July OHMVR Commission meeting

[Brewster]

The location for the July OHMVR Commission meeting has been posted:

http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21853

Ride on
Brewster

[tomjeeps2]

Field Trip:
San Bernardino National Forest, Sky Forest Ranger District - July 15, 2009, 9:30 am
Note: In order to participate in this tour you must bring a 4x4 capable, street legal vehicle.

By the way "4x4 capable" really means Off Highway capable street legal vehicle , this includes Dual Sport Motorcycles you coming Brew?

TJ

[Brewster]

Looks like they moved the meeting back to Sac.

http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21853

Ride on
Brewster

[tomjeeps2]

"O" well suites me just fine I'd hate for anyone to think we don't need the grants program, the way rumor control has the State budget issue going. Well I must say this money was supposed be a subsidy so I can understand the mentality, at least as far as the Feds should take care of their own, but the problem is it's our OHV fund money which is for OHV use. In 2004 the OHMVR program was audited by the State, who even said the bulk of the opportunity was via the grants program, which goes mostly to Federal Agency's. This report also stated too much was going to the State SVRA's for the little opportunity they offered, so if you look at the Legislative intend of the program this logic is fatally flawed. The OHMVR Division is under Parks department which frankly will feed it's face first, not looking though the glass of what will provide the most opportunity, do I think the Feds need to anti up more Dam right I do, but in no way does it justify taking or money for NON OHV use...TJ

[tomjeeps2]

CODE RED ACTION ALERT - Action required this am !!!!!!!!!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,
Several weeks ago, BRC asked you to take a few minutes to ask lawmakers in Sacramento to leave the California OHV Program and its Trust Funds alone. THANKS to the many letters that were sent in - they listened. However, a new threat has arisen.
The latest twist in the "Let's take money from the OHV Program" saga is that the folks under the dome in Sacramento are considering gutting the basic operating budget of OHMVR that funds state OHV parks and provides grants to other land agencies.
See article/blog from Capitol Notes:
http://blogs.kqed.org:80/capitalnotes/2 ... ficit-fix/
As many of you already know, the State of California is in fiscal meltdown. One victim of the current budgetary crisis is the CA OHV program. It is one of the very few self-funded "user-pay/user-benefit" government programs in the state. The California legislature has already "borrowed" and diverted $90 million dollars from the OHV Trust Fund to other non-OHV-related programs.
If there is one time you send a letter to Sacramento... it is TODAY. Send your letter and get as many of your friends to do the same. BRC has provided a sample letter that you can cut and paste and FAX/email to the following legislators including the chairperson of each committee.
SEND BOTH A FAX AND EMAIL
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger - Fax 916-558-3160 (phone 916-445-2841)
governor@governor.ca.gov
2009 Budget Conference Committee Members
Assembly
Noreen Evans - Fax 916-319-2107 (phone 916-319-2007) (Chair)
Assemblymember.evans@assembly.ca.gov
Roger Niello - Fax 916-319-2105 (phone 916-319-2005)
Assemblymember.niello@assembly.ca.gov
Bob Blumenfield - fax 916-319-2140 (phone 916-319-2040)
Assemblymember.blumenfield@assembly.ca.gov
Kevin de Leon - Fax 916-319-2145 (phone 916-319-2045)
Assemblymember.deleon@assembly.ca.gov
Jim Nielsen - Fax916- 319-2102 (phone 916-319-2002)
Assemblymember.nielsen@assembly.ca.gov
Senate
Denise Ducheny - Fax 916-327-3522 (phone 916-651-4040) (Chair)
senator.ducheny@senate.ca.gov
Bob Dutton - Fax 916-327-2272 (phone 916-651-4031)
Senator.dutton@senate.ca.gov
Mark Leno - Fax 916-445-4722 (phone 916-651-4003)
Senator.Leno@senate.ca.gov
Alan Lowenthal - Fax 916-327-9113 (phone 916-651-4027)
Senator.lowenthal@senate.ca.gov
Mimi Walters - Fax 916-445-9754 (phone 916-651-4033)
Senator.walters@senate.ca.gov




