September X, 2017

The Honorable Ben AllenCalifornia State Senate Position: Support as proposed to be amendedState Capitol BuildingSacramento, CA 95814 Location: Assembly Floor

Re: SB 249 (Allen) Off-highway motor vehicle recreation (As Amended September 5, 2017)

Dear Senator Allen,

On behalf of a coalition of off-highway vehicle recreation associations (Coalition) representing off-road recreation enthusiasts throughout the state of California, we are now able to inform you that with new language in the September 5, 2017 version of the bill, along with the amendments you are proposing, we will remove our stated opposition to your Senate Bill 249. Removing our opposition is conditioned upon the introduction of the amendments that have been the subject of negotiations between our organizations, the Administration (including the Department of Parks and Recreation), and your office and that these proposals are offered on the Assembly floor to be adopted into the final version of the bill. We believe that these amendments will reduce the unacceptably high price tag associated with the current version of the legislation that would inhibit safe, environmentally sustainable, legal and family oriented OHV recreation.

We are pleased that you agreed to include language in your bill to once and for all remove the disruptive sunset period that was placed upon this program 35 years ago. The sunset has made it difficult for the Department to recruit and retain talented professionals to manage the program. We are also supportive of your decision to accept suggestions to minimize many of the original parts of the bill that would have required the Division to perform numerous tasks and prepare reports that would prove to be expensive

and time consuming with negligible benefit to the safety or environmental sustainability of the OHVMVR Program.

While we continue to question the need for some of the remaining reports, we commend you for allowing the Department to have sufficient time to acquire the data required for these reports, and we are thus now able to extend our conditional support for SB 249 as it makes its final few stops before arriving at the Governor’s desk. We thank you and your staff for working hard with us through this difficult process to arrive at a compromise solution that we can all agree to, and thus maintain the viability of a California program that has gained national recognition as a model for managing OHV recreation at the state level.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Haris, Western States RepresentativeAmerican Motorcyclist Association

Dave Pickett, Legislative Action Office DirectorD36 American Motorcyclist AssociationMember of the Board of DirectorsAmerican Motorcyclist Assoc. Congressman

Jerry Grabow, PresidentD37 American Motorcyclist Association

Nicole Nicholas Gilles, Executive DirectorAmerican Sand Association

Don Amador, Western RepresentativeBlue Ribbon Coalition / Sharetrails.org

Steve Egbert, PresidentCalifornia Four Wheel Drive Association, Inc.

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John Paliwoda, Executive DirectorCalifornia Motorcycle Dealers Association

Ken Clarke, PresidentCalifornia Off-Road Vehicle Association

Sarah Huff, Program DirectorCalifornia Recreation Alliance

Jerry Grabow, ChairmanEcologic Partners

Jeff Hindman, PresidentClovis Independent Four Wheelers

John Stewart, Publisher/Editor4x4Wire.com

Kathy R. Van KleeckSenior Vice President, Government RelationsMotorcycle Industry CouncilSpecialty Vehicle Institute of America Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association

Fred Wiley, President/CEOOff Road Business Association

Keith RinggenbergPresident, Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition

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Lisa C. McNamee, Co-Legislative CoordinatorSCI CA Coalition

Ed Stovin, PresidentSan Diego Off-Road Coalition

Steve Egbert, Vice PresidentUnited Four Wheel Drive Association, Inc.

cc: Mr. Daniel Seeman, Deputy Legislative Secretary, Governor’s OfficeMs. Catherine Freeman, Consultant, Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife CommitteeMr. Robert Spiegel, Consultant, Assembly Republican CaucusMr. John Kennedy, Consultant, Assembly Republican CaucusSpeaker’s Office of Research and Analysis

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