Corva
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http://www.corva.org/
http://www.corva.org/skin1/ORIA/CORVAnewslettercurrent.pdf
OHV Grants Cut by $11 Million
By Bruce Whitcher, CORVA VP of Land Resources and Public Policy
In our last issue we reported that the Sustainable Parks proposal was working its way through budget committee hearings
at the Capitol. The state budget process was unprecedented this year because only a simple majority is required to pass the
budget. With the Democratic majority in the legislature there was no need for any discussion with the Republican opposition
and the budget passed with very little if any discussion. Negotiations between the Democratic leadership and the Governor
were of critical importance. Most bills pass on party line votes making it very difficult for CORVA to mount opposition to
Democratic attempts to divert OHV funding to State Parks. Nevertheless, we had some limited success. This was due to an
all out effort by the OHV community to write letters to legislators, and particularly to the Governor.
The Budget Act appropriated $10M for the OHV Division Grants and Cooperative Agreements program. Last year’s
budget appropriated $27M and this year we had $21M. Many excellent areas did not receive funding. $10M represents a
disastrous reduction in available funds for OHV recreation on public lands. Grants and Cooperative Agreements fund
operations and maintenance, restoration, law enforcement, and education. With severe reductions in federal funding for
Forest Service and BLM recreation programs, the OHV Grants program has become the lifeline for all developed recreation
on public lands.
A secondary budget bill, known as a “trailer bill”, would have diverted $21M from the OHV Division to fund State Parks.
Fortunately the public stepped up through volunteer and non-profits to adopt individual parks, reducing the number of park
closures. Fortunately the Governor used his line item veto power to reduce the $21M transfer to Parks to $7M, leaving the
OHV Division with barely enough funding to survive.
From the beginning, CORVA lobbied heavily from the position that the OHV Division runs a model program, one of the best
in the Nation, and that a successful, well-run program should not have its funding shifted to sustain an overburdened and less
well-run State Parks program.
We would like to give special thanks to the Friends of Jawbone who sponsored a web-based petition. This petition allowed
