August 2017 Land/Legislative Report

Land issues, laws, restrictions, etc...

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Grumpy
Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
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August 2017 Land/Legislative Report

Postby Grumpy » Sat Aug 05, 2017 10:38 am

1. RS2477 ruling in Utah: Two counties and the state sued over routes in the state that cross federal land to get them declared as public with county/state jurisdiction. Feds say they are theirs, and state law is void. Feds claim time ran out on the claim years ago, therefore the roads are theirs. This pertains to roads that had been in use for decades as of 1976. Long story short, the Utah Supreme Court rules in favor of plaintiffs. Here's part of an article on the suit: "The Utah Supreme Court’s opinion rejects the federal government’s efforts to paint the State’s claims as untimely under Utah law. According to the Court, the United States’ and SUWA’s arguments “would effectively deprive the State of its” claims to thousands of roads—even roads that have existed and been used for more than 100 years. The Court called that result “completely nonsensical” and “so overwhelmingly absurd that no rational legislator could ever be deemed to have supported” it." This will likely go further in the legal jungle, and SUWA being involved pretty much says it all.

2. Coordination: Several Congressmen, including Dan Newhouse, have sent a letter to Mr. Trump asking that he implement coordination between federal agencies and local authorities. This has, in fact, been a rule for years, but our current agency management has been studiously ignoring it, as can be seen in many planning efforts. The letter included a draft of language to accomplish this, but I still don't have a copy. Here's a link to the news article: http://mailchi.mp/americanstewards/hual ... on-1655997

3. Moab: For the SXS/UTV fans, the Mayor of Moab is on a roll. He and the Council have sent a letter to the Grand County Commission asking that "Rally on the Rocks" not be permitted for 2018. This is the second biggest event in Moab, and makes the County some serious money. Interestingly, said letter has not been made public, and no comments were asked for. Mayor Dave Sakrison is well known for being anti OHV, and the Council down there has taken a sharp political left turn the last several years.

4. NOVA: From WOHVA; "Washington State Legislature logo image The 2017 Washington State legislature has finally adjourned after their third special session this year in a failed attempt to resolve budget legislation. At the end of June they passed operating legislation that keeps the increases to previously appropriated Nonhighway and Offroad Activities (NOVA) funding in place, but failed to enact future capital appropriations. This directly impacts our NOVA funding going forward, we will continue to watch this closely.

Since this legislative failure impacts far more than just our sport it will eventually get resolved. That said, we must stay vigilant in protecting the $14 million of our NOVA fund allocations potentially at risk.

Other than that open issue, we had some small victories, a few good things that came up short and no specifically anti-OHV legislation was attempted this year."

5. Finally, it seems we've lost a friend in DC. Jason Herbert, who has been Congressman Newhouse's Legislative Assistant, has left for a position with Energy Northwest. Jason has been a great sounding board and info source for over two years, and his input will be missed.
Dave
Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe


Quote:
Originally Posted by Oregon80
-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.
-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.

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SPR
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Re: August 2017 Land/Legislative Report

Postby SPR » Sat Aug 05, 2017 1:32 pm

Thanks for summarizing this on the board. It will make it easier to include this info in the August minutes.
I don't Text (at least not very well), I eat Blackberrys, and I only Twitter after sex...

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Grumpy
Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
Peak Putters' Land-Use Coordinator
Posts: 6049
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:38 am
Location: Kennewick, WA

Re: August 2017 Land/Legislative Report

Postby Grumpy » Sat Aug 05, 2017 2:20 pm

Yeah, I should have started doing this a long time ago. Hindsight huh?
Dave

Have Scout, will wheel...Someday...Maybe





Quote:

Originally Posted by Oregon80

-By driving a Scout, you my friend have recycled, which is more than those pansy Prius owners can say.

-I love driving a piece of history that was nearly lost.


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