Editorial: OHV Fees - Reallocation, not increase, makes sense

The Colorado State Parks Board is meeting in Grand Junction on Thursday. It can expect some important business to come before it, including a resolution “in support of new criteria for the Colorado OHV grant program."

The Parks Board should adopt the ideas in that resolution. Hunters, anglers and anyone who enjoys outdoor recreation or the natural beauty of Colorado would be the better for it.

At issue is the disposition of fees collected on off-highway vehicles - the four-wheelers, motorcycles and other means of motorized transportation used in various off-road sports and pursuits. What has been proposed is not a tax increase, but a change to how that money is spent.

The problem, however, is any activity that involves that many people will also include some slobs. But the way the off-highway vehicle fee money is allocated includes no provision for dealing with them.

Other backcountry users also pay fees, in the form of hunting or fishing licenses, taxes and big-game tags. That money is used for wildlife habitat improvements, promoting hunter safety, fisheries and law enforcement to police the small percentage of people in those sports that chooses not to follow the rules.

Of the fees from the off-highway vehicles, however, 95 percent goes to creating and maintaining the trails OHV operators like to use. And of the remaining 5 percent, most goes to promoting the off-highway vehicle industry, primarily by boosting interest in the sport.

That is neither fair nor helpful. While the responsible use of off-highway vehicles certainly has a place in Colorado's outdoors, there is still that element that continues to ride off designated trails, tear up fragile high-mountain meadows and create unauthorized routes. The result can be erosion, damaged soil and streams and lakes contaminated by run-off.

Just as fees from hunters and anglers go to enforcing laws aimed to prevent abuses within those groups, off-highway vehicle enthusiasts need to recognize that problem and kick in to bolster enforcement and restoration efforts their sport needs. That is especially true in that no one is asking for more money - just to reallocate existing fees.

What has been proposed is that 40 percent of the money collected on OHVs goes for law-enforcement activities focused on illegal off-highway vehicle use and enforcing designated routes on public lands. Another 30 percent would go to restore areas damaged by improper or off-trail use of off-highway vehicles. And the final 30 percent would go to maintenance of existing routes, signage, maps and educational outreach.

That seem like an equitable distribution. It is supported by Trout Unlimited, the San Juan Citizens Alliance, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the Colorado Mountain Club, Colorado Wild, Great Old Broads for Wilderness about 30 other similarly interested groups.

It makes sense. Public lands belong to all of us, and the concerns of other users must be considered. In the end, though, the interests of its future owners - and the land itself - should be paramount.

Source: http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/Editorial/2010/01/27/OHV_fees/ 

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