ALERT!

I have two VERY important items that need to be addressed right off the bat.

The first is the "Waterfront Plan" for northeastern NY state.

Steve Alheim attended the meeting the other night and found out that several municipalities in his neck of the woods are producing a plan for the use of Brownfield sites. He also found out that no where in their plan did they mention motorized recreation. What better place for us to use than what everyone else doesn't want. Even the antis can't get too upset about us using previously contaminated earth.
He stood up and asked "what about us?" They didn't even realize that there was a need for us to have a place to recreate.
This is what we need:

Please, this needs to be done before Mar 21st. Send an email to the Waterfront Planner at

planner@queensbury.net

Put Waterfront Plan in the subject.

and this is what to say:

Please include motorized recreation in your planning, specifically full size 4x4 use of existing Brownfield sites.
For more information on Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) use, please contact East Coast 4 Wheel Drive Association at 1-800-ECST4WD or email to ec4wda@ec4wda.org.
Thank you for the opportunity to address my concerns.

Sincerely,


Of course, if you'd like to add to it a bit and make it your own, please feel free. This is what I wrote:

Hello, my name is David Brill. I represent nearly 5000 full size, registered, insured, 4WD vehicle enthusiasts from the northeast section of the country. I am from CT and and can speak for many of those 5000 when I say that if NY state offered legal off pavement roads/trails or in this case, an OHV park of some sort located on the Brownfield sites, we would travel there to enjoy them. We would also spend a good deal of money while visiting the wonderful state of NY. Please consider that in the small geographic area of New England, it is not uncommon for residents to travel from state to state to recreate.
Please include full size 4WD recreation in your plan.

If you have any questions, you can contact me directly as I am the Land Use Chairman for the East Coast 4WD Association. E4WBrill@aol.com, or 203-676-1286.

Thank you,

David Brill
Land Use Chair: East Coast 4WD Assoc.
V.Chair/Land Use Chr. Region D/Northeast of EC4WDA
President, Eastern 4 Wheelers
Tread Lightly! Master Trainer
Blue Ribbon Coalition
NAMRC
NOHVCC
SEMA/SAN
Guilford, CT

PLEASE DO THIS ASAP. Thank you!

NEXT ONE:

ATV Bill 5602

From Aili:

Here's this year's ATV bill:
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/TOB/H/2008HB-05602-R00-HB.htm
Read it over and then voice your opinions to your legislators. Calling is best, letters are second-best, either way, please do it.

Check http://www.cga.ct.gov/ to see who your legislators are.

If your legislators are not on the list, choose one in a district near you. Right now, only Environment Committee members need to be contacted. Other legislators can be contacted when the bill leaves committee.

Environment Committee Legislators:

119 - Roy, Richard Milford
S12 - Meyer, Edward Durham Branford No. Branford Guilford Killingworth Madison
117 - Davis, Paul Milford Orange West Haven
S28 - McKinney, John Easton Fairfield Newtown Weston
067 - Chapin, Clark J. New Milford
S21 - Debicella, Dan Monroe Seymour Shelton Stratford
S06 - DeFronzo, Donald J. New Britain Berlin Farmington
S18 - Maynard, Andrew M. Griswold No. Stonington Plainfield Preston Sterling Voluntown Stonington
121 - Backer, Terry Stratford
134 - Christiano, Tom F. Fairfield Trumbull
105 - Greene, Leonard C. Beacon Falls Seymour
127 - Hennessy, Jack F. Bridgeport
053 - Hurlburt, Bryan Ashford Tolland Willington
037 - Jutila, Ed East Lyme Salem
100 - Kalinowski, Raymond C. Middletown Middlefield Durham
097 - Megna, Robert W. New Haven
122 - Miller, Lawrence G. Shelton Stratford
066 - Miner, Craig A. Warren Morris Litchfield Bethlehem Woodbury
028 - Morin, Russell A. Wethersfield
040 - Moukawsher, Edward E. Groton New London
085 - Mushinsky, Mary M. Wallingford
032 - O'Rourke, James A. Cromwell Middletown Portland
113 - Perillo, Jason Shelton
137 - Perone, Chris Norwalk
076 - Piscopo, John E. Litchfield Thomaston Harwinton Burlington
036 - Spallone, James Field Chester Deep River Haddam
043 - Urban, Diana S. Stonington North Stonington
063 - Wilber, George M. Barkhamsted Canaan North Canaan Colebrook Hartland Norfolk Winchester
064 - Willis, Roberta B. Cornwall Goshen Salisbury Sharon Torrington
041 - Wright, Elissa T. Groton

Some towns have more than one House District. Senate Districts are larger and often more than one town.

