Missouri Bicycle News Article

The bill, sponsored by bicycling Representative Mike Sutherland of Warrenton, to allow non-profit organizations to cooperate with state parks in providing cooperative, interpretive, facility enhancement or educational services in the park has passed the Missouri House and received a "do pass" recommendation in the Missouri Senate.

The next step will be a vote in the full Senate.

The bill's main change from current law is to all a single non-profit to work with numerous state parks to provide these kinds of enhancements. Under current law, each state park must work with one non-profit organization only, and that nonprofit must be solely devoted to improving that one state park.

So you can have "The Johnson Shut-ins State Park Foundation" to help that one state park but you cannot have "The Missouri Mountain Bike Trails Improvement Association" whose purpose is to build mountain biking trails in ALL state parks as well as city and county parks around the state.

The new law changes this situation. If the law passes, a group like EarthRiders or Gateway Off-Road Cyclists would be able to work with several state parks in order to build and maintain mountain biking trails in all those parks.

The bill is HB 75. Click here to see summaries, full text, and recent legislative actions on the bill.

If you support trails in state parks it would be very appropriate to send Rep. Sutherland a quick note thanking him for supporting trails in parks and introducing HB 75. Email: Mike.Sutherland@house.mo.gov

Related:

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News: Mike Sutherland's bill to promoate trails in state parks passes House

News: Rep. Sutherland's Trails in State Parks bill passes

News: Bush administration to allow better mountain bike access to national parks

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