OHV Registration Coming to Nevada - SB 394
Source:
http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090626/DVTONLINE01/90625033
June 26, 2009
Cox sees efforts pay off with OHV bill
Dennis Lee, Desert Valley Times
Charlie Cox saw all his efforts of the past year and a half come to fruition recently with the passing of Senate Bill 394, requiring titling and annual registration of off-highway vehicles.
The bill is slated to go into effect, July 1, 2010 if the OHV working group is able to raise $500,000 start up funds, otherwise it will become effective on July 1, 2011.
“The first thing I had to do,” said Cox, “is form the Nevada Off-Highway Coalition so that I could pull all the organized OHV groups together along with the environmental groups to find out how they wanted to proceed and what they wanted to get out of the program. And for the last year and a half we worked out all the tensions that existed and what was needed to get this bill past.“So, on the day Bill 394 goes into effect, it will require all off- highway motorized vehicles, including snowmobiles, motorcycles, ATV, dune buggies, and rock crawlers have an identification tag placed on the vehicle. This will cost around $20 annually to receive this decal. This decal will be needed if a person wants to ride on public lands, and if a person fails to acquire one, they will be fined.“The money raised from these fees will go into a dedicated OHV fund within the state, which will be overseen by an 11-member commission appointed by the governor, but selected from the names submitted by the stakeholders who put the law into effect.”These include the organized OHV groups, the Forest Service, BLM, and various environmental groups.“The monies will have to be used to promote and improve off-highway recreational opportunities within the state in a legal way, something that we don’t have at the present time.“The monies that go into a fund will come directly back into the sport for trailhead improvements, reconstruction of trails, general maintenance, construction of new trails, and law enforcement.”The startup funds will come from sales tax collected on those vehicles bought outside the state of Nevada.“When a person registers their vehicle, the sales tax has to be paid,” said Cox. “And the sales tax revenue that has not been collected amounts to millions of dollars. Collection of these sales taxes makes it fair for local dealers to compete with the out-of-state dealers. Often times, local dealers lose sales based on the difference of the sales tax.“Without a registration program there hasn’t been anyway to track it, but now with a registration program, people will have to prove they paid sales tax, and if they didn’t, then they’ll have to pay it.“This sales tax that has gone uncollected has an indirect benefit to the state, and the state has already figured this out. The Nevada Department of Taxation is presently going through a city’s records to find those who owe these taxes.“However, these monies have not yet been set aside for any specific funding, so we requested part of it for our start up funds.” (To date they’ve raised $300,000.)For those who feel like this is just another way to get more money out of taxpayers’ pockets, Cox explains,: “All the organized off highway motorized groups have been trying to get this on for the past six years.“They have been concerned with the small percentage of those individuals who do not obey the rules.“There still exist areas in the state that have been designated as open riding, but the federal government has mandated that one of the biggest threats to our wild lands is unmanaged OHV use.“So throughout the country there have been deadlines set on the federal level, beginning with the Forest Service. They have to be done by the end of 2009. This is then followed by the BLM, which has another year or two.“So, within the next couple of years, on a nationwide level, off- highway vehicles will have to stay on designated routes and trails. “The problem is that there exist no signs telling someone what is a designated route or trail. So, with the monies raised from these funds we can work hand-in-hand with the governmental agencies to make sure such signage exists.”Nevada is the last state to enact an OHV program. “Having experienced how a really well managed program works (Cox was on the OHV board for the state of Colorado before moving to Mesquite), we took a look at all the programs that presently exist and took what we consider the good parts from them and came up with a good compromised law that works for everybody.“And you can see this by the list of all those who support it, from the organized off-highway clubs to organizations like the Sierra Club, cattlemen’s associations, Indian council bureaus, and those who have traditionally been against off-highway use of public lands. They all support this bill because they know the intent is to have a well managed system where people can go enjoy themselves and be safe, while staying out of sensitive areas and maintaining sustainable trails. “And with the Congress cutting the budgets of the Forest Service and BLM, they simply don’t have the manpower or the money to maintain the existing trails.”
The money in the fund will then be allocated through a system of grants. “The grant package will help define the project, as well as having a sign off sheet from the Forest Service and/or BLM. So those wishing funding for these projects will have to work hand-in-hand with these agencies.“
For those wishing to know more about where they can ride around the Mesquite area, they can go to the BLM. But, the funny thing about the BLM is that you will never find anyone in the office that can answer your question. It takes a lot of time and effort to find the rules and regulations.“
Presently, they have just designated and marked what routes in the Gold Butte area are open and closed, and there are a lot of people that are shocked as to what has been closed, and how far they have to walk to access things they use to be able to drive right up to.”
