News for Connecticut Riders

Law would create trails for ATVs

BY PAUL HUGHES REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Buyers of all-terrain vehicles in Connecticut would be required to pay a "trail user fee" as part of a bill being considered by the legislature.

The bill would simultaneously require the state Department of Environmental Protection to set aside at least 20 miles of trails for use by riders of quads and dirt bikes.

The legislature's Environment Committee plans a hearing on the bill at 10:30 a.m. in Room 1D of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

Aside from the federal land set aside for motor cross (dirt bikes) at the Thomaston Dam and private property, ATV riders in Connecticut have no place to ride. The legislature passed a law in 1986 requiring the DEP to provide state land for ATV use. However, 22 years later, no land has been bought or opened.

Under the proposed bill, the DEP would select and set aside four trails of at least five miles each for ATV use by Jan. 1. ATV dealers would collect a trail-user fee from new buyers equivalent to one percent of the purchase price of the vehicle, above and beyond the sales tax. The fee would likely add $25 to $80 to the cost of a machine, given current retail prices for dirt bikes and quads.

The DEP would be mandated to use as much as 70 percent of the fees for trail selection, design, alteration, maintenance and repair. If passed, the law would take effect July 1.

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