If you are from CT, please find your Senator and email or call them.
If you are not, please contact Ed Meyer, he is the Committee Chair.

Put very simply:

I am your constituent, I support Bill 5602. I would ask that you support it as well. There is already a law for registering ATVs in CT. There is no need for verbiage in this bill to address registration.


Thank you,

(your name, address, etc)

If your senator/rep is not listed, please contact Senator Ed Meyer.

Dear Senator Meyer,

My senator/representative is not on the Environment Committee, however, I would like to voice my pinion on ATV Bil 5602. I support the bill. I feel that there is no need for registration to be attached to this bill as there already exists a law for ATV registration. My senator is_______ and my respresentative is_______.


Thank You,

(your name, address, etc)

If you are from out of state contact Senator Ed Meyer.

Dear Senator Meyer,
I am not a state of CT resident However, I would like to voice my opinion on the ATV Bill 5602. I support this bill and would travel to CT if there were lands/trails/roads available for OHV use. I would spend tourism dollars in CT while visiting.


Thank You,


(your name, address, etc)



WHAT ELSE:

Some more very cool news coming out of CT.
Upon contacting the forest ranger for a state forest in CT about doing a national Trails Day clean up of roads that are already used legally, I asked about some that have been closed for years but could they be accessed somehow, seeing as they aren't gated or signed.

His response caught me totally off guard. He owns a Jeep and wants to join a club and is totally into allowing us access. It would be via permission through him. I would act as the liaison and would forward dates to him for him to approve. The dates would have to be submitted about a month in advance. The forest is in northeast CT.
We already have a date scheduled for May 3rd, he will attend with us.




Trail and Road Scouting
This is going well. Several groups have gone out and are posting back their results. We have crossed off many roads but have one in southeastern CT that looks promising, so far.

NH Trails Bureau:
From Scott Hatch, NEA VP of Environmental Affairs

This was a very positive meeting and one that I feel very confident will have positive results. IMHO NH Trails Bureau is willing and eager to see 4x4s become the next official motorized recreational sport in NH. Below are the items we worked on and are to be submitted for the 2009 legislative session. All amendments are being made in cooperation and support of NH Trails Bureau and NH FIsh and Game.


I'm not going to reprint all that was discussed. It centered around changing verbiage and definitions to include full size 4x4s in their planning.
Some other important points that were hit on:

Development of a state-sponsored 4x4 trail network using Class VI Roads
Long term, first step will be sticker program, will need towns on board.

Site specific permitted access on Trails Bureau properties

Long term, after amendment to NH RSA 215A:43 IV. Also see rest of NH RSA 215A:43 as this is used for course and fine filters for trail development.

Trail marking "colors" for 4x4s

Item for agenda at next NH STAC, clarify what color ?blazes? are used for which user group

Training with NH Trails Bureau & EPA for submission of proper paperwork for trail and bridge work

Follow up with Vanessa Burnes at NH DES, can and will offer courses.

NEA inclusion on Trails Bureau website

New website in testing phase, new site will have NEA listed


Some NATIONAL NEWS:

Pirate to hold Virtual Rally to support The Hammer Trails in Southern Cali.

This is the official thread of the Johnson Valley "Virtual Protest" which will take place on March 12th @ 2:00PM.

The simple link to this thread is - http://www.pirate4x4.com/jv

This thread will be opened up at 2:00PM PST March 12. Mark your calendars, and let everyone you know to logon and participate in the biggest online protest in off roading history!!!

National Park System attendance rises in 2007

WASHINGTON – More than 275 million visits were recorded in America’s national park system in 2007, an increase of three million visits from the previous year.

“Despite rising gas prices and the lure of electronic entertainment, this is great news,” said National Park Service Director Mary A. Bomar. “With all the recreation choices available, national parks still draw more visits than Major League Baseball, the National Football League, professional basketball, soccer and NASCAR combined.” Bomar credited growing interest in the National Park Service Centennial as a big reason for the upswing in the number of visits to America’s national parks and monuments, national recreation areas and battlefields, national wild and scenic rivers and national seashores – 20 different park categories in all.

If you'd like to read the rest of the article, please email me and I'll send it to you.


Weather Channel Founder Blasts Network; Claims It Is 'Telling Us What to Think'
TWC founder and global warming skeptic advocates suing Al Gore to expose 'the fraud of global warming.'

For the whole article, go HERE


Thats a whole lot digest to this week.

There is more I could post on but most of you didn't get this far.

Talk soon,