Cox is hopeful that once the legislation goes into effect that a reciprocal effort will exist between Nevada and other states allowing those who buy their tags in Nevada the ability to ride in other states without having to buy additional tags, and vice versa.
www.DuneGuide.com
http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090626/DVTONLINE01/90625033
June 26, 2009
Cox sees efforts pay off with OHV bill
Dennis Lee, Desert Valley Times
Charlie Cox saw all his efforts of the past year and a half come to fruition recently with the passing of Senate Bill 394, requiring titling and annual registration of off-highway vehicles.
The bill is slated to go into effect, July 1, 2010 if the OHV working group is able to raise $500,000 start up funds, otherwise it will become effective on July 1, 2011.
“The first thing I had to do,” said Cox, “is form the Nevada Off-Highway Coalition so that I could pull all the organized OHV groups together along with the environmental groups to find out how they wanted to proceed and what they wanted to get out of the program. And for the last year and a half we worked out all the tensions that existed and what was needed to get this bill past.“So, on the day Bill 394 goes into effect, it will require all off- highway motorized vehicles, including snowmobiles, motorcycles, ATV, dune buggies, and rock crawlers have an identification tag placed on the vehicle. This will cost around $20 annually to receive this decal. This decal will be needed if a person wants to ride on public lands, and if a person fails to acquire one, they will be fined.“The money raised from these fees will go into a dedicated OHV fund within the state, which will be overseen by an 11-member commission appointed by the governor, but selected from the names submitted by the stakeholders who put the law into effect.”These include the organized OHV groups, the Forest Service, BLM, and various environmental groups.“The monies will have to be used to promote and improve off-highway recreational opportunities within the state in a legal way, something that we don’t have at the present time.“The monies that go into a fund will come directly back into the sport for trailhead improvements, reconstruction of trails, general maintenance, construction of new trails, and law enforcement.”The startup funds will come from sales tax collected on those vehicles bought outside the state of Nevada.“When a person registers their vehicle, the sales tax has to be paid,” said Cox. “And the sales tax revenue that has not been collected amounts to millions of dollars. Collection of these sales taxes makes it fair for local dealers to compete with the out-of-state dealers. Often times, local dealers lose sales based on the difference of the sales tax.“Without a registration program there hasn’t been anyway to track it, but now with a registration program, people will have to prove they paid sales tax, and if they didn’t, then they’ll have to pay it.“This sales tax that has gone uncollected has an indirect benefit to the state, and the state has already figured this out. The Nevada Department of Taxation is presently going through a city’s records to find those who owe these taxes.“However, these monies have not yet been set aside for any specific funding, so we requested part of it for our start up funds.” (To date they’ve raised $300,000.)For those who feel like this is just another way to get more money out of taxpayers’ pockets, Cox explains,: “All the organized off highway motorized groups have been trying to get this on for the past six years.“They have been concerned with the small percentage of those individuals who do not obey the rules.“There still exist areas in the state that have been designated as open riding, but the federal government has mandated that one of the biggest threats to our wild lands is unmanaged OHV use.“So throughout the country there have been deadlines set on the federal level, beginning with the Forest Service. They have to be done by the end of 2009. This is then followed by the BLM, which has another year or two.“So, within the next couple of years, on a nationwide level, off- highway vehicles will have to stay on designated routes and trails. “The problem is that there exist no signs telling someone what is a designated route or trail. So, with the monies raised from these funds we can work hand-in-hand with the governmental agencies to make sure such signage exists.”Nevada is the last state to enact an OHV program. “Having experienced how a really well managed program works (Cox was on the OHV board for the state of Colorado before moving to Mesquite), we took a look at all the programs that presently exist and took what we consider the good parts from them and came up with a good compromised law that works for everybody.“And you can see this by the list of all those who support it, from the organized off-highway clubs to organizations like the Sierra Club, cattlemen’s associations, Indian council bureaus, and those who have traditionally been against off-highway use of public lands. They all support this bill because they know the intent is to have a well managed system where people can go enjoy themselves and be safe, while staying out of sensitive areas and maintaining sustainable trails. “And with the Congress cutting the budgets of the Forest Service and BLM, they simply don’t have the manpower or the money to maintain the existing trails.”
The money in the fund will then be allocated through a system of grants. “The grant package will help define the project, as well as having a sign off sheet from the Forest Service and/or BLM. So those wishing funding for these projects will have to work hand-in-hand with these agencies.“
For those wishing to know more about where they can ride around the Mesquite area, they can go to the BLM. But, the funny thing about the BLM is that you will never find anyone in the office that can answer your question. It takes a lot of time and effort to find the rules and regulations.“
Presently, they have just designated and marked what routes in the Gold Butte area are open and closed, and there are a lot of people that are shocked as to what has been closed, and how far they have to walk to access things they use to be able to drive right up to.”
Cox is hopeful that once the legislation goes into effect that a reciprocal effort will exist between Nevada and other states allowing those who buy their tags in Nevada the ability to ride in other states without having to buy additional tags, and vice versa.
www.DuneGuide.com
Labels: Nevada, OHV Registration
posted by Crowdog at
6:40 AM
