ATV Bill - Please submit comments

[Robin]

Session Year 2006
Raised H.B. No. 5806
TRACK BILL

Introducer(s):
Environment Committee

Title: AN ACT CONCERNING ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES.

Statement of Purpose: To require the Department of Environmental Protection to purchase property specifically for all-terrain vehicle use, to increase the fees for registration of all-terrain vehicles, and to establish an all-terrain vehicle account.

For the club's position I am writing to the chairs of the Environment Committee, the co-sponsor of the bill, and my own state representative.  Jeepers are encouraged to write a similar letter to their own state representative to support the bill.

Find your legislators at:
Click HERE to find your legislators and then click on your district number next to your town.

It is extremely important that you give your rep your full contact information after your name.  I omitted mine for privacy reasons below.

NEJeep's Position:

Representative Richard Roy
Legislative Office Building, Room 3201
Hartford, CT 06106-1591

Senator Bill Finch
Legislative Office Building, Room 3200
Hartford, CT 06106-1591

Representative Patricia M. Widlitz
Legislative Office Building, Room 4034
Hartford, CT 06106-1591

Representative Pamela Z. Sawyer
Legislative Office Building, Room 4200
Hartford, CT 06106-1591

RE: Raised H.B. No. 5806

Dear Representatives Roy, Widlitz, and Sawyer and Senator Finch:

My name is Robin Chacon.  I represent the Northeast Jeep Organization, Inc. (NEJeep) as the Land Use and Legislative Director and the Northeast Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs, Inc. (NEA4WDC), as the Connecticut Land Access Director.  I live in Hebron, CT, am a Tread Lightly!® Master Trainer and participate in many forms of outdoor recreation including motorized and non-motorized.    This message serves to state our (NEJeep and NEA4WDC) collective opinion and support regarding passage of Raised Bill No. 5806, An Act Concerning All-Terrain Vehicles.

H.B. 5806 serves to provide legal places to ride and the teeth to allow conservation officers and local police to ticket those that choose not to ride legally.  Universal registration is critical to provide funding for land purchase, maintenance of trails, and law enforcement. 

Motorized recreationists are legitimate tax paying constituents with no legal place to ride in Connecticut and passing a bill allowing for motorized use of public land is essential.  The growing number of motorized recreationists in Connecticut calls for a bill that provides for motorized recreation to balance opportunities while protecting land and resources.

Additionally, further strengthening of this bill could be achieved by adding language requiring certification of registered ATV users on safety and outdoor recreation ethics.  As a Tread Lightly!® Master Trainer, I and several other NEJeep and NEA4WDC members are certified to teach eight hour Tread Trainer and three hour Awareness Training courses and would be happy to assist with additional information regarding the same.

Thank you for your time.

Very truly yours,

Robin F. Chacon

 

[tiggertj]

That's awesome Robin! Good Job!

You could toss in a couple "Limits and Excludes our Right to Recreate within the State Forest System :wink:

 

[jeepsquire]

I like it.  No mincing of words and very professional at the same time. 

 

[Robin]

Please note that I've changed our position above.  I have learned a lot more about this bill and believe as Jeepers we should support it 100%.

If you don't wish to write a letter please consider making a phone call.  Be brief, be polite.  Tell the person that answers the phone for your representative that you support House Bill 5806.  Tell them your name and your contact information and that you are a member of Northeast Jeep (or another club or are a motorized recreationist).

If you would like help writing a letter we are here to help you.  If anyone has any questions regarding our position please feel free to PM me.

 

[tiggertj]

Here is a link to help find your local Legislator.
Call, write, do what you can!

http://cga.ct.gov/maps/townlist.asp

The bill has been filed with Legislative Commissioners' Office on 3/20/06.
http://cga.ct.gov/html/bill-law.htm

 

[Robin]

Thanks Tina!  I hope that as many of you as possible will write your rep and senator.  You can easily copy and paste into an email.

EMAIL Addresses for the House of Representatives

EMAIL Addresses for the Senators

Also, request the courtesy of their response so that you can find out their position on motorized recreation.

Feel free to use my letter, just remove the first paragraph and tell your rep and senator who you are.  Make sure to always provide them with full contact information.

Please don't let this pass without making your feelings known.  We would like to work on something similar for fullsize next year and our support of this will help.

PM me if you would like some help or would like to run your letter by me first.  Thanks!!