Another help request

[Independent Voter]

I have been trying to dig my way through H R -7. This is a transportation bill currently about to go up for a vote in the House. I received one of those requests to sign a form letter and forward it to my State Rep. but, prior to doing that, I wanted to see just what I would be against. Suffice it to say,after attempting to wade through all of the lawyer speak and ref. this and per that, I am more confused now than I was. That believe me,
is a difficult thing to believe since I am confused most of the time.

Any how, the bill is in some way supposed to de-fund the rails to trails programs and several others which allow actual exercise in comparative safety. So I would guess that de-funding something that actually encourages people to move rather than sit is a good thing according to congress.

The bill is 847 pages of, as I stated , “lawyer speak “ and I guess my question and point , if I actually have one, is. What do y’all think of sending the form letter type of message to a congress critter or senate type ?. As near as I can tell the request comes from a fairly reputable entity. In this case, the Alabama Scenic River Trail site.

Is there a criteria that you use to determine if this type of request is legit ?, or is it a take your best guess and go with it ?.

Not quite ready for a Shiner YET

[Greenie]

I've applied for Recreational Trails Program grants to rebuild the trails in the state park I manage. HR 7 apparently affects the RTP - which returns road use tax collected for off road use (gas for boats, lawn mowers, etc..) We've rebuilt many miles of trails in the park, some had not seen much improvement since the 1930's CCC programs. I applied for about $400,000 of grants to rebuild trails - most of it was approved over a 7 year span. We had to match 20% of the grant which I could do by using prison inmate crews which each man hour gave us $7 in soft match.
I did a lot of trail improvements with the grant money.
Just the same, the United States simply can't continue spending money as it did in the past. More and more of our tax dollars goes to pay for entitlements; cuts must be made. There are other grants available; I had great luck with MBNA - they're gone now, but there are other sources for money to improve recreational opportunities.

[wacojoe]

Two articles in a blog I follow shed some light on this little-discussed issue.

http://www.globalwarming.org/2012/01...ing-for-roads/
http://www.globalwarming.org/2012/02...to-floor-vote/

These