November 9, 2009 Yakima Herald Article

November 9, 2009 by Scott Sandsberry

Filed under All, Outdoors

YAKIMA, Wash. — Faced with the possibility of the Department of Natural Resources closing its five Sno-Parks this winter over lack of the money to provide “oversight” and minimize vandalism, the Yakima Ski Benders and other snowmobile enthusiasts responded.
The group’s fundraising campaign raised enough money to offset the DNR’s $25,000 budgetary shortfall in such short order this autumn that, last week, the DNR announced that those five Sno-Parks (Ahtanum Meadows, Ahtanum Guard Station, Rattlesnake, Manashtash and Lily Lake near Wenatchee) would be open.
“As with anything new and unsettling, it certainly was frustrating at the beginning, but we pulled up our bootstraps and made it happen,” said Carl Denton, the Ski Benders’ first-year president. “Everybody was understanding of the situation — there was nothing else we could do, otherwise we wouldn’t have a place to park.”
It was a moment for the snowmobile community to breathe deeply, pat itself on the back and celebrate that their season — at least at those popular local areas — would not be erased.
The sobering side to this celebratory feeling, though, is that the issue is likely to arise again next year.
This winter is the first of the state’s two-year budget biennial budget process, and that means next year will have the same $25,000 shortfall resulting from the DNR’s recreation budget being slashed from $1.2 million per biennium to $440,000.
“Next year we’ll be in the same boat, pretty much,” said Mike Williams, recreation manager for the DNR’s Ellensburg-based southeast region. “We’re looking at other avenues for funding, but not having a lot of success yet. We’ll be pursuing grants, and we’re just not sure what’s out there yet.”
Williams said that, should the agency have to come with its hands out to the snowmobile community once more, “Hopefully some of the other clubs will pony up more money rather than have the Ski Benders having to carry so much of the load.”
The Ski Benders spearheaded this autumn’s fundraising campaign that has already generated more than $25,000 in pledges, with $21,900 of that already collected in cash. The club presented a $10,000 check last week to the DNR as the first installment, guaranteeing that the Sno-Parks would be open for the start of the state’s grooming season.
The snowmobilers have what amounts to an ally in their campaign for continued trail funding — the four-wheelers and motorcyclists who use the trails in the non-snow months.
Last spring, state legislators passed House Bill 1244, which swept $9.56 million into the general fund from the Nonhighway and Off-Road Vehicle Activities (NOVA) Fund. State officials said the move was necessary to prevent the closure of as many as 40 state parks, but it left NOVA with no operating funds for the biennium — money that is typically issued in grants by the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) to public and private entities for trail-maintenance and improvement projects.
Because NOVA money is derived from off-road vehicle license tab fees and recreationists’ portion of gas-tax funds, trail-use groups were up in arms. Dave Walters, land-use coordinator for a Tri-Cities-based off-road group called the Peak Putters, called the legislators’ move “an illegal taking” of the NOVA money.
Last week, the Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance and the Northwest Motorcycle Association joined forces to file a lawsuit against the state to block the transfer of NOVA funds to Washington State Parks.
Should that suit be successful and NOVA money be returned, the DNR would be one of the numerous groups lining up to apply for grants through the RCO.
“Hopefully the NOVA funds will come back and we’ll be able to apply for grants that way,” Williams said, adding that obtaining money would still be difficult. “We saw a ahuge jump in the number of grant proposals to the RCO this year.”