Mike Bishop Heads to Congress

Azusa Canyon Off Roaders' Association President Mike Bishop Speaks to Congress

Posted October 12 2009 04:08 PM by 4WOR Web Editor
Filed under: Off Road News, Jason Gonderman

On October 22, 2009, Mike Bishop will appear before the United States Congressional Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands to testify on legislation to improve and maintain funding of OHV areas across the country.

• Get a Free Quote

• Find a Local Dealer

Bishop, who is the President of Azusa Canyon Off Roaders' Association http://acorausa.com and Special Land Use Representative for California Trail Users' Coalition, has been invited to testify by Christy Goldfuss, Legislative Staff member of the House Natural Resources Committee. California Trail Users' Coalition http://www.trailusers.org has offered to pay for this trip to Washington D.C., but would greatly appreciate any donations you can make to CTUC to offset the costs of such funding. Tax deductible donations can be made to CTUC, a 501(c) 3 non profit organization by contacting their website http://www.trailusers.org/membership.htm or through direct mail to the following address:

Attention: Barrett Wetherby, D/C Trip
California Trail Users Coalition
3550 Foothill Blvd., Glendale, CA 91214

Share This

Reader Comments:

1. yes way to go!!! we need to do this.

mondan74 - Posted October 13 2009 01:19 PM

2. Thanks brother! With a screaming child in the background, and a file (my testimony in process 4 pages long) that did not pass from my work email to my yahoo home email, I now sit picking up the pieces still to be written. I need to address the Special Recreation Permit Fees in this bill in such a way that the fees do what they are meant to do. My intention is that when there is extra (rarely) fees collected on developed OHV sites the agency has to move a percentage of remaining percentage to an undeveloped OHV trail or area. They were trying to sell a 60/40 split of the fees collected, but I was able to shoot that down and now it's back to 80/20. So 80 percent back to the site where it was collected and then 20% to undeveloped OHV trails and areas. That would be the best case scenario however the agencies will say they need an administration fee.

Back to work and thanks for the support.

ACORA1 - Posted October 13 2009 06:00 PM

3. Sorry should have said this: the bill will amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, you can search that, and then Fee Demo, and the Land and Water Conservation act before it for background.

ACORA1 - Posted October 13 2009 06:11 PM

4. I just received a call from the Congressional Committee on Natural Resources in Washington DC this hearing has been cancelled. The bill will be pulled back and worked on some more. I have been assured that our input and testimony will be included in the "re-drafting" of the bill.
The committee is planning to move forward after the first of the year, given that the Max Baucus Bill does not gain momentum during the time between then and now. So the trip is still on but the dates have just changed.

I have gleaned some very important information and will continue to work with these people, the forest service, BLM, and you all so that we can shape this bill to be the best it can be not only for motorized but all land users.

What you need to know is that the funding, even in areas where a fee is collected, is upside down, and that no one can really tell where the money is being lost because the accounting is not done on a site level. That is one of the points we were attempting to change among others. In essence how can anyone know where to start fixing the problem if no one has the reporting tools to see it.

If you would like to contact me in regards to this bill or the Max Baucus Bill please feel free to contact me, Mike Bishop at acora12@yahoo.com or through www.acorausa.com .

I would like to thank everyone I have spoken with for their support and especially Rick Pewe who got this blog up so quickly to help.

ALL FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN SENT IN WILL BE SENT BACK TO THE DONATORS.

ACORA1 - Posted October 14 2009 09:10 AM

5. How will the new proposed changes to the clean water act negatively effect OHV access? I can't imagine it bodes well for us.

threedoor - Posted December 15 2009 02:21 PM

Add a Comment: (Must Be Registered)

User Name

Not Registered?
Signup today

Password

Comment