House Bill 4610

Over the past year, the DNR/NRC has closed off access to many state owned trails that equestrians have historically had access too. A hearing will be held on House Bill 4610 this coming Tuesday, April 28 at 10:30 a.m. in Room 519 of the House Office Building (126 N. Capitol Ave.; Lansing, MI 48913). This legislation would reopen state trails and other state owned lands to equestrians that were open on May 7, 2008. It would be great if you could attend the meeting. If not, please e-mail the committee members and your local state representative in support of the bill by following the links below.

You can view a copy of the bill on-line at:

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/20...09-HIB-4610.pdf

To find the e-mail address of the members of the House Natural Resources Committee, please visit:

http://house.michigan.gov/committeeinfo.as...s&submit=Go

To find your own state representative, please visit: http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp

As you are probably aware, Pigeon River Country has been pretty much closed to snowmobiles, atv's and horses. The DNR's claim among others was the property was purchased by Pittman Roberson funding, which meant it HAD to be used for specific purpose, Hunting. Fact is, 17 or so acres of the thousands is ALL that was purchased by Pittman Robertson.

The efforts to take back by the horse riders is the first step in many to come in the near future. We have all been blissfully ignorant of a lot of behind the scenes efforts to restrict our land usage in Michigan and across the country. You have seen bits and pieces, trust me there is more where they came from.

Are MSA and the ORVer's finally wising up and getting together? I see they have a meeting scheduled later this summer.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/09_S...LE_272348_7.pdf

There are a lot of horse riders that WILL come to our support if and when we need it, so I strongly suggest you take the time to write/contact your area rep, and if possible, attend on tuesday morning, do what you can to stand up for and with them. It will benefit us in the long run.

Senate passes 1489 and 1490

The bill has been changed slightly. The "penalty" has been eliminated, meaning no more November 15th (at least I THINK I read it correctly) and it's topping out at 45.00, with subsequent increases to be determined by the state treasurer to coincide with inflation.

It STILL requires ALL snowmobiles operated in Michigan to have a snowmobile trail permit unless ice fishing.

Mike Lahti IS the one that will be running this bill through the house. It's a pass or fail thing, no more alterations to the bill can be made.

Office Address
S1489 House Office Building

Mailing Address
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48909-7514
Phone: (517) 373-0850
Fax: (517) 373-9303


Toll-Free
(888) 663-4031

Email
mikelahti@house.mi.gov

Due to the requirement for a trail permit, I am opposed to this bill period. Actually, I think 45.00 in two years is too much, and not too happy about 35.00 for next year.

Consider that the trail permit sales have dropped off, apparently we have less traffic, YET, MSA is on this crusade to build and maintain even more trails. It's a recipe for implosion. More and more are giving up snowmobiles and going to ATV's. They are driving the sport into the ground, and honestly, what benefit are we as snowmobilers going to see from this driven agenda? Biskit has some stuff on his page covering this as well.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/20...8-SEBS-1490.htm

Sec. 82118. (1) In addition to registration of a snowmobile

pursuant to section 82105 or registration in another state or

province, except as otherwise provided in this section, a person

who desires to operate a snowmobile in this state shall purchase a

Michigan snowmobile trail permit sticker.
The Michigan snowmobile trail permit issued under this section shall be valid for a period of 1 year which begins on October 1 and ends on the following September 30. The fee for the permit shall be $25.00. as follows:



(a) For permits valid for the 1-year period beginning October 1, 2009 or October 1, 2010, $35.00



( For permits valid for the 1-year period beginning October 1, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, or 2015, $45.00.



For permits valid for the 1-year period beginning October 1, 2016 and every fifth year thereafter, the state treasurer shall adjust the current permit fee by an amount determined by the state treasurer to reflect the cumulative percentage change in the consumer price index during the most recent 5-year period for which consumer price index statistics are available, rounded to the nearest dollar. A fee adjusted by the state treasurer under this subdivision shall remain in effect for 5 years. As used in this subdivision, "consumer price index" means the most comprehensive index of consumer prices available for this state from the bureau of labor statistics of the United States department of labor.

(dunno how that smiley smirk got in there, cannot figure out how to delete it)

Snowmobile Trail Permit Fee Increases

For those of you who dont object to a 10 dollar fee increase THINK AGAIN! For me, this is the first I have seen of the REAL agenda with this trail permit fee increase. I am not amused, I am not happy, quite frankly, I see this as a total fleecing!

