Attention: New Legislation to Ban Offroad Riding in N.J.

It was brought to my attention at our enduro club meeting the our lovely law makers in Trenton are attempting, again, to eliminate off road riding on state land. This means Wharton, Penn, Lebanon, ect. The way the bill reads, they are attempting to shut the forests down to all motorized traffic, ALL MOTORIZED VEHICLES. DOT or non-DOT. That means jeep/4x4's, motorcycles, POV's generally. What does this mean to us, no more enduros, dual sports, trail rides, offroad riding on state land. So what can you do. Join up with the NJOHVA if you haven't already http://www.njohva.org/. The AMA is involved with NJOHVA but you need to join to make our voices heard. Here is the link to the ECEA discussion on this subject http://www.ecea.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=9996. I made a prediction months back stating there wouldn't be any legal offroad riding in NJ in the next ten years, my prediction may be a bit far sighted, at the present rate, make that two years to ban all offroad traffic in the forests. This is an important issue for us to get behind, losing access to the state forests/WMA's would be devastating to many of us who have made riding in the pine forests an integral part of our lives, racing, D/S and trail riding. Please sign up with NJOHVA http://www.njohva.org/. Thanks for reading.

I'm signed up..

I joined a while back,We cant ignore this.

Just reinforces my feeling that all politicians should be killed with EXTREME prejudice Next, the Eco-weenies!!
You think we stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning?,
Just some cheerie thoughts on a lovely morning!
SEE YA
CHRIS

the reason we're losing this battle is b/c the eco-peeps spend more time thinking up ways to "keep us out", than we do trying to "maintain our rights".. we need to be more pro-active.. I signed up a few wks back, and encourage everyone i talk to as well.

if this passes, i'm 100% honestly moving to FL, w/ the rest of my extended family who already resides there (apparently there's great riding down there.).. no joke here - the reason my parents have delayed moving to FL for 2 yrs, is so that I can ride the PB's on the wkends while i'm still in school (talk about selfless folks - they delayed their retirement life for me.).. what a state. (NJ that is :huh )

We need to do whatever it takes...money ..march on Trenton...letters anything. There was a march in Trenton that was scheduled a few years back...anyone know what happend there?

We are a huge constituency and we need to be heard, but we can't seem to get together in mass. Think of all the business that sell to our market that will close up if this comes to pass. Think of the local PB business's that cater to us when we visit the PB...all this will die.

I joined Jorva a couple of years ago and I have not received any contact from them at all.

Who are the legislators proposing this? You have a link?

Is there anywhere available the actual text of the proposed measures? I can't find any concrete information or links on the ECEA site. It would be best to actually read the legislation to see what the defining parameters are. I guarantee that horses will not be restricted, despite the fact they cause more damage per trail mile than responsibily-ridden DS bikes. I was talking to some horse-folk in Lebanon last Sunday. They were impressed with the level of civility they'd encountered from DS riders they'd met. We, individually and collectively, need to continue reinforcing this impression. They also told me the regulations require them to clean up horse droppings on the trail. Yeah, right, I'll bet that happens a lot. But that really doesn't matter. What might matter is for everybody to actually look at the proposals and call/email their state rep(s) and ask them how they plan to vote if and when they get the chance. So, can we get the bill numbers and maybe a link to the state website so we can read them?

Just for the heck of it, I took a quick look at the 14th amendment and it strikes me that if there are "legal" roads through the PB and if legal motor vehicles such as registered cars are permitted to use them, then a strong case could be made that banning legal registered vehicles such as DS bikes from these roads would violate the equal protection provisions of the 14th Amendment. Of course the roads are not the trails, but it's a start. And if all motor vehicles are banned from all access to the PB, then the canoe liveries will have to go out of business or hire a lot of very large people to portage canoes to put-in points; I can't imagine either happening. We really need to look at the actual bills.

My brain hurts from reading bills, will explore this further after e-mailing Dale for the bill number.
The jist of my second hand knowledge is shutting out all motorized traffic in the state forests. My gut tells me too many fat hunters with connections will squash this bill, but you never know. Shit, the Nature conservency has bought up (leased) tracks of land in Penn and Bass River, which makes it private technically untill the lease runs out. What a wicked web they weave..

They are going through this in NY, the Adirondack trails are virtually shut down to motorized traffic.

