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| Recreational Access and Conservation - Conservation and Public Service Activities | Short Cuts | ||||
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Dedicated to conservation and multiple use of public lands for recreation opportunities. Edited by: John Stewart |
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Off Roaders Visit the State Capitol
By Pete Conaty, Executive Director
California League of Off Road Voters
The 2001 California League of Off Road Voters (CLORV) sponsored Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Legislative training and Capitol Lobbying Day demonstrated that the OHV community is increasing its involvement and influence in California politics and legislative activities. This is the opinion of forty plus participants at the recent OHV Lobby Day at the Capitol held from February 24-26 this year.
The effort began with CLORV sponsoring an information booth at the California Republican Party convention in the Sacramento Convention Center. Over 1000 people visited the CLORV booth where they were given information on the state off road program as well as information on member organizations such as CORVA, AMA District 37 and the San Diego Off Road Coalition. This is the second California Republican Party convention that CLORV and its member organizations have attended and it has proved to be an effective tool in getting our off road message out to elected officials. Additionally, because of their hard work on political campaigns, three off roaders were appointed by their elected legislators to be voting members of the California Republican Party. They are Michelle Cassella, Julie Allen and Jim Arbogast.
CLORV will also be attending the California Democrat Party convention in Los Angeles, March 31st and April 1st. Anyone interested in helping out should contact CLORV at 916-492-8131 or send an email to CLORV.org.
The weekend activities continued the next day with four hours of intensive legislative lobbying training conducted by Pete Conaty, the CLORV Executive Director and lobbyist. Over thirty off roaders attended the training in preparation for the next day's lobbying effort at the state Capitol. These participants included members from the California Off Road Vehicle Association (CORVA), American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) District 37, the San Diego Off Road Coalition and Los Pretot's Desert Club. Attendees were introduced to grassroots lobbying techniques, how to lobby legislators and other methods for political and legislative involvement.
The next day, after being joined by twelve members of the San Diego Off Road Coalition (SDORC), over forty off roaders assembled at the state Capitol to hear talks from various legislative and political leaders such as Assemblyman Bill Campbell (R), Orange County, Assemblyman Roy Ashburn (R), Bakersfield, and Assemblyman Ken Maddox (R), Orange County. David Widell, Deputy Director of the Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division (OHMVRD) brought the group up to date on the current status of the OHMVR sponsored stakeholders process between the environmental and off road groups and the four year extension of the state sponsored user funded off road program as contained in Assembly Bill 723 by Assemblyman Juan Vargas (D) San Diego.
The group also enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant and were joined by Assemblyman Dennis Hollingsworth (R), Temecula, who spoke to the group about the problems inherent in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and his experiences with the federal bureaucracy and the ESA while working for the Farm Bureau. It was a very informative talk. The group also heard from Mark Thompson, a political consultant and president of the Thompson Group about the use of slatemailers in political campaigns. The CLORV PAC supported six candidates for the state Legislature last year by purchasing spots on the National Tax Limitation Committee slatemailer for them. Two of the six won their elections.
After lunch, the forty plus dedicated off roaders returned to the state Capitol to visit their own legislative representatives to lobby on behalf of Assembly Bill 723, the Davis Administration sponsored four year extension of the OHMVR program. To learn more about AB 723, visit the CLORV website at CLORV.org. The day ended with a meeting with Assemblyman Vargas who posed for pictures and thanked everyone for their help in lobbying on behalf of his bill.
The evening was capped off by the annual Friends of OHV reception held at the historic Sutter Club. The reception was attended by over twenty legislators and their staff, as well as the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, Rusty Areias, the Deputy Director of the Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division, David Widell, and key members of his staff and Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commissioner Daphne Greene. Representatives of other off road organizations, such as the California Nevada Snowmobile Association and AMA District 36, also sponsored the reception.
This without a doubt this was the best turnout by the off road community for their annual Legislative Day. Many of the new participants plan to return next year. Watch the CLORV.org website for more information.
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