Senate File 1210 (House File 0896) almost doubles annual gas-tax funding of ATVs. Tell your legislators, “No more funding without standards! Vote NO on Senate File 1210 (House File 0896).”
Senate File 1210, authored by Senator Satveer Chaudhary (and companion House File 0896), calls for an increase in the gas-tax allocation to the all-terrain vehicle account. The legislation proposes raising the allocation from 0.15% to 0.27%, almost doubling annual gas-tax funding for all-terrain vehicles. SF1210 also adds the maintenance of minimum-maintenance forest roads and county roads within state forest boundaries to the list of allowable uses for these funds.
MRR asks: if ATV-related environmental damage and trespass is out of control at current funding levels, what good will more funds do without laws that create sufficient budgets and enforceable policies for oversight, accountability, enforcement, intelligent and sustainable route development and design, and damage control?
The presence of these recreational machines is not an unmitigated good. Public funds applied to current, expansionist motorized policies cause more harm to Minnesotans and Minnesota than benefit. While there is definitely a need for more maintenance funding along ATV-impacted forest roads, funds should be redirected from existing sources to address this problem. MRR does not support any increase in the public funding of ATV use or route development until all five of our Five Standards for Protecting Minnesota are met:
- Public and environmental review—completion of an Environmental Assessment Worksheet or Environmental Impact Statement—to select ATV, dirt-bike motorcycle, and four-wheel drive truck routes
- "Designated Routes Only Policy" requiring machines to stay on selected routes
- Adequate enforcement to keep riders on selected routes
- Repair all accumulating damage
- Oversight and accountability to ensure above objectives are accomplished. (Implement recommendations from the Legislative Auditor's 2003 Program Evaluation Report: State Funded Trails for Motorized Recreation)
Minnesota’s public should not have to pay to fix illegal damage to our roads and lands! MRR finds that state and local oversight of public grants-in-aid is nearly non-existent and that, in the absence of sufficient enforcement and oversight, more public funding simply creates more noise, fumes, danger to others, trespass, and environmental damage. All public funding of these recreational vehicles should be suspended until an effective plan is developed and implemented, based on the above standards, to mitigate their unwanted effects. Don’t we have better things to spend our money on?
If oversight, enforcement, and damage repair cannot be accomplished with current budgets, the answer is not more public funding. Funds need to be redirected via strong, standards-based policy to mitigation of the unwanted effects of ATVs rather than expansion of their access to Minnesota’s once peaceful, quiet lands.
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Senate File 1210 is currently scheduled to be heard in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Monday, March 12, 2007. Call or e-mail committee members and tell them that additional ATV funding without stronger standards is unacceptable. Tell them to vote NO on Senate File 1210.
House File 0896 is currently scheduled to be heard in the House of Representatives Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Monday, March 19, 2007. Call or e-mail committee members and tell them that additional ATV funding without stronger standards is unacceptable. Tell them to vote NO on House File 0896.