Cut and Paste Sample Letter: To match the canned response your going to get

Dear ,
As a resident of California and a member of the off-highway vehicle (OHV) community, I am urging that as you search for funding for California Sate Parks, you do not attempt to redirect any funds from the Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division budget. The OHV Division of California State Parks is completely funded by fees generated by OHV recreation. These user-generated fees should not be directed to uses that have nothing whatsoever to do with how the funds were generated.
In 2005, the California Bureau of State Audits found that Parks misappropriated millions of dollars from the OHV Trust Fund for use at facilities with no OHV opportunity. Sadly, it appears that Parks is once again attempting to balance its books on the back of the OHV program.
The OHV Division is a nationally-recognized model of a "user-pay/user-benefit" program. This success is due to the State's ability to collect fees generated by OHV recreation on local, state and federal lands, and use these fees to support management of OHV recreation on these same lands. It is essential that both the operations of the State OHV Parks and the grants provided to local and federal agencies where OHV recreation occurs continue in order to maintain the success of this program.
I understand the serious nature of California's budget crisis; however, the state has already borrowed $90 million dollars from the OHV Trust Fund. I again urge you to avoid redirecting any OHV Trust Funds to non-OHV-related projects or programs.

Sincerely,
Name
Address


Thanks for your attention to this very serious matter.
Don Amador
Western Representative
BlueRibbon Coalition

I suspected this was going to come back and haunt us.

I'm also hearing that the Gov's budget folks are not happy with the the Obama administration in that they didn't give California enough of the Fed stimilus money and now they don't care about taking grant money from the OHV fund that was intended for federal agencies.

By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer Don Thompson, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jul 1, 6:01 pm ET
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California officials said Wednesday they are trying to avert the federal government's threat to seize six parks that could be closed to help reduce the state's ballooning budget deficit.

National Park Service Regional Director Jonathan Jarvis warned in a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that all six occupy former federal land that could revert to the U.S. government if the state fails to keep the parks open.

The sites are Angel Island, a former federal military and immigration facility in San Francisco Bay; the top of Mount Diablo east of San Francisco, where the Navy once operated a microwave relay station; Point Sur State Historic Park in coastal Big Sur; and three beaches — Fort Ord Dunes near Monterey, Point Mugu State Park near Malibu, and Border Fields along the Mexican border.

The properties are among the 220 state parks Schwarzenegger has proposed closing to save $143 million. Legislators are considering the move as part of efforts to close a $26 billion budget deficit.

The Republican governor has rejected Democratic proposals to add a $15 fee to annual vehicle registrations to raise money to run the parks.

"Lands conveyed to the State under the Federal Lands to Parks Program must be open for public park and recreation use in perpetuity as a condition of the deed," Jarvis warned in a June 8 letter to Schwarzenegger made public Wednesday.

The state could also lose future parks funding, Jarvis warned. California has received $286 million from the federal government since 1965 benefiting 67 parks on Schwarzenegger's closure list, Jarvis said.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Lisa Page said state parks director Ruth Coleman was talking with Jarvis about the issues raised. "They are discussing a variety of outcomes and solutions depending on what final budget package is passed by the Legislature," Page said.

The National Park Service's California project manager, David Siegenthaler, said reducing the parks' hours or days of operation, for example, could save money while allowing public use during peak periods.

"We want to work with them to see what those options might be, because we don't want to close parks, and I'm sure they don't want to either," Siegenthaler said.

Opps we have not covered this here, just to help bring it up to speed a bit...TJ

[Brewster]

I attended the meeting yesterday. Mostly reports by the Division, BLM, USFS, and almost an hour by Ruth Coleman, Director of Parks and Rec. She discussed the state financial problem and how that affects the OHV program........only the employees 3 days off a month, so far.

The only two items voted upon by the Commission were:
1. Send letter to state government stating positive aspects of the OHV program.
2. Nov. 4 & 5 for one of the meetings.

The Division is soliciting input for changes to the Grant Regulations. They will be submitting a regulatory package to the OAL on Aug. 11. Comments need to be submitted by July 24. If you want something changed, added, or removed, now would be a good time to recommend it.
Public comments on the submitted package will be taken from Aug. 21 to Oct. 5.

Ride on
Brewster
CERA...assistant LAO

[tomjeeps2]

Friday, July 17, 2009
STAYING ALIVE - Update on CA Budget Battle and OHV/State Parks

http://thegeneralsrecreationden.blogspot.com/

As Ruth Coleman, Director of California State Parks, gave her views yesterday on the current status of the CA budget mess to the OHMVR Commission, I was reminded of the title of the famous disco song – Staying Alive.

