The week was dominated by the IF&W Committee's budget work
sessions.
The Department was faced with a significant shortfall and the
Committee has struggled to keep it as intact as possible. Their work
is not quite done, but it appears likely at this point that some
hunting and fishing license fees will increase by $2 for residents
and $6 for non-residents. The Governor's budget for the Department
included eliminating the 3-day and 10-day non-resident snowmobile
registrations. The MSA Executive Committee voted to oppose this move
at their February meeting. It looks like the 3-day registrations will
remain and the 10-day will be eliminated. The Department will also be
switching to one registration sticker for all snowmobiles, and the
MSA will be working with them to accommodate that. The final budget
work session is scheduled for Monday, and the finished product will
be presented to the Appropriations Committee probably on Wednesday.
LD-712, An Act to Suspend Driver's Licenses of Persons Operating
All-terrain Vehicles, Watercraft and Snowmobiles while Intoxicated -
The MSA Executive Committee voted to oppose this bill because there
is no link between operating a sled and a driver's license. The
public hearing was last Monday. Col. Joel Wilkinson of the Warden
Service supported the bill on behalf of the administration, which was
somewhat of a surprise, especially when the Bureau of Motor Vehicles
spoke against the bill. The work session is scheduled for Monday,
March 23.
LD-831, An Act To Enhance Fund-raising Opportunities by Certain
Nonprofit and Fraternal Organizations - This is the second of three
bills dealing with poker runs and has the support of the MSA. The
others are LD-204, which was heard in February and LD-1081, which
has
not yet been scheduled for a hearing. The Legal & Veteran Affair
Committee has tabled the first two in anticipation of the third, and
all three bills will likely be worked together. We will be sending
out an alert as soon as the hearing on LD-1081 is scheduled, and
hopefully we will be able to get a crowd to attend.
None of the snowmobile bills have been scheduled for public hearing
yet, although it is likely they will all be heard the same day in
early April. As soon as we know, we will be sending out an alert, as
there is a lot of interest in them and it is always helpful to have
members there to speak. Those bills and MSA positions on them are:
LD-414, An Act To Improve the Safety of Snowmobile Trails - OPPOSE
LD-638, An Act To Exempt Snowmobiles Operated at Demonstration
Events
from the Requirement of a Maine Registration - SUPPORT
LD-823, An Act To Increase the Snowmobile Registration Fees -
SUPPORT
Links to all of these bills and lots of other useful information can
be found on the Legislation Session Information page
http://janus.state.me.us/legis/session/. Contact information for your
legislators can be found at http://janus.state.me.us/legis/

Also, a friendly reminder that sometimes emotions can run high on
bills we feel strongly about, but it is essential that legislators
and those with opposing views always be treated with courtesy and
respect.

Finally, if that isn't enough for you, there will be a public hearing
and comment session on the final draft of the Bureau of Parks & Lands
Eastern Interior Region Management Plan on Tuesday, March 24 at 6:00
pm at the Penobscot Conservation Club in Brewer. This region includes
Public Lands in Bradley, Nicatous, Duck Lake, and Machias River. A
copy of the plan and related information can be found at
http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/planning/eastern/index.shtm
l

And of course don't forget to head out this weekend - according to
our trail conditions page, there's still good riding left - make the
most of it and be safe.
Have a good weekend,
Bob Meyers

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Maine Snowmobile Association
PO Box 80, Augusta ME 04332
Tel 207-622-6983; Fax 207-622-7669
www.mesnow.com
MSA ALERT
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