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Help Protect Our Land
A Crucial Moment to Protect Our Refuges, Parks and Preserved Land from Illegal Off-Road Vehicle Riding Please help protect New Jersey’s extraordinary and fragile forests and wilderness from illegal riding of off-road vehicles. By sending the attached letter to your legislator, you’ll be supporting bills A823 and S2055 just as your legislators are preparing to vote on Monday, March 16th. Illegal riding of off-road vehicles is damaging hundreds of thousands of acres of state park, forest and wilderness each year. This illegal riding is destroying habitat, injuring and killing slow-moving species, disturbing nesting and foraging areas and interfering with passive recreation on our precious public lands. For several years the New Jersey Audubon Society has been working with partners to pass off-road vehicle legislation. Bills A823 and S2055 would establish mandatory registration and tagging of off-road vehicles in order to help conservation officers and law officers hold illegal riders responsible for their damaging activities. The bill also increases fines for illegal riders and creates stricter penalties for repeat offenders.
Sincerely,
Kelly Mooij, Director of Government Relations
New Jersey Audubon Society
Dear [ Decision Maker ] , Off-Road Vehicle Legislation (A823/S2055) needed in 2009! Illegal riding of off-road vehicles (ORVs and ATVs) is damaging our public land, harming ecological communities, destroying farmers' property, increasing private property owners' concern for their own safety, and decreasing opportunities for eco-tourism in the State. The ecological impacts from illegal off-road vehicle use include soil compaction and erosion, habitat degradation and wildlife harassment, loss of vegetation, noise and air pollution. We need your help to stop this illegal riding now! The solution to illegal and damaging ORV riding is legislation that requires registration and identification of these vehicles as well as increased penalties for illegal riding. A823/S2055 require mandatory registration and tagging of new and existing off-road vehicles. The bills also increase the fines for illegal riders and create stricter penalties for repeat offenders. In 2002, the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released statistics on the damage caused by ORVs in NJ. The DEP estimated at that time that 340,000 acres of public land had been negatively impacted by ORVs and that the agency spends $900,000 a year on enforcement and restoration work tied to ORV use. We ask that you support legislation that will help to prevent this extensive damage to land and the expense to the taxpayers of restoring land after illegal use. Residents of New Jersey need your help to make sure this legislation is passed this year and we ask that you support this initiative! New Jersey residents are tired of paying for costs incurred by irresponsible, illegal riders. The ability to identify these vehicles is absolutely vital in curbing the illegal use. I urge you to support A823/S2055, so that State money spent on preserving and stewarding open space is not wasted and our fragile habitat and species are protected.
Sincerely, |
Campaign Launched: |
| Background Information |
The Senate Environment Committee is scheduled to vote on off-road vehicle legislation on March 16 and the full Assembly will likely vote on the same day. Sending the letter below will ensure that your legislators hear from you at this key moment!
While a few legislators recognize the importance of A823 and S2055 in protecting our hard-won natural areas, there has been a coordinated effort from some off-road riders who feel they have the right to ride wherever they want, regardless of the damage. That’s why the New Jersey Audubon Society needs your help to tell the legislature how urgently we need these bills passed! Protecting habitat by preventing illegal riding is vital, and legislators need to hear from you – their constituents.