It' aint just 10 dollars...THAT's just the beginning! IT's a significant contrast from what I recall reading from MSA. They have pushed for this, and to put it bluntly, they didnt advertise it or honestly represent what they were doing in anything I have seen published by them.

The first clue was a post at John Dee and the individual spoke w/Don Reed, quoting the fee to escalate over the next 3 years. Am I out of the loop? Has anyone else heard this?

Theyre pushing for 75.00 a permit by 2013! When is this state gonna wake up and realize it needs to cut the overhead to stimulate the economy?

MSA HAS LOBBIED FOR THIS WHILE MAKING A MEMBERSHIP DRIVE TELLING US THEY ARE FIGHTING FOR US. WELL, THIS FIGHT APPEARS TO BE FOR THE GRANT SPONSORS. IT'S IN THE NAME OF SMOOTH TRAILS, BUT IT'S REALLY A WAY OF FORCING US TO PROVIDE OTHERS A LIVING TO SIMPLY RIDE OUR SNOWMOBILES.

They sent out a card asking if we would be in favor of trail permit fee increases crying the blues about funding hitting a wall and projected shortfalls. "MSA IS PROPOSING A 10.00 INCREASE IN THE TRAIL PERMIT AND AN 8.00 INCREASE IN THE 3 YEAR REGISTRATION."

"THESE FEE INCREASES WILL NOT GO IN EFFECT UNTIL THE 2009/2010 SEASON".

But what they arent tellin us is this legislation is progressive and has a time limit of nov 15th to purchase the permits every year or it's 15.00 extra, like a penalty or late fee.

Check out the link below and the info I pasted here.

Trail Permit Fee


Under Part 821, in addition to registering a snowmobile, a person who desires to operate a snowmobile in Michigan must purchase a Michigan snowmobile trail permit sticker. The trail permit is valid for one year, and the current fee is $25. Under the bill, the fee would be as follows:

-- In 2008 and 2009, $50 (or $35 if paid by November 15 of the respective year).
-- In 2010, 2011, and 2012, $60 (or $45 if paid by November 15 of the respective year).
-- In 2013 and each subsequent year, $75 (or $60 if paid by November 15 of the respective year).

Currently, revenue from the trial permit fee must be allocated as follows:

-- $23.50 must be deposited in the Recreational Snowmobile Trail Improvement Subaccount.
-- 50 cents must be retained by the DNR for administrative costs.
-- $1 must be retained by the agent selling the permit.


The bill would retain the 50-cent allocation to the DNR and the $1 allocation to the agent, and require the balance to be deposited into the Recreational Snowmobile Trail Improvement Subaccount.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/20...-SFA-1489-S.htm

You folks check this out for yourselves, make your decisions. I am gonna send letters, make phone calls, and do everything I can to oppose this legislation pushed by MSA. I DONT BELIEVE THEY ARE REPRESENTING OUR BEST INTERESTS, THEY HAVE THEIR AGENDA AND WE ARE THEIR VEHICLE.

Senator Jason Allen is the person sponsoring this legislation.

Gas jumped .50 cents a gallon overnight

Jen was on the news tonight spouting about calling in for gas gouging, and violators would be prosecuted, essentially hinting at the idea IF gas prices went up to 5 or 6 dollars a gallon. Then she says they only raised wholesale gas prices a few pennies in Chicago.

I have seen a teletype message requesting all police officers to report any gas prices in excess of 4.75 per gallon.

Gouging is gouging. Why does it take a dollar? BP and Mobil are puttin it to us by me, yet, sunoco only came up 20 cents in the same timeframe.

IF it only went up 3 cents wholesale, why do I see 50 cents, and I am sure more by saturday?? Glad we got gas yesterday, (just by luck) we wont be getting gas until next weekend.

I DID cancel my trip up north this weekend, and it was due to the gas price spike. Would hate to get up there and see 4.74........

Farmers Almanac comes out tuesday

http://news.aol.com/article/brrr-almanac-p...6284x1200456290

The almanac predicts above-normal snowfall for the Great Lakes and Midwest, especially during January and February......

click the link above, I dont want to violate any copyrights from the AP.....

hopefully the ground will freeze by december 1st and then we get some heavy wet snow during muzzle loader season so the groomers will be able to establish a hard flat base BEFORE everyone heads out on the trails. Last year Mother Nature kinda took care of that with some freezing rain and mild temps on the weekends keeping everyone home....

Beyond a doubt the trails last season were the best I have seen in 10 or 12 years. Looks like this year might be better?? Here's hoping!