Yesterday, on behalf of the BlueRibbon Coalition, The General attended an OHMVR Commission meeting in Sacramento. The high or low point (depends on how you look at it) of the meeting was Coleman’s rather grim presentation on the potential closure of many regular state parks units and/or the gutting of her department.

She pointed out those park units which are funded through special funds (SVRAs and lakes and reservoirs), and receive no general fund dollars, appear to be safe from closing. This is because these parks are funded by the people who use them under the user pay/user benefit model. OHMVR and Boating and Waterways are two such examples.

On the other hand, she believes many non-special fund state park units could still be subject to closure if lawmakers cannot find a way to resolve the 26 billion dollar shortfall. Coleman’s Deputy for Administration told the group they had looked at raising park fees but they would have to TRIPLE entrance and camping fees to come up with the 72 million dollars they need to stay in business. However, this scenario won’t help because if fees were raised by that amount you would drive folks away from the parks (and hence decrease any potential fiscal benefit from the increase in fees) and it would functionally exclude lower income families from enjoying those facilities.

Since state park employees are not allowed to lobby for their programs, Coleman and staff kept their presentation very matter-of-fact and did not tell the OHV commission/community what to do. It is my impression reading between the lines that the operations side of the OHV Program is safe from being raided. However, the grants portion of the program (i.e. grants to FS, BLM, counties, law enforcement, etc) could still be vulnerable in future budget cycles. At this time, I think the legislature maybe hesitant to steal dedicated funds from user-pay/user-benefit programs because it sends a horrible message to the public and would kill future support for any such endeavors.

At the end of the day, I can’t tell you when this budget mess will be fixed. It could be this weekend or in 3-4 weeks. It is my impression that regular state parks must become entirely self-funded. One such option that appears to be on the table is a $15 dollar/yr. surcharge (some would call it a use-fee or tax) that would be charged on every vehicle when the owner renews their registration. An alternative could be either an Op-Out (where you have to decline to pay the fee at time of paying your renewal) or an Opt-In (where you have to accept the additional fee at time of registration). Another option could be for state parks to continue efforts to gain corporate sponsorships for some or all of the units. Also, the National Park Service could take over management of several joint state/fed units such as Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California (not a good option for recreationists and access in my opinion since the NPS has a preservationist agenda vs. the more recreation/people friendly approach).

I think riders need to continue to monitor this process and send in letters of concern to your legislators as the spirit or OHV alerts move you.
The CA budget saga continues...

###

The Generals take..TJ

[tomjeeps2]

Eric Lueder
San Rafael, California

Hey Brew what did you think of Eric's Comments, who appointed this guy

TJ

[TIGERCAT]

No let me guess, He wanted a motion to fund Parks with OHV money, I think the real question is who was Senate President when he was appointed.

[Brewster]

Eric Lueder
San Rafael, California
Hey Brew what did you think of Eric's Comments, who appointed this guy
TJ

Uh, you're going to have to refresh my memory.........what did he say?

Ride on
Brewster

[tomjeeps2]

Eric Lueder
San Rafael, California
Hey Brew what did you think of Eric's Comments, who appointed this guy
TJ

Uh, you're going to have to refresh my memory.........what did he say?

Ride on
Brewster

Looking back I'm totally confused, since no actual OHV Commission business was even conducted it really was just a bunch of senseless mumbling, I'll just wait for the transcript so I can learn more about the State Budget issues which I still just don't consider our problem...TJ

[TIGERCAT]

Eric Lueder
San Rafael, California
Hey Brew what did you think of Eric's Comments, who appointed this guy
TJ

Uh, you're going to have to refresh my memory.........what did he say?

Ride on
Brewster

Looking back I'm totally confused, since no actual OHV Commission business was even conducted it really was just a bunch of senseless mumbling, I'll just wait for the transcript so I can learn more about the State Budget issues which I still just don't consider our problem...TJ

So they spend the whole day dealing with Karen Schambach's tricky little attempt at de-funding us, good they didn't waste their money coming down here, but why are we allways reacting to to other sides agenda.