Washington
Fly-In
It's time once again for the Annual Snowmobile Fly-In. The dates
this year are April 6-8. The format will be Chapter Meetings on
Sunday morning, ACSA meeting Sunday afternoon; speakers all day
Monday; and Capitol Hill visits on Tuesday.
Please contact the ACSA office if you plan to attend. The ACSA
office will schedule the appointments with your Senators and
Congressmen.
We will be staying at the Holiday Inn on the Hill.
Click here for the Registration Form.
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Recreational Trails Program/Highway Bill
The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study
Commission released a report that recommends a major change of the
Surface Transportation Law that would shake up all outdoor-related
programs.
Among the recommendations:
- No longer guarantee financial set-aside to recreational trails
and scenic byways programs. It appears these projects would be
forced to compete against projects we now know as Enhancement
Projects.
- Change Transportation Enhancements to a new Environmental
Stewardship Program.
- Increases the spending on surface transportation from $85
billion per year to $225 billion per year, increasing to $340
billion per year over time.
- This report gives Congress a foundation to work from as they
begin looking at the next reauthorization. Included in this
recommendation is a tax increase of 25-40 cents per gallon.
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International Snowmobile Congress (ISC) - 2011
Believe it or not, it is time for the Western State Snowmobile
Associations to put their bids in to host Congress in 2011. Bids are
due in March, 2008.
For additional information, please contact the ACSA office,
517-351-4362.
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ISC 2008
Don't forget to register for Congress, June 11-14, which will be
held in Boise, Idaho and make your hotel room reservations.
This promises to be another fabulous meeting, with great speakers
and educational sessions, lots of networking, a fun-packed offsite
event, and of course lots of meetings to attend.
Click here for a registration form..
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Non-Powered
Rec Users Organize on Forest Service Roadless Policy
The human-powered recreation groups have formed a coalition for the
protection of roadless areas in Idaho and Colorado. They fear the
Forest Service (FS) will allow an increase in road building.
This group is concerned about the amount of undeveloped land area
left for recreation. They view it as approximately 50% of FS lands
are available for resource use. They acknowledge that 20% is
protected as wilderness, but claim most of that land is remote
mountain - rock and ice. The remaining 30% holds some of the highest
values for recreation with nearby access.
It appears this group includes the associations that represent
canoeing, hiking, bicycling, and cross-country skiers.
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Attorney
General Will Ask EPA Today For Tougher Emission Rules
By Steve Geissinger
Mercury News Sacramento Bureau
Article Launched: 01/29/2008 01:32:53 AM PST
SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Jerry Brown will petition federal
regulators today to set stricter emission standards on off-road toys
such as snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and personal watercraft -
an idea that manufacturers insist would trigger higher prices, lower
performance and possibly even be the demise of some off-road
vehicles.
Brown said he wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
exercise its authority under the Clean Air Act and court decisions
to set greenhouse-gas emission standards for new off-road equipment,
which also includes tractors, forklifts and some lawn mowers.
The EPA, which has so far failed to grant California's wishes under
the Bush administration, has been ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court
to act on global warming issues and is under increasing pressure
from Democrats in Congress.
EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said his agency would not comment on
the petition until it is filed by Brown. It seems highly unlikely,
however, that the EPA - at least while President Bush is in office -
would embrace Brown's position.
Most of the off-road equipment affected by the petition are
construction and agricultural equipment. All told, the petition
addresses more than 17 million machines in California.
Brown's move would be the latest effort in an ongoing battle by
California and other states to win federal controls on
greenhouse-gas emissions for cars, planes and ships, or autonomy to
set their own standards.
Brown spokesman Gareth Lacy said the Attorney General's Office also
is eyeing action on trains but said locomotives were excluded from
today's petition because the issue involves different technological
and legal issues.
In light of predicted global-warming consequences such as flooding,
Brown said that "it's either this, or go to high ground and wait."
Brown acknowledged he was delving into "sensitive territory" by
including recreational vehicles but said it is necessary.
Derrick Crandall, a spokesman for the American Recreation Coalition
in Washington, D.C., which represents recreational equipment
enthusiasts and major manufacturers, said he supports environmental
protection but said the industry wants to work with government on
solutions rather than see mandates.
Crandall said the consequences for strict new emission standards
might reach beyond making off-road equipment such as motorcycles,
ATVs and boats less powerful and lighter weight.
"It just might even rule out certain kinds of vehicles in their
entirety," he said. "We need to be very careful about major new
public policy initiatives."
Crandall expressed concern that recreational equipment had been
included with other off-road, industrial vehicles. Non-recreational
vehicles account for more than 85 percent of the 220 million metric
tons of greenhouse-gases spewed annually across the nation - the
equivalent of 40 million cars.
But Brown said recreational equipment is a swiftly growing part of
the off-road vehicle sector. He cited a California Air Resources
Board study in his petition that estimated carbon dioxide emissions
from recreational equipment and pleasure craft each grew by about
one-third between 1990 and last year.
The increase in emissions from construction and mining machines in
the state grew at a slightly faster pace of 35 percent, while
industrial machines trailed at 9 percent.
Mark Baldassare, director of the independent Public Policy Institute
of California poll, said that "this global warming proposal puts to
the test statements by Californians in polls that they're willing to
seek changes, even if there are financial consequences."
Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College,
isn't sure the public would make that choice.
"People favor strong action on the environment, and are even willing
to say that no price for environmental protection is too high,"
Pitney said, "until they themselves must pay it."
Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, a Temecula Republican who has been active
in supporting off-road motorized recreation, said today's petition
was "essentially useless" and would be "prohibitively costly if
implemented."
The states of Oregon, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut
joined California's petition today while the Western Environmental
Law Center filed a similar request.
"This is going to happen," said center spokesman Dan Galpern. "The
handwriting is on the wall."
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