HEY TEXAS PEOPLE and anyone else for that matter

[speedemon]

Go here and sign this petition for the repeal of Senate Bill 155.

http://www.petitiononline.com/svetrail/petition.html



A refresher on River Access and SB155

Effective January 1, 2004 Texas Senate Bill 155 (SB155) became a reality. SB155 changed the laws affecting the sport of off-roading and four-wheeling throughout the state of Texas.

In a nutshell, SB155 states:

Sec.90.002.OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE IN PROTECTED FRESHWATER AREA PROHIBITED. Except as provided by Section 90.003 or 90.004, a person may not operate a motor vehicle in or on a protected freshwater area on or after January 1, 2004.

(2)"Motor vehicle" means any wheeled or tracked vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semi trailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used to transport a person or thing.

(3)"Navigable river or stream" means a river or stream that retains an average width of 30 or more feet from the mouth or confluence up.

(4)"Protected freshwater area" means that portion of the bed, bottom, or bank of any navigable river or stream that lies at or below the gradient boundary of the river or stream. The term does not include that portion of a bed, bottom, or bank that lies below tidewater limits.

Read SB155 for yourself: PDF file of SB155

Q: What does this mean to the average off-roader?

A: Simply put, it means no more wheeling in public riverbeds anywhere in the State of Texas.

Q: So how is it legal for us to still wheel in the creek at Katemcy?

A: Well, there are a few exemptions and exclusions in the Bill. Most notably, private landowners can pretty much do whatever they want on the land they own. Also, Emergency vehicles are exempt, as are the vehicles of public utilities works, such as those that service water, gas, and electrical lines and right of ways.

Here are some thoughts on SB155: The theory is that you can't "own" a section of a river. Prior to the bill, this was true under TX law. For example, even if a river runs through your land, you can't build a structure within the banks, like a dam, etc. Also, it is not considered trespassing if you are in a boat and traveling on the river... only if you get out of the banks. So the wheelers are saying, there should be no difference between a river with water and a river that is dry at the time. If you can float it in a boat, why shouldn't you be able to drive a rig down it? The fact that it has water shouldn't be determinative as to the legality of your presence. If you had a rig on 40's, you should be able to just drive down the river right alongside a boat...

The key phrase that people included during the campaign against SB155 was: I am against SB155 because it takes away the constitutional rights of the people of the State of Texas by blocking access to their only "public" dry river beds and completely discriminates against the handicap since they will not be able to access the river beds by vehicle.

That angle didn't work... 

[79coyotefrg]

should we be texas residents  to  sign this ??

[speedemon]

the petition asks what state you live in, so i don't see why not

[burnyota]

 this is why they shut down Llano, back in 2003.