Off Road Vehicle Recreation Rally
February 3, 2006
Olympia, WA
View photos
here.
Download the
Flyer (PDF)
Download the Map (JPEG)
PRESS RELEASE
ORV RALLY –
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, NOON – 2PM, CAPITAL BUILDING STEPS, OLYMPIA
Be a part of the
massive ORV Rally in Olympia, on the Capital Building steps, on Friday, February
3, from noon to 2pm!!! Uninformed legislators, led astray by those who would
erase all ORV recreation from the face of the earth, and bolstered by unelected
bureaucrats with their own agendas, continue to back all of us who participate
in these wonderful, family based forms of recreation, into a corner.
Last year, at
the first major ORV rally in the Capital in decades, you showed up in force,
with your rigs hauling your toys. We gridlocked Olympia, and put a huge crowd
on the Capital Building steps. We could not be ignored, when we yelled, the
thunder rolled through our Legislator’s halls and offices. You made a
difference, bills that would have crippled our recreation through funding thefts
and private property restrictions were stopped in their tracks, and our efforts
to educate legislators on the issues and facts won some important converts and
supporters. Most of all, our pressure was behind finding the Grays Harbor
County solution to reopening Thurston ORV Park (Straddleline). Further, we got
a bill passed which allowed rural communities to designate ORV routes, with over
600 miles so designated in Colville National
Forest so far.
But ours is not
a normal political battle, where two sides negotiate and try to end up with both
winning, or at least neither losing. The enemies of ORV recreation clearly will
not stop until they reach their goal – our sport no more. No surprise that they
are trying to get their hands around our throat again this year, and thus we
must never let up, we’re not just fighting for our favored form of family
recreation, this is indeed a fight for our freedom to pursue happiness as we
wish!
So just try to
wipe us out! We’re fighting back like the proverbial cornered animal! We’re
taking it to the next level in every arena, including this second annual ORV
Rally! And this one is going to be even more effective.
For starters,
instead of filling Olympia with our rigs and toys, to demonstrate our economic
impact, we are going to fill it with ORV people. Carpooling will accomplish
this – and it is a must, parking is being limited. Cram every ORV buddy you can
along with your family, into your car! We can fill the steps, the lawn, the
courtyard, and beyond. We can easily be the biggest crowd our legislators have
ever seen, and when we roar on February 3, the whole town will hear us. Parking
will be at Deschutes Parkway by the lake, protected by the WSP, and shuttles
will be provided to get us over to the Capital Building (it’s only a half mile).
The second big
push for this rally is to book every legislator’s calendar solid all day before
and after the noon to 2pm slot, with voting constituents ready to talk about our
issues. This is just as important as making a big splash on the Capital steps!
It’s easy, use
www.apps.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder to quickly identify your legislators from
your district, and access their private official email address. Use that to
make an appointment with them for Rally day!
We have plenty
of issues, and talking point papers will be widely available before and during
the rally, to use in your meetings with legislators, should a member of the
press ask you questions, or just to be fully informed yourself:
-
North Fork and Pilchuck/P2000
Road ORV closures – bureaucratic closures with no real attempt to mitigate the
underlying issues, forcing more ORV use into ever smaller available
opportunities
-
DNR closure of Multiple
Use trails in
the Tahuya ORV area
-
Shelton County ORV closures
-
Noise Bills, attempts to
eliminate ORVs with insane noise level requirements that ignore all other
noise sources, many of them truly loud
-
ORV Liability issues –
we’re pushing a bill to limit liability on private land owners who provide ORV
opportunities – this is critical!
-
Insisting that public land
not be managed by “Closed Unless Posted Open” – No “King’s Forest”!
-
ORV Tabs and limiting DOL
skimming of ORV tab funds – a bill by us to reduce what they take for
administration to a reasonable amount. When we allowed our tabs to be
increased from $5 to 18, to offset the theft of our gas tax refund, the DOL
continued to take 18% off the top (that is a significant amount of money
denied to ORV funding needs, do the math, 130,000 ORV tabs were sold in 2005)!
It shouldn’t cost them any more to process per tab regardless of how much the
fee is!
Of course, our
main issue is basic and simple:. To our legislators, in the bills you consider,
do not allow further attacks on ORV recreation! Instead, seek and support
legislation that will reinforce and expand opportunities for this widespread
family based activity which in turn supports a significant portion of our
economy. Managed, responsible ORV recreation is good for society. It is time
to discard the negative old images of ORV recreation. Look again, hard, at this
rally, elected and appointed officials. No group of citizens save labor unions
even comes close to the numbers standing on your steps, filling your meeting
calendars, demanding not only an end to the attacks, but a complete reversal of
attitude towards ORV recreation. Hear us!
We’ll use the
same staging points as last year, wear your gear, bring the whole family, kids
too!
Rally Staging
Points:
-
Cycle Barn- Mt Vernon
-
RMC- Renton
-
Tacoma
Mall- Tacoma
-
South Sound Honda- Olympia
-
TBA- Shelton
If you want to
make your own signs, the official slogans are:
-
Open Areas = Quiet
Neighborhoods
-
OHV Use Is Not A Crime
-
OHV Use Builds Strong
Families
-
DNR
Land Is Not "The Kings Forest "
It costs to make
the signs and other rally materials. If you would like to make a donation,
contact Rally Treasurer Brett Wise at (425) 226-4320 x.207 or
BWise@rentonmotorcycles.com.
For more information on the Rally, to volunteer to help, etc., contact Ed
Bushnell at 425-931-3332 or Angie Marek at 253-537-3172.
If you love ORV
recreation, you’ve got to find a way to be there! We need to win the current
battles, for sure, but one day we’re going to win this war! We’ll see you on
the Capital Building steps February 3rd!
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