In 2013 the Arizona Legislature approved a bill that would make state OHV laws unenforceable in areas where BLM or the USFS closed to OHV use. Basically it was Arizona's way of "sticking it to the man."
The problem is now these areas are seeing land damage and safety issues and Arizona state/local LEOs are unable to charge someone with an offense. If someone was driving an OHV drunk the LEO could not charge them if they were within one of the federal closure areas. If someone violated a forest fire closure, the LEO could not do anything.
Now 2 years later Arizona is trying to repeal the law which will then give state and local LEOs full authority over the state OHV laws in the federal lands closure areas.
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House moves to repeal vehicle-enforcement ban on US lands
Posted: Sunday, March 1, 2015 10:18 pm
Associated Press
PHOENIX — The Legislature is moving to repeal a law crafted to punish the federal government for closing roads in national forests to off-highway vehicle use after its ban on enforcement led to property destruction.
The 2013 law barred state and local law officers from enforcing off-highway vehicle laws on closed federal lands. It was crafted after angry rural lawmakers complained that federal officials were closing roads used by hunters and other recreational users and then requiring state Game and Fish officers and local sheriffs to enforce the closures.
But with most enforcement in the state's six national forests and other federal lands done by non-federal agents, the ban quickly became a problem.
"What we are now experiencing is that we are documenting reckless disregard for property in closed areas and areas where safety is being brought up as an issue," Game and Fish legislative liaison Jorge Canaca told an Arizona House committee early this month.
The panel approved House Bill 2365 by Rep. Bob Thorpe, R-Flagstaff, and it received initial House approval Thursday evening. A formal vote sends it to the Senate.
The problem began when the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management began developing Travel Management Plans required under a 2005 federal rule. That rule was meant to address growing use of off-highway vehicles on public lands that were damaging resources.
The 2013 state law made state off-highway vehicle laws unenforceable in areas closed by federal officials. County sheriffs and Game and Fish normally enforce state laws under agreements with the federal government.
The law was championed by Sen. Chester Crandell, R-Heber, to protest roads being closed to hunters and other recreational users. Crandell died Aug. 4 in a horseback riding accident.
Crandell said the big issue was the Forest Service's lack of coordination with local sheriffs about needed access.
"If they're going to close the roads, then they should sit down and talk to us about safety hazards, about people having access to hunting sites and camping sites and things like that," Crandell said in April 2013. "But what they're doing is saying nope, we're closing this — and you guys have to enforce it."
The state agency liaison for the Forest Service, Linda Lind, said Friday that the agency has always had a positive relationship with local and state agencies. After Crandell's bill became law, officials worked to get local law enforcement engaged earlier in the Travel Management Plan process, and that has helped ease the tensions that led to Crandell's legislation.
"We got into a little hiccup - we're now engaging in different parts of the state at the ground level before we go out and ask for public input," Lind said. "We just are looking at responsible use of off-highway vehicles on public lands, as we all are - because we want to manage that resource for future generations and make sure people stay safe."
Game and Fish assistant director Jim Hinkle said that even under the 2013 ban, state and local officers could do some enforcement under different statutes and could warn riders when they were in closed areas.
But the ban kept them from citing riders for safety violations, for reckless operation or for entering areas closed because of severe fire danger. "There were rough workarounds — we could always tell someone, 'hey, that's against the law,'" Hinkle said. "But we lacked the ability to criminally charge in the real egregious cases."
Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter, said she warned Game and Fish in 2013 about the problems with the law.
"I talked to them repeatedly about that bill and told them they were basically saying law enforcement couldn't do anything in the places that needed it most," Bahr said. "It was a dumb idea, and it was pretty clear what it did. We're happy to support fixing a mistake here."
http://www.havasunews.com/nation/house-moves-to-repeal-vehicle-enforcement-ban-on-us-lands/article_fb519a90-c09a-11e4-ab51-ebf9b615d7ac.html
