USA-ALL ALERT: For anyone who travels thru Heber City to Snowmobile in Utah, MUST REA

[hatfieldcb]

From USA-All:

Dear Friend,

Below is an email we received this weekend from Doug Page, strong multiple use advocate, and avid snowmobiler. He along with the Utah Snowmobile Association have some concerns and we wanted everyone to hear them and offer assistance. We felt it was important for all of us in the motorized community to read. We cant help but see similarities between the apparent attitude of certain Wasatch County officials and radical environmentalists. These people would like everyone to believe that the motorized community (in this case snowmobilers) do not contribute to local economies! I wonder what the local Heber City businesses think about this.

If you have any interest in protecting access please see the contact info at the bottom of Doug’s email, and let these people know what side their bread is buttered on. While there may not be the threat of immediate closure, bad things happen when elected officials and government employees don’t see the value in our community, the motorized community, spending dollars in local economies, improving the environment, and participating in wholesome activities that strengthen families, create freindships, and instill a love and respect for the great outdoors.


Please, let your voice be heard, call or write today.

Utah Shared Access Alliance (USA-ALL)

Main: 801.465.1145

Fax: 801.465.6972

Toll Free: 866.265.3434

Email: info@usaall.org

www.usaall.org

Utah Shared Access Alliance is a non-profit and non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping the motorized community promote responsible use and access to public land in Utah.

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-----Original Message-----

The following is from a meeting held on Wed. September 28 in Heber City, Utah. Please read and take the action at the end of the note:

Representatives from the Utah Snowmobile Association and State Parks attended a meeting with the Forest Service, UDOT, and Wasatch County this morning to talk about the trailhead plowing situation in Strawberry Valley. The Forest Service opened the meeting with a call for all the "partners" to find some sort of a means to get the trailheads plowed, or see them closed this winter. The words were no sooner out of the young
lady's mouth than the Wasatch County Manager, Mike Davis, chimed in that
those trailheads were built by the County and that it was someone else’s
problem to maintain them. They were built by many other stakeholders than just the county Mr. Davis.

In fact, he reported, he'd just as soon see snowmobiling end in Wasatch County. He claimed that snowmobiles only brought grief and despair (my words) to Wasatch County (search and rescue, etc). I reminded him that fewer snowmobilers in the county
equated to fewer meals purchased, less gas bought, and fewer rooms
rented. His reply? Snowmobile related expenditures in Wasatch County
are negligible and insignificant!!

Evidently those long lines of sleds at the gas pumps on Saturday
morning are only in my imagination. The sleds parked on Main Street in
front of the Dairy Keen really aren't there, and no snowmobilers eat at
Chick's. I guess no one buys parts at the Ski-Doo, Polaris, or Yamaha
dealers either. And no one stays or eats at the Homestead, Daniel's
Summit, Strawberry Bay or in a Heber motel while snowmobiling. I guess
the $50,000 the county collected from resident snowmobile property tax
doesn't count either. Insignificant my rear end. Partners? Yeah
right.

After listening to the County Manager, Public Works Director, and
Sheriff spew endless drivel about how there was no benefit to the County
from snowmobiles, I'd had it. Oh yeah, later in the meeting the County
Manager was complaining that the county had seen a decrease in it's
Transient Room Tax too. Go figure. Yeah, and "Welcome to Wasatch
County".

Anyway, we told the Forest Service that we would make sure the
snowmobile lots were plowed. The State is also considering using some of its equipment and a seasonal operator to do the plowing. But the bigger problem is still there.

Wasatch County needs to receive a message from any snowmobiler that
spends dollars in the County. We really want to deliver a message loud and clear
this year, and maybe not just to Wasatch County. Maybe to the whole
state.

Yeah. I'm mad. You should be to!!!!!!!

p.s. some quick facts from the 2001 Economic Impact study by USU:
39.5% of snowmobilers reported their favorite snowmobile area to
be: Wasatch County
Snowmobilers spent approximately $127 per trip (generally 1 day)
Average snowmobiler made 12.3 trips in 2000

Last year there were approximately 35,000 sleds registered in Utah,
including the 1425 (2004) in Wasatch Co. The average number of sleds
per household is 2.6, so there are approximately 13,500 households with
sleds. 39.5% of 13500 is 5332 households. Assuming a person goes to
his "favorite" area half his trips, we can assume that in 2000, there
were approximately 32,000 snowmobile trips made to the county in 2000.
32,000 x $127 = approximately $4,064,000. My economist tells me that a
dollar rolls over 1.5 times in a community like Wasatch County. On the
conservative side, that creates an annual (2000) economic impact of
$6,096,000. Hey Mr. County Manager, how many millions are in a
"significant" anyway?

The following are email links, phone numbers and address of the un-educated people when it comes to economic impacts our sport has on just one county.

Please take a moment to respond in your favorite manor, be respectful and let them know how much you spent last season in Wasatch County, and ask them if they would like you to come back this year. Ask the Council members if Mr. Davis is correct in their counties stance towards snowmobiling?

There will be a follow up meeting this next week so please respond as soon as you can on Monday and Tuesday.

Mike Davis – County Manager

Address: 25 N Main Heber, UT 84032

Phone: 435-654-3211

Fax: 435-657-5116

Email: mdavis@co.wasatch.ut.us

Wasatch County Council


County At Large - Seat A

Jay Price - Chairman

Midway - Seat E

Michael L. Kohler - Vice Chairman

County At Large - Seat B

Steve Farrell

County East - Seat F

Neil G. Anderton

County South - Seat G

Kipp Bangerter

Heber North - Seat C

Val Draper

Heber South - Seat D

Kendall Crittenden

Council Office and Chambers: 25 N Main Heber, UT 84032
Phone: (435) 657-3195
Fax: (435) 657-0283

PUBLIC WORKS

805 W 100 South ----------------------------------------------------------------------654-1661


SHERIFF 1361 S Hwy 40

Administration -------------------------------------------------------------------------654-1098

[macneill]

The only topic discussed here is the "economic" impact. Not one mention of the environmental impact. Let's see, 35,000 sleds...