Post by chevit on Jan 7, 2006 14:16:50 GMT -5
PRESS RELEASE
ORV RALLY – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, NOON – 2PM, CAPITAL BUILDING STEPS, OLYMPIA
Be a part of the massive ORV Rally in Olympia, on the Capital Building steps, on Friday, February 3, from noon to 2pm!!! Uninformed legislators, led astray by those who would erase all ORV recreation from the face of the earth, and bolstered by unelected bureaucrats with their own agendas, continue to back all of us who participate in these wonderful, family based forms of recreation, into a corner.
Last year, at the first major ORV rally in the Capital in decades, you showed up in force, with your rigs hauling your toys. We gridlocked Olympia, and put a huge crowd on the Capital Building steps. We could not be ignored, when we yelled, the thunder rolled through our Legislator’s halls and offices. You made a difference, bills that would have crippled our recreation through funding thefts and private property restrictions were stopped in their tracks, and our efforts to educate legislators on the issues and facts won some important converts and supporters. Most of all, our pressure was behind finding the Grays Harbor County solution to reopening Thurston ORV Park (Straddleline). Further, we got a bill passed which allowed rural communities to designate ORV routes, with over 600 miles so designated in Colville National Forest so far.
But ours is not a normal political battle, where two sides negotiate and try to end up with both winning, or at least neither losing. The enemies of ORV recreation clearly will not stop until they reach their goal – our sport no more. No surprise that they are trying to get their hands around our throat again this year, and thus we must never let up, we’re not just fighting for our favored form of family recreation, this is indeed a fight for our freedom to pursue happiness as we wish!
So just try to wipe us out! We’re fighting back like the proverbial cornered animal! We’re taking it to the next level in every arena, including this second annual ORV Rally! And this one is going to be even more effective.
For starters, instead of filling Olympia with our rigs and toys, to demonstrate our economic impact, we are going to fill it with ORV people. Carpooling will accomplish this – and it is a must, parking is being limited. Cram every ORV buddy you can along with your family, into your car! We can fill the steps, the lawn, the courtyard, and beyond. We can easily be the biggest crowd our legislators have ever seen, and when we roar on February 3, the whole town will hear us. Parking will be at Deschutes Parkway by the lake, protected by the WSP, and shuttles will be provided to get us over to the Capital Building (it’s only a half mile).
The second big push for this rally is to book every legislator’s calendar solid all day before and after the noon to 2pm slot, with voting constituents ready to talk about our issues. This is just as important as making a big splash on the Capital steps! It’s easy, use www.apps.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder to quickly identify your legislators from your district, and access their private official email address. Use that to make an appointment with them for Rally day!
We have plenty of issues, and talking point papers will be widely available before and during the rally, to use in your meetings with legislators, should a member of the press ask you questions, or just to be fully informed yourself:
North Fork and Pilchuck/P2000 Road ORV closures – bureaucratic closures with no real attempt to mitigate the underlying issues, forcing more ORV use into ever smaller available opportunities
DNR closure of Multiple Use trails in the Tahuya ORV area
Shelton County ORV closures
Noise Bills, attempts to eliminate ORVs with insane noise level requirements that ignore all other noise sources, many of them truly loud
ORV Liability issues – we’re pushing a bill to limit liability on private land owners who provide ORV opportunities – this is critical!
Insisting that public land not be managed by “Closed Unless Posted Open” – No “King’s Forest”!
ORV Tabs and limiting DOL skimming of ORV tab funds – a bill by us to reduce what they take for administration to a reasonable amount. When we allowed our tabs to be increased from $5 to 18, to offset the theft of our gas tax refund, the DOL continued to take 18% off the top (that is a significant amount of money denied to ORV funding needs, do the math, 130,000 ORV tabs were sold in 2005)! It shouldn’t cost them any more to process per tab regardless of how much the fee is!
Of course, our main issue is basic and simple:. To our legislators, in the bills you consider, do not allow further attacks on ORV recreation! Instead, seek and support legislation that will reinforce and expand opportunities for this widespread family based activity which in turn supports a significant portion of our economy. Managed, responsible ORV recreation is good for society. It is time to discard the negative old images of ORV recreation. Look again, hard, at this rally, elected and appointed officials. No group of citizens save labor unions even comes close to the numbers standing on your steps, filling your meeting calendars, demanding not only an end to the attacks, but a complete reversal of attitude towards ORV recreation. Hear us!
We’ll use the same staging points as last year, wear your gear, bring the whole family, kids too!
Rally Staging Points:
Cycle Barn- Mt Vernon
RMC- Renton
Tacoma Mall- Tacoma
South Sound Honda- Olympia
TBA- Shelton
If you want to make your own signs, the official slogans are:
Open Areas = Quiet Neighborhoods
OHV Use Is Not A Crime
OHV Use Builds Strong Families
DNR Land Is Not "The Kings Forest "
It costs to make the signs and other rally materials. If you would like to make a donation, contact Rally Treasurer Brett Wise at (425) 226-4320 x.207 or BWise@rentonmotorcycles.com. For more information on the Rally, to volunteer to help, etc., contact Ed Bushnell at 425-931-3332 or Angie Marek at 253-537-3172.
If you love ORV recreation, you’ve got to find a way to be there! We need to win the current battles, for sure, but one day we’re going to win this war! We’ll see you on the Capital Building steps February 3rd!
ORV RALLY – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, NOON – 2PM, CAPITAL BUILDING STEPS, OLYMPIA
Be a part of the massive ORV Rally in Olympia, on the Capital Building steps, on Friday, February 3, from noon to 2pm!!! Uninformed legislators, led astray by those who would erase all ORV recreation from the face of the earth, and bolstered by unelected bureaucrats with their own agendas, continue to back all of us who participate in these wonderful, family based forms of recreation, into a corner.
Last year, at the first major ORV rally in the Capital in decades, you showed up in force, with your rigs hauling your toys. We gridlocked Olympia, and put a huge crowd on the Capital Building steps. We could not be ignored, when we yelled, the thunder rolled through our Legislator’s halls and offices. You made a difference, bills that would have crippled our recreation through funding thefts and private property restrictions were stopped in their tracks, and our efforts to educate legislators on the issues and facts won some important converts and supporters. Most of all, our pressure was behind finding the Grays Harbor County solution to reopening Thurston ORV Park (Straddleline). Further, we got a bill passed which allowed rural communities to designate ORV routes, with over 600 miles so designated in Colville National Forest so far.
But ours is not a normal political battle, where two sides negotiate and try to end up with both winning, or at least neither losing. The enemies of ORV recreation clearly will not stop until they reach their goal – our sport no more. No surprise that they are trying to get their hands around our throat again this year, and thus we must never let up, we’re not just fighting for our favored form of family recreation, this is indeed a fight for our freedom to pursue happiness as we wish!
So just try to wipe us out! We’re fighting back like the proverbial cornered animal! We’re taking it to the next level in every arena, including this second annual ORV Rally! And this one is going to be even more effective.
For starters, instead of filling Olympia with our rigs and toys, to demonstrate our economic impact, we are going to fill it with ORV people. Carpooling will accomplish this – and it is a must, parking is being limited. Cram every ORV buddy you can along with your family, into your car! We can fill the steps, the lawn, the courtyard, and beyond. We can easily be the biggest crowd our legislators have ever seen, and when we roar on February 3, the whole town will hear us. Parking will be at Deschutes Parkway by the lake, protected by the WSP, and shuttles will be provided to get us over to the Capital Building (it’s only a half mile).
The second big push for this rally is to book every legislator’s calendar solid all day before and after the noon to 2pm slot, with voting constituents ready to talk about our issues. This is just as important as making a big splash on the Capital steps! It’s easy, use www.apps.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder to quickly identify your legislators from your district, and access their private official email address. Use that to make an appointment with them for Rally day!
We have plenty of issues, and talking point papers will be widely available before and during the rally, to use in your meetings with legislators, should a member of the press ask you questions, or just to be fully informed yourself:
North Fork and Pilchuck/P2000 Road ORV closures – bureaucratic closures with no real attempt to mitigate the underlying issues, forcing more ORV use into ever smaller available opportunities
DNR closure of Multiple Use trails in the Tahuya ORV area
Shelton County ORV closures
Noise Bills, attempts to eliminate ORVs with insane noise level requirements that ignore all other noise sources, many of them truly loud
ORV Liability issues – we’re pushing a bill to limit liability on private land owners who provide ORV opportunities – this is critical!
Insisting that public land not be managed by “Closed Unless Posted Open” – No “King’s Forest”!
ORV Tabs and limiting DOL skimming of ORV tab funds – a bill by us to reduce what they take for administration to a reasonable amount. When we allowed our tabs to be increased from $5 to 18, to offset the theft of our gas tax refund, the DOL continued to take 18% off the top (that is a significant amount of money denied to ORV funding needs, do the math, 130,000 ORV tabs were sold in 2005)! It shouldn’t cost them any more to process per tab regardless of how much the fee is!
Of course, our main issue is basic and simple:. To our legislators, in the bills you consider, do not allow further attacks on ORV recreation! Instead, seek and support legislation that will reinforce and expand opportunities for this widespread family based activity which in turn supports a significant portion of our economy. Managed, responsible ORV recreation is good for society. It is time to discard the negative old images of ORV recreation. Look again, hard, at this rally, elected and appointed officials. No group of citizens save labor unions even comes close to the numbers standing on your steps, filling your meeting calendars, demanding not only an end to the attacks, but a complete reversal of attitude towards ORV recreation. Hear us!
We’ll use the same staging points as last year, wear your gear, bring the whole family, kids too!
Rally Staging Points:
Cycle Barn- Mt Vernon
RMC- Renton
Tacoma Mall- Tacoma
South Sound Honda- Olympia
TBA- Shelton
If you want to make your own signs, the official slogans are:
Open Areas = Quiet Neighborhoods
OHV Use Is Not A Crime
OHV Use Builds Strong Families
DNR Land Is Not "The Kings Forest "
It costs to make the signs and other rally materials. If you would like to make a donation, contact Rally Treasurer Brett Wise at (425) 226-4320 x.207 or BWise@rentonmotorcycles.com. For more information on the Rally, to volunteer to help, etc., contact Ed Bushnell at 425-931-3332 or Angie Marek at 253-537-3172.
If you love ORV recreation, you’ve got to find a way to be there! We need to win the current battles, for sure, but one day we’re going to win this war! We’ll see you on the Capital Building steps February 3rd!