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NOVA account raid puts trail
maintenance in jeopardy
By Rep. Dan
Kristiansen
Special to Northwest Quad Association and
Backcountry Horsemen of Washington
During the 2009
legislative session majority party leaders crafted a nearly $35 billion
state operating budget that was balanced by raiding numerous pots of
money, including an important one to trail users -- the Nonhighway and
Off-Road Vehicle Activities (NOVA) account.
NOVA was created by
off-road vehicle (ORV) users to provide grants to develop, maintain and
manage trails and nonhighway road systems. A fuel-use study in 1972
estimated 4.6 percent of the state fuel tax was generated by ORV use. In
lieu of receiving a fuel-tax refund, ORV users asked the Legislature in
1973 to put the money into this special account.
NOVA has been a great
program for every type of trail user, including ORV'ers, mountain
bikers, hikers and backcountry horsemen. More than $76 million has been
provided through NOVA for over 1,000 projects throughout Washington.
Grant recipients have also voluntarily contributed more than $27 million
in matching resources.
ORV users voluntarily
waived their rights to a fuel-tax refund so that they could benefit
statewide from this program. Two years ago, they asked the Legislature
to more than double ORV-use permit fees to supplement that fund. That's
why many are angry that the Democrat operating budget empties $9.56
million from NOVA funds and appropriates that money "to the state
Parks and Recreation Commission for maintenance and operation of parks
and to improve accessibility for boaters and off-road vehicle users."
(Language from House Bill 1244, operating budget)
Unfortunately, NOVA funds
will be used to keep state parks open. As a result, no NOVA grants will be
available for the coming two years.
My family and I are avid
ORV recreationalists. I understand how important this fund is to the
many people who enjoy the back trails of Washington. Raiding of NOVA
money is one of the many reasons why I voted against the operating
budget.
What affect will this
transfer have? As one Eastern Washington newspaper reported, "Many of
the state's trail systems may be lost to underbrush, overuse and,
eventually, a chaos of downed trees. Lost too will be the majority of
the seasonal trail-crew workers who keep this region's National Forest
lands from falling into such disrepair."
There were better ways of
saving state parks. I supported an amendment that would have transferred
$25 million from the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP)
into parks operations. Most of WWRP funds go into land acquisition. I
questioned why we were purchasing land for new parks when we cannot
maintain existing ones. This amendment could have prevented the NOVA
raid. Unfortunately, it failed.
So what's next?
The state Parks and
Recreation Commission now has authority over these funds, which in HB
1244 is to be used partially "to improve accessibility for...off-road
vehicle users." If we are to save Washington's ORV and horse trails, the
commission must be made aware and held accountable. If you have concerns
about the use of these funds, let the commissioners know. The commission
is scheduled to meet June 12 in Wenatchee, Aug. 6 in the Tri-Cities,
Oct. 1 in Spokane, and Dec. 3 in Centralia. More information is
available at the commission's Web site at:
http://www.parks.wa.gov/agency/commissionmeetings.
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
State Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish,
represents the 39th Legislative District, and also serves as chairman of
the Washington House Republican Caucus. He can be contacted at (360)
786-7967 or from his Web site at:
www.houserepublicans.wa.gov/Kristiansen.
For more information, contact:
John
Sattgast, Senior Information Officer: (360) 786-7257
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