On 4/11/06, the Rennselaer County Legislature (home district of Sen. Majority Leader Joe Bruno) passed a resolution in support of passage of Trail Program legislation at the state level, despite its removal from the State Budget. See the Times Union (Albany) article copied below.
On 6/10/06 the ATV fee increase repeal will become effective if by that date the Legislature does not pass a bill to establish a Trail Program. Passing a trail program bill thereafter would require the re-establishiment of the repealed fund.
The resolution statement by the Reansselaer County Legislature adds to the mounting cry for the Legsilature to get this done now.
Remember it is not too late to contact your Legislators in this matter to help add fuel to the fire.
From
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=470786 Rensselaer County backs ATV trail system
Lawmakers vote to urge Assembly to get behind statewide plan that has fallen by the wayside
All Times Union materials copyright 1996-2006, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y.
By KATE PERRY, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, April 12, 2006
TROY -- Farmer Ken Herrington said there is no way to stop all-terrain vehicles from ripping through his vast acreage of crops in Brunswick, so he tries to contain them instead.
The county legislator puts up signs and ropes off areas, hoping to keep them at field's edge or on maintenance roads, but occasionally it doesn't work.
"They'll run over the fields at the times when it's wet or raining, or whatever, and rut it all up," he said. "That's even worse on the hay crops."
Ruined crops, noise and land owners' liability are the main reasons the County Legislature voted unanimously Tuesday night, asking the Assembly to support a statewide ATV trail system.
A plan to create a trail system recently met opposition in the state Legislature, and the county is pleading with state lawmakers to reconsider.
New York has no trail network for ATVs as it has for other outdoor sports such as hiking and snowmobiling. It forces riders to travel out of state, get permission to cruise private lands or trespass.
Last year, the state increased the ATV registration fee from $10 to $25 and pledged to form a statewide trail system with the increase.
But a year later, state officials say the plan is kaput and they'll use the money collected in fees last year to extend ATV owners' registrations one more year instead.
The Republican-controlled state Senate and Gov. George Pataki's office blame the Democrat-controlled Assembly for the failed trail plan.
"The bottom line is, the Assembly does not have any interest in developing ATV trails," said Mark Hansen, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.
Bryan Franke, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said lawmakers couldn't come to terms on access to forest preserves in places like the Adirondacks and the Catskills. The Senate, he said, favored too much access to those lands for the Assembly's taste.
But Alex Ernst, government relations director of the New York State Off-Highway Recreational Vehicle Association said fears about ATVs in forest preserves are unfounded.
ATVs aren't allowed in forest preserves and it's not the goal of enthusiasts to earn their way into those hallowed places, said Ernst, whose group represents ATV riders.
It would be a tough and unnecessary battle considering there is plenty of public property outside forest preserves, he added.
"(The forest preserve argument) is more or less this hysterical battle cry from these folks that would like to see ATVs off the face of the earth," he said.
Ernst's group started lobbying for a trail network 13 years ago and has always met resistance. Over those years, he said, the number of ATVs rambling through woods and across the countryside has increased tenfold.
According to NYSORVA, there are 137,000 ATVs registered in New York, and 2,107 of those are in Rensselaer County.
Legislative aides said ATV trail fund monies will be returned to ATV owners through a repeal of registration fees this year. But Ernst said there is a window of time before the repeal occurs, when legislators could pass a law to build the trails.
If that's the case, pressure from counties, like the resolution passed in Troy, could make a difference. Ernst said putting the issue to bed with a trail system is best for everyone -- ATV riders and land owners alike.
"A failure to do something for half a million ATVs is just asking for the trespassing issues, noise issues and safety issues to continue," Ernst said.
