Idaho House Transportation Committee To Discuss
New Snowmobile Rules
On Jan. 21, we posted a story
about a new proposed Idaho
law that will require snowmobilers and other recreationists to register their
vehicles at the local DMV or online beforehand and the effect that could have
not only on snowmobilers, but on local economies.
At the Jan. 19 Idaho Recreation Council (IRC) general
membership meeting, the vote was unanimous to oppose the transfer. The issue
will be presented as a revised statute before the Idaho House Transportation
Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 1:30 p.m. There will not be an opportunity to
testify but the more people in attendance, especially dealers and other
business owners, the better. A hearing will be held sometime the following
week.
If you would like to share your opinions about the transfer,
now would be an ideal time to do so. Letters and emails don't need to be long.
It would probably be a good idea to include these points:
- Any changes to registration should
make the program more efficient and less expensive. The proposed transfer to
ITD does the opposite.
- Eliminating the option of
registering snowmobiles, OHVs and boats with local dealers and vendors would
hurt those businesses.
- The registration program should be
handled by people who understand and care about outdoor recreation.
- The Idaho Department of Parks
& Recreation (IDPR) has managed the program well for 30 years and can do so
without making major program changes.
- Registration is already down
statewide; this is not the right time to make a major change and cause
confusion for recreationists.
Below is a list of the members of the Idaho House
Transportation Committee and their contact information.
Chairman Joe Palmer jpalmer@house.idaho.gov
Paul Shepherd pshepher@house.idaho.gov
JoAn Wood jawood@house.idaho.gov
Linden Bateman lbateman@house.idaho.gov
Frank Henderson fhenderson@house.idaho.gov
Lawrence Denney ldenny@house.idaho.gov
Terry Gestrin tgestrin@house.idaho.gov
Marc Gibbs mgibbs@house.idaho.gov
Brandon Hixon bhixon@house.idaho.gov
Clark Kauffman ckauffman@house.idaho.gov
Kelley Packer Kpacker@house.idaho.gov
Mark Patterson Patterson@house.idaho.gov
Rick Youngblood ryoungblood@house.idaho.gov
Shirley Ringo Sringo@house.idaho.gov
Phylis King Pking@house.idaho.gov
John Gannon jgannon@house.idaho.gov