Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife Commission
Mark Quinn, Lands Division Manager, WDFW
Olympia
Mr. Mark
Quinn and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission,
I am
writing in regards to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and
Mark Quinn regarding the proposed new chapter 13 in the Washington Administrative
Code (
I reviewed the details of this
proposal and I have some serious concerns with some of the
language contained in a portion of this proposed
I am concerned with section
“Except for permitted use by persons with
disabilities, or for persons holding valid grazing permits or agricultural
leases on department lands, it is unlawful to possess or operate any motorized
vehicle, including snowmobiles, on or across department lands, except on roads,
unless posted otherwise.”
Snowmobiles
should not be grouped into the same category as other motorized vehicles. They
do not compact soil, as snowmobiles ride on a blanket of snow.
The
2005 OHV Final Rule recently implemented by the Forest Service (FS) and
documented in 36 Code of
Federal regulations (
Having
snowmobile use regulations change from being legal in one section of FS managed
public land, only to become illegal in an adjacent section of WDFW managed
public lands, does not make logical sense. It would be impractical for WDFW to
expect the recreating public to be able to know when they are crossing into
WDFW managed public lands, so that they could attempt to abide by this policy,
and it would be a management nightmare for WDFW employees to attempt to
enforce.
Management
of this policy will be especially troublesome in large WDFW managed public
lands such as the 88,000 acre Colockum Wildlife Area
and the 42,000 acre L.T. Murray Wildlife Area where checkerboard land ownership
and management changes from section to section.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this
proposal.
Sincerely,
Name
Address