NYS ATV Trail Program and Funding Legislation

By Alex Ernst
NYSORVA Communications
Last updated 1/30/04

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Introduction

When NYSORVA was organized in 1993, chief among its goals was the re-establishment of the ATV Trail Fund that was abolished in 1990. NYSORVA obtained State Legislative sponsors who set to the task of advancing legislation for this cause. This effort continued with the introduction of bills each year without success of passage to date. The bills were originally modeled on the successful snowmobile trail funding statute with amended language that more closely applied to ATV and trail bike use.

New Life for 2004

For the 2004 Legislative Session, the ATV Program & Funding bills have been folded into the Executive Budget proposal. This is a significant development to be sure, that we have long lobbied for. At last we have called for acknowledgement long enough that the Legislature and the Governor seem to be highly motivated to get promote a program to accommodate our trail recreation interests.

With renewed efforts by NYSORVA and partners, and the support of the riding community at large, this year’s legislation holds the greatest chance ever for the creation of this import program!

Read the details of the current bill (ATV-related excerpt of the Executive Budget EnCon Bill S.6059/A.9559).

Background

The Trail Fund made up of DMV ATV registration fees was originally established in 1986. Due in part to technical errors in the original statute that failed to provide agency staffing, the original Trail Program was never developed and the Trail Fund was subsequently diverted to the General Fund by a 1990 State Budget. Albeit offensive, the argument was that with no viable Program, no funding was necessary. It can be argued that at least the $5 of the registration fee originally meant for the trail fund, collected from 1986 to 1990 (estimates total over $500,000.00), constituted taxation without representation since no money was distributed to trail projects as envisioned in the original law. Furthermore the current 1990+ law is clear: Registration is currently a compliance requirement and has no funding component whatsoever. We currently estimate that a total of over $9 Million has been paid to the state (not including plate fee on new registrations) since the beginning of the program in 1986, again with no return in the form of services or facilities. This is an outrage.

What You Can Do

See the Legislative Action Section of the NYSORVA site for several resources including addresses, phone/fax numbers and e-mail addresses of the politicians who need to be contacted regarding these bills.

Call, write and E-mail your Senator and Assemblyman to tell them why these bills should be passed into law.

Here are some of my choice points for why these bills should pass— add those close to your heart:

• You want ATV and off-road motorcycle trials open to the public. The state's own research reported in the 1994 Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) document says that 27% of respondents surveyed who felt that recreational opportunities were lacking, agreed with your desire-- that's in the top 5 requests for recreational opportunities, and the number-one request for any type of trail facility. Click here to view a chart from page 2.12 of the 1994 SCORP document showing these statistics.
• Furthermore, a position statement published in 1993 by the Department of Environmental Conservation recommends that trails "be established...to provide a recreational opportunity to a sizable constituency which has expressed the need for a place to ride ATV's." Click here to view a DEC memo regarding the position statement.
• In all fairness, you want a user-based trail funding program so that only you --and not your non-riding neighbors-- pay for ATV facilities. Even if only half of the estimated 300,000 ATVs in use in NY registered, there could be over $2 Million each year available for properly building and maintaining trails and additional money for enforcement and education as well.
• You want to be in compliance with the law that requires registration on ATVs and trail bikes if only that money goes to developing safe, environmentally sound trails that minimize user conflicts, for you to legally ride.
• Building of trail facilities in many locations to serve regional populations will reduce the possibility of environmental impact of ATV activity by spreading use over a wider system. Development of these facilities will also reduce unlawful and uncontrolled riding activity for the benefit of all New Yorkers. This is especially important considering the steep growth in ATV ownership of late.
• You're a member of Club [name] of [number] members and you and your counterparts are ready to donate volunteer time to build and maintain trails. All you need is legal access to the public lands.
• Federal guidelines aid the trail designer in creating trails that are in harmony with nature.
• You and over 300,000* like-minded New Yorkers (estimate as of 4/2000) have spent a significant amount of money (including sales tax on top!) on machines, equipment and riding gear, travel and lodging, contributing to an ORV recreational economy which is the estimated to be the sixth largest in the nation. You deserve to be taken seriously as a taxpayer and a consumer.
  [* MIC research indicated that 142,000+ ATVs and 47,900 trail bikes were in use in 1997. Registration growth from 1997 to 1/2000 is 37.5%. A factor of 1.375 gave us our population estimate of 259,875 machines in 1/00. That figure has surely grown over 5 years.]
• Like the highly-successful 9,000-mile NYS snowmobile trail system, which is 85+% routed on private lands, an ATV/trail bike trail system would potentially cover private land in a majority of its mileage assuaging the fears of those who covet public lands as sacred only to non-motorized users. Furthermore for those who loathe government involvement in anything, the new drafting of the legislation provides for private not-for-profit entities (i.e. riding clubs) to obtain funds.
• Mountain-bikers, equestrians, hikers, Nordic skiers and snowmobilers count on ATVs to reach deep into trail systems to do trail maintenance.
• Follow the lead of the state's push for snowmobile tourism: There are nine more months in the year in which visitors could come to spend their money in New York. And follow the lead of states like CA, MI, WI, PA and others that recognize the economic and social impact of a viable OHV trail system for their citizens.
• The National Recreational Trails Act of 1990 (The Simms Act) envisions trails for ALL users on a nationwide scale. A fund now exists the Act for granting moneys from federal gas taxes collected from non-highway users. 30 Million Dollars was appropriated for 1996-1997 and was available through matching-fund grants. And in 1998, funds were re-appropriation with only a 20% match required under TEA-21, for additional grants to states for trail projects through the year 2003. NY's share for 2000 alone is $1.3 Million to be spread 30% motorized-only, 40% combined motor/non-motor, and 30% non-motorized.
• [Note that the following point is moot in this context since the current Legislation calls for funding of private or municipal lands but not State lands. However, it is kept here to demonstrate the disparity of public access and emphasize the unfairness of our concession to not fund State-owned lands. Due to the unbalanced political influence of our anti-access opponents, the bills would not have any chance of passage without barring State land trail funding.]
  The Dept. of Environmental Conservation has authority over 4 million acres of public lands, 700,000 outside of the Forest Preserve (The 6,000,000 acre Adirondack Park contains 2.6 million acres owned by the state, the largest park land mass in the country south of Alaska). To some, Public Lands are the obvious choice for trail location due to their expanse of open space, and after all they are the Public's lands. All you want is a few hundred acres in several directions. At four feet wide, you get 2.06 miles per acre! (Or, over 4 miles for trail-bike-only trails!)
  No dedicated ATV trail system on State Land exists as of 4/2000. See information about how NYSORVA is working to hopefully change that situation in NY's Southern Tier: www.nysorva.org/documents/treaty_line.htm.]

There are many more points to this issue. You know them. Use them. Thank you!

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