Sample Letters - Off-Road - Legislation

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Sample Letters

Off-Road Vehicle River Protection

Here are sample 4x4 legislation letters submitted by Rich Grayson. Feel free to copy them, plagiarize, or make up your own. Just write them something to let them know you support HB305 and SB155.

You can find your Representative and Senator and mailing addresses at the find your incumbent page at http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/fyi.htm.

While you're at it, forward this to someone who might be inclined to spend 15 minutes or less of computer time plus a few 37-cent stamps to ensure success of the bills.

The Honorable First Last
Texas House of Representatives
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, Tx 78768-2910
Email: first.last@house.state.tx.us

Dear Representative _____________,

I am writing to ask for your support when HB305 reaches the floor of the House. HB305 will ban motorized "Recreational All-Terrain Vehicles" from driving up and down state-owned riverbeds in Texas.

This type of recreational activity is destroying sensitive flora and fauna as well as water and land that are essential for fish and wildlife such as catfish and largemouth bass in our state rivers.

This is not an access issue. Some will argue that this bill denies access to state property by citizens. This is not the case. It is a resource-destruction issue.

As many as 32 other states already ban this type of vehicular activity in state-owned riverbeds. Other states have conducted studies finding that off-road vehicles in riverbeds harm aquatic creatures and damage habitat they depend upon.

"Tread Lightly" guidelines advocated by off-road manufacturers recognize these concerns and recommend against driving in rivers and streams.

HB305 enjoys support from an extremely diverse array of groups such as Texas Farm Bureau, Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, Texas Rivers Protection Association and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. When was the last time you saw those groups working together in support of one goal?

Please, can I count on your support?

Sincerely yours,

___________________

The Honorable First Last
Texas Senate
P.O. Box 12068
Austin, Tx 78711-2068
Email: first.last@senate.state.tx.us

Dear Senator _____________,

I am writing to ask for your support when SB155 reaches the floor of the House. SB155 will ban motorized "Recreational All-Terrain Vehicles" from driving up and down state-owned riverbeds in Texas.

This type of recreational activity is destroying sensitive flora and fauna as well as water and land that are essential for fish and wildlife such as catfish and largemouth bass in our state rivers.

This is not an access issue. Some will argue that this bill denies access to state property by citizens. This is not the case. It is a resource-destruction issue.

"Tread Lightly" guidelines advocated by off-road manufacturers recognize these concerns and recommend against driving in rivers and streams.

SB155 enjoys support from an extremely diverse array of groups such as Texas Farm Bureau, Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, Texas Rivers Protection Association and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. When was the last time you saw those groups working together in support of one goal?

Please, can I count on your support?

Sincerely yours,

___________________

The Honorable First Last
The Texas House of Representatives/The Texas Senate
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768

RE: HB305

Dear Representative Phillips;

As a fifth-generation citizen of Texas, I urge you to support the passage of HB305. As I’m sure you’re aware, this important piece of legislation has been referred to the Committee on State Cultural and Recreational Resources, of which you are a member.

I live in East Texas and have watched the degradation of our streams and rivers over the past several years by 4x4s, ATVs, and other forms of motorized vehicles. I own no land on a river and creek, but I am a hunter, fisherman, and boater. I’ve watched the desirable species such as Largemouth Bass disappear in favorite fishing holes near these trails that frequently run in the creeks, rivers and bayous themselves. Game populations, such as deer, squirrel and rabbit, have been greatly reduced. This has happened on a number of creeks and rivers across East Texas, including Village Creek and the San Jacinto River.

This effect has been documented in a Master’s thesis by a student at Stephen F. Austin University, which clearly shows damage to a sensitive riparian habitat in the Angelina National Forest. Nor is this problem is endemic only to east Texas. Two separate reports, by Dr. Gary Gilmore and Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist Rick Taylor, show identical effects in the Nueces river in Southwest Texas.

Texas Agricultural Commissioner Susan Combs and other state agencies, as well as a large number of private organizations, have all endorsed this legislation. I can’t recall ever seeing groups like the Texas Cattle Raisers Association and the Texas Chapter of the Sierra Club on the same side of an issue. This broad spectrum of interests is opposed to a non-traditional and extremely consumptive use of a precious resource by a few at the expense of all others. No legal definition of Navigable Rights that I am aware of includes drag racing in the riverbeds of our state.

Please consider that the majority of states, including those adjacent to Texas such as Louisiana and New Mexico, have already adopted similar laws to protect their resources. Currently, there is not even an enforceable speed limit on a riverbed in the state of Texas.

Sincerely yours,

Your Name
Include Full Address
Springfield, TX 77766-5432