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Did you know that the State Parks Transformation Team is proposing to terminate the Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division and take all of its programs into State Parks without any plan or input from the public?

Did you know that California has 9 SVRA’s operated by the OHMVR Division of State Parks? (Prairie City, Hollister Hills, Carnegie, Hungry Valley, Oceano Dunes, Ocotillo Wells, Heber Dunes, Clay Pit, East Kern-Onyx Ranch)

Did you know that the OHV program, which started in 1972 to Protect Public Lands, Manage OHV trails, provide for Environmental Restoration, provide for Education and Law Enforcement, has never used 1 cent of taxpayer dollars to fund the SVRA’s or any of the other OHV programs?

Facts:

In 1971, two Assemblymen, an Off-Roader and an Environmentalist seeing the need for managed OHV recreation got together and wrote the Chappie-Z’Berg Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Law of 1971 which created California’s OHV program to be managed by State Parks.

The OHV program funds grants outside of the SVRA’s for trail maintenance and development, environmental protection and restoration, law enforcement, and education to non-profits, local Sheriff’s, County Parks, Native American Tribes, BLM and Forest Service pumping over $500,000,000 into public lands and the State economy since 1972.

The State has forcefully Taken $172,000,000+ from the OHV Trust Fund as “Loans” since 1972.

OHV fuel taxes collected from OHV users are now being Taken, not Loaned, but Taken for State Parks and the General Fund for a total of $71,000,000 since 2011 including next year’s budget.

State Parks is counting on OHV funds to pay for fixing the sad condition of its own Parks through a “one-time” $31,000,000 diversion of OHV gas taxes in the 2016/17 State budget.

The State has already Taken $10,000,000 in “one-time” OHV gas tax takes each year since 2011. One time really means ongoing!

The OHV program has always been funded 100% through user paid fees and taxes specifically related to OHV recreation. No general tax dollars have ever been used for this program.

The OHV program budget is made up of Green/Red Sticker Off Highway Vehicle Registration fees, SVRA gate fees and OHV user-paid gas taxes.

The OHV program actually pays State Parks, CHP and DMV a portion of its user funded budget for administrative overhead and services provided.

Combining the OHV program and management of all SVRA’s with other State Parks divisions is exactly the opposite way to fix a broken State Parks Department.

The OHV community and its user paid program are being taken advantage of and not receiving the truth from your public servants.

The public has not been heard.

Now is the time to be heard!

 

Contact State Parks

Contact state parks and let them know you want your OHMVR division and OHV grant funds kept safe!

Find Your Representative