The issue is NOISE. Nobody wants to go to the state park and hear dirtbikes. WE MUST RUN QUIET EXHAUSTS. I have been saying it for years, but nobody listens. I've watched as countless trails have been closed to offroad riding. I run a stock exhaust (about 88db) and it's still not quiet enough! I'm getting a DB Snorkle. I've been dirt riding since 1969 and have found that a loud pipe doesn't make you a faster rider. I know guys that can kick your loud Yamaha YZ450F ass on the trails on a quiet Honda CRF150. It only takes ONE assh*le to mess it up for everyone.

Expect more closures.

Us older guys have to teach the younger riders the importance of stealth riding. It's the only way our sport can survive.

Good luck, I hope you guys win in court.

This is exactly the point I've been trying to make about staying off the radar. The more visible/audible we are, the better target we make. Most of us care as much about preserving the PB as anybody; we probably use and enjoy it more than any other group.

Jackpiner57's "good luck in court" is on point. If we can't convince our representatives, individually, to squash this, we'll have to deal with it in court - the only winners will be the lawyers. Convincing arguments can only come from knowledge of the specifics of these bills. Clever emoticons and collective outrage are pointless, we gotta know what we're dealing with.

NJOHVA will be meeting at Extreme Machines on Rt.33 west in Millstone, July 11th, at 6pm. NJOHVA will be meeting there each month thoughout 06'. Hope to see some of you there.

You can search for a bill here >> http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/Default.asp

Green Acres >> http://www.teamhammer.org/2005%20stuff/ATV%20park%20funding%20draws%20ire.htm

There were huge cuts to State Park funding this year.

The state receives money for ORV use. There's an article that points out how that money went to other departments. Try searching for State ORV Funds.

If this state is so concerned with environmental issues than how come it's no problem to clear out forest, sell state park land and wipe out farms to put up another strip malls, new housing complexs and worst of all golf courses (look on the map it's considered park land? WTF) while our existing cities and towns go to shit (ie: Camden, Trenton, Newark, ect.).

Corruption, that's all there is to it. The state can generate more revenue by making riding illegal and fining us rather than supporting riding. All while taking our ORV funds.

I'll meet you there when you go. Gonna need directions though.

Here's the Bills:
ASSEMBLY BILL, No. 2346 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/A2500/2346_I1.HTM

ASSEMBLY BILL, No. 1322 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/A1500/1322_I1.HTM

ASSEMBLY BILL, No. 3136 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/A3500/3136_I1.HTM

SENATE BILL, No. 1278 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/S1500/1278_I1.HTM

I used to look at the word ATV as "quad", but the state thinks of it as any vehicle driven offroad. We are all lumped together, quads, jeeps, motorcycles, with these bills. The way the Bills are designed, to eliminate offroad riding in the state of NJ without a viable plan for those who participate in offroading, racing/dualsport/trail riding. The state was supposed to open areas for offroading but instead is cutting funds and sticking it up our asses at the same time. What a corrupt state we live in, looking to rob, rape or jail you if you don't play their game. What we need is for these Bills to be tabled until a viable offroad recreation plan has been developed and put into action. Otherwise, we will be getting the sandy end of the shaft

I just took 10 minutes to read these 4 bills. They concern fleeing a LEO or hindering apprehension (already illegal), Operating a snowmobile or ATV on the street (which does not impact legal DS bike operation), complying with operating laws already in existence (why do you need a law to require you to obey another law?), and reckless operation that damages agricultural or private property (includeing horses, BTW). Did I miss where they keep us out of the PB?
But, maybe it's a good thing, regardless, to galvanize us into awareness of threats and get us sufficiently organized to protect ourselves.

Don't know the time frame when the bills came to life but maybe it's a knee-jerk reaction to the incident last month up in the Ramapo area? Bullets and dead citizens usually elicit an unfavorable reaction at some point.

I don't think the issue is riding on sand roads in the Pine Barrons, it is the loss of legal/somewhat legal riding areas in our state. Many of us would love to ride our non DOT bikes on legal property, funded by the taxes we pay and supported by the representatives we vote for. With the loss of open spaces to make room for housing developments and strip malls, our time is now to take a stand. In light of the current political environment, if we don't do it now, and secure places to ride, we may lose the opportunity to turn the tables in our favor in the future. Many of us ride DOT legal bike b/c there is nowhere to legally ride locally. So we trek to the Pine Barrons, ride the sand roads and are thankful there is still a legal place where I can ride an offroad motorcycle. If the Sierra Club had it's way, we would have been out of the pines long ago. If we don't band together now, secure viable riding areas and involve the public in offroad riding, we will have missed a vital opportunity to secure a foothold for for us and for future offroad riders. I'll shut up now.

If NJ could come up with some kind of sticker type program like CA has for riding on state land it would be amazing! We should all get involved!