the Tread lightly whole heartedly. If you don't own land I don't think you can understand, so you must trust those of us who own land. Just like everything else in life:

Respect others including other's property and shared public property.

Be courtious and understanding of others.

If it's wet, stay off the shared trails. You will only make it clear that restrictions are needed. I have 2 ATV's and the ditches near my home are embaressing because people think I am a cause because I own ATV's. It's clearly a miss use of land. There is plenty of riding time when things dry up, not to mention all winter when things are frozen.

If you want to get muddy, do it on your own private property or on someone's property for which you have permission.

Just think about it, before people tore up the land, this was not much of an issue.

 

I also agree with tread lightly but part of having a 4x4 atv is the mud side, in my opinion. There is a time and place for it though. In a ditch is not the right place, in my opinion. However if you are on a designated trail then have at it. That is why designated trails are there. That is also why there are OHV parks and other land to ride.

 

I created a new post in a more appropiate forum but i'd ask you to check out the text of SF850 and ditch rider or not see how it would affect you in your chosen place to ride. Here's a link to the senate site with the text of the bill. http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/c...3&number=sf850

I'm also pasting a letter I received from ATVAM which outlines the points of the bill and contains an example letter which you could base an e-mail to your senator or house rep. As you'll see if you read the bill, ditch riding is one small part of this attempt to criminalize riding by removing all legal avenues to do so.


ATVAM Mailing List:

Ray Bohn, our lobbyist, informed ATVAM that the capitol is being flooded by emails, letters and phone calls by the Anti-Access Groups IN SUPPORT OF ALL PROVISIONS in SF 850! This legislation will do exactly what we have been saying all along the anti-access crowd wants - a defacto ban of OHV riding in state forest lands. By depleting our trail funds, our ability to build any real designated trail system in Minnesota will be gone, along with our dreams of a statewide designated trail system.

You can help by attending the hearing on Tuesday, 4-22-03 at 12:30 pm, RM 107 at the capitol AND by writing, emailing and calling your own Senators and House Representatives to let them know we do not support all of the provisions/amendments of SF850.

We have been asked by members to come up with a generic "ghost" letter. You will need to fill in the blanks. If the Senators start receiving a "form" letter they will disregard them. We think this should work since you will be filling in your own personal info in the beginning. Also, if you are going to forward it to a bunch of friends have them rearrange the wording of the last paragraph. And any comments you add personally will make it appear less a "form" letter. Make sure to put your name, address and phone # on it or they will discard the communication.

FOCUS ON THREE OR FOUR OF THE LISTED POINTS BELOW
----------
Dave Kryzer
ATVAM 1st Vice President
-------------------------------


Dear Senator or Representative ___:

I am ______. I live in (city). I am married with # of kids or single. I/we enjoy ATV riding (list areas and experiences, how long you've been riding, why you enjoy it, etc).

Please give serious thought to the proposed legislation in SF 850. This Bill was NOT a compromise as portrayed in some of the newspapers. It has many provisions I cannot support. SF 850 will dramatically change the way ATV's can operate on public lands if it were to pass intact.

SF 850's major provisions include a closed unless posted open policy for all state lands. Which will further delay or stop trail designation. The Marty-Ruud will move up the "closed unless posted open" restriction from Oct. 2005 to Oct. 2004.

Banning ditch riding state wide to ATVs, but allowing the local counties to open them back
up if they so desire. Which will prohibit me from visiting my neighbors,riding to the local community, and accessing the state forests from my home/cabin.

Does not allow any new construction of grant-in-aid trails. Which will discourage club start ups and an opportunity to encourage responsible riders.

Establishes an "OHV Damage Surcharge". The initial cash for this account comes from the OHV dedicated trail accounts and is a raid on our accounts. The Marty-Ruud amendment is asking for $1.2 million dollars from our dedicated trail accounts to fund this so-called "damage". We still don't know what they will be asking for as a "surcharge" on our registration fees (Tax) for this "damage account".

DNR is asking for another 8 conservation officers if this legislation passes. That amounts to $958,000 the first year and $841,700 every year thereafter. This additional expense even before we have an additional mile of trail designated. Another unwarranted claim on our accounts.

Other burdensome provisions in the bill that offer no value call for: a toll free hot-line to be available 24 hours a day to report ATV damage and violations which will cost the accounts $196,000 the first year and $120,000 annual operating cost.

An OHV training certificate program requiring posting of rules decal in addition to the dozen or more decals already on the ATV. You're required to mount 6" x 12" automotive size plates on front and rear of ATV which could interfere with brake lights, head lights, suspension, drive train or tires.
Imagine the potential safety issues with mounting a larger steel plate.Certification (licensing) &Rules Decal &plates- Total cost of $2,021,000 the first year &a $406,000 cost per year after that. This is an expense that is totally unwarranted and a waste of our funds. The Marty-Ruud
Amendment calls for an additional $15 registration fee (TAX) to pay for this new licensing requirement.

Civil Citation authority; this provision will cost our dedicated accounts $532,000 per year, another unwarranted cost. These issues can be handled just fine under the current trespass statutes without the need for wasting these critical funds from our accounts. Just enforce the law as it stands today!

The Marty-Ruud amendment calls for an additional $5.8 million in funds from our dedicated account to pay for their bill. That is $4.5 million from the ATV account, $1 million from the ORV account, and $300,000 in the OHM Account. It does not designate one mile of trail.

This legislation will do exactly what we have been saying all along the anti-access crowd wants - a defacto ban of OHV riding in state forest lands. By depleting our trail funds, our ability to build any real designated trail system in Minnesota will be gone, along with our dreams of a statewide
designated trail system.

Respectfully,

Your Name
Address
City, State Zip
Phone # Senate File 850

 

Clickable version for the Bill

 

Not sure who your House or Senate member is? Click below for a tool which will help you out.

Minnesota Legislature member finder.

 

A little factoid that appears to perk ears of law-makers and the anti-ATV crowd - With our given 150,000 ATV's registered in Minnesota - and each ATV being about 6-7 feet long. It takes nearly 200 miles of trail just to PARK the existing ATV's end to end. Either that mental picture puts the problem in perspective or the thought of taking on 150,000 ATV owners is something substantial to think about.

Also keep in mind that the our government is under the impression that the several hundred miles of abandoned rail road bed is part of the existing 900 miles of ATV trail being held out as appropriate area to ride. I don't. IMO - That trail is to ATV's as the freeway is for hiking. Although functional, its not the experience you may have desired.

I keep having a vision of 150,000 ATV's descending on our capital. That would be a statement. $5 says they would call out the national guard. It would fill every lane of every street for several miles. Imagine THAT!

Please call, email or fax your State Senators and express your feelings regarding the anti-ATV legislation being considered. Don't wait for someone else to do it for you.

And you might want to ask if there is some public land within 200 miles of the metro for a ATV park. Gilbert is interesting, but its a long way to drive for day trip to play in the dirt.

 

Add another 6+ miles to that train! Latest figures show there are now 182,000 registered ATVs in Minnesota and the DNR estimates another 60,000 or so UNregistered ones too. I hope the legislators understand the magnitude of what is happening in regards to demand and need for adequate amounts of trails.