Timber Tamers

Four Wheel Drive Club

Olympia Rally 3-13-2009

It was a beautiful day for a protest for sure. Probably the sunniest, warmest day we've had for most of the winter. Auto-M and I cranked up the massaged 289 in Bertha, the '66 Mustang, and let the glass packs crack, bark and rumble as we got ready to head out. While Rudi had offered a cash incentive for any gaggle of at least 4 Tamers to head down to Olympia en masse, and I had sweetened the pot by offering up Cupcake, my 12 passenger van - it may just have been too nice a day for a bunch of Tamers to head down cheek-to-jowl to hang on the steps of the capitol.

No matter. Bertha's dual pipes sang throatily through all the gears, and once we got to Olympia, we soon met up with other Tamer compatriots, as well as a goodly sized amount of like minded off-road folks meaning to make our voices heard. From the Tamers, Mary and I went down, where we soon met up with Ed Tenney, Ron and Marv LaBorn, and eventually Mike Jennings also made the scene.

We got there around 11:00AM, and wandered around - signing up to show we were there, getting a rally T-shirt, and picking up some protest signs. (Yeah baby. Stickin' it to the man....) I chose one speaking of preserving our right to recreate - of which I also enjoyed the double entendre in the words, had Mary and I been looking to have any more children. (Yeah thanks- but that's what grandkids are for....)

Angie Marek of the Moonshiners always displays a lot of energy instructing the crowd to do a bit of carrying on and whooping it up - not that we needed much encouragement. She got the festivities going at noon. The sound system was well tuned this year, and she even had a noise-o-meter set up in the front, to remind us to yell loud and long, which we did.

There were many off-highway user goups. Of course - PNW had the 4WD folks. I saw PNW folks from all parts of the state, as well as some from Oregon too. Motorcycle folks were there, both of the motocross and trailbike ilk. ATV's were represented, as well as snowmobiles. Even some of the more road-bound motorcycle groups were there - but it was easy to see that very few spots of the capitol steps were left uncovered.

Here were the issues mentioned - rights to recreate on public lands; watch dogging those who would take fuel tax monies gotten from off road users for other uses; fighting really stupid miuse of regulations like not allowing kids under 10 to ride motorcycles because they have batteries in them containing lead; and just promoting responsible off-road recreation as a family pursuit that enhances good inter-familial relationships.

Following is a list of those who spoke. In most cases - each had just a few minutes of time to offer words of support for recreational and off-road hobbies - but they have all provided support for our off-roading. I'll say - it was probably the biggest crowd of lawmakers publicly and vocally supporting us than I've seen in the 3 times I've made it to the rally. It was very heartening.

  • Rep. Tim Sheldon - D - Shelton, WA 35th Legislative District - mentioned until we started making noise a few years ago - he had never been off roading in any way. Then - a neighbor took him out for a day on a Quad - and he said he's hooked ever since, and he gets it.
  • Rep. Kirk Pearson - R - Offices in Sedro-Wooley and Index, 39th Legislative Dist didn't have much to say, but thank us for showing up and making our voices heard.
  • Rep. Jim McCune - R - Yelm over towards Mt. Rainier - (Evans Creek and Elbe) 2nd Legislative Dist, also a supporter of our cause.
  • Brian Barnes - "voice of Washougal" announcer for Washougal Motocross Park came up from the Vancouver area to make a little noise in support of off road use. Also - Stacee Sellers - Mayor of Washougal - came along with him, voicing her appreciation of the motocross folks in her area, and lending her vocal support to our cause.
  • Rep. Ed Orcutt - R - Kalama, WA - 18th Legislative dist showed up, thanking us for being there.
  • Rick White, member of the Shindigs 4x4 club over in Central WA, and wounded vet voiced his experience of always having been a forest user - on foot a lot when he was younger. Now his nerve damage from his wounds makes it impossible for him to exercise his right to use public lands without motorized assistance - so it is a must for the disabled to keep motorized trail access open.
  • Don Williams - of PNW voiced his involvement in many good and positive experiences from the early 70's off roading.
  • Jim Boltz - of Lynnwood Cycle Barn not only had provided a free lunch of hot dogs on the BBQ for all attendees - but also thanked everyone for coming, and for the support of this rally.
  • Sen. Bob Morton - R - Kettle Falls - 7th dist, Sen. Dan Swecker - R - Rochester - 20th dist , Sen. Val Stevens - R - Arlington, 39th Dist. also had helped to defeat bad bills concerning off road use and funding problems so they wouldn't become law.
  • Rep. Cary Condotta - R - East Wenatchee - 12th Dist. tossed in a few quick words, as he hopped into his truck and headed for home. He is a big supporter of off road use, not the least because he sells about every off-road vehicle short of a full size 4WD from his place of business in East Wenatchee. He is a very enthusiastic supprter for the off-road cause.
  • Howard Brim (I think that was his name) of the snowmobile assoc also made his support of the rally known.

The following Senators have not been friendly to our cause. They didn't show up - but they sure got a mention so you know who is making life difficult for us.

  • Sen. Adam Kline - D - Seattle - 37th Dist
  • Sen. Ken Jacobsen - D - Sattle - 46th Dist.
  • Sen. Karen Fraser - D - Olympia - 22nd Dist. I don't have every fact - but apparently Karen Fraer has a talent for taking bills at the last moment before a vote, and adding some language here, altering a few words there, hoping they become law mostly from being overlooked. Some of her revisions were so egregious, that Gov. Gregoire used the line item veto to strike them down.

Also in attendance were Nick Harris of the American Motorcyclist Association, and Brian Hawthorne of BRC (Blue Ribbon Commission) which does yeoman work in supporting off road initiatives.

And both of the above were very appreciative of the work done by Tom Peterson of WOHVA (WA Off Highway Vehicle Assoc) who pretty much keeps track of state legislative matters - both good and bad for us - so we can assemble an appropriate response. They said that the alliance of user groups we have in WOHVA - has really been effective in maintaining as many rights ad we can, using the strength of all user groups. That said that's a model that needs to be put to use more in other areas of the country.

And by that time - about an hour and a half had slipped by with many cheers and much sign waving - with the occasional boo and hiss for Sentors Kline, Jacobsen and Fraser. Angie thanked all of our speakers, and all of us who attended, and we headed for home. It was time well spent - and it will keep us all with the opportunity to spend time legally and responsibly on the trail.

Thanks for reading through - and hope to see more of you on the steps the next time.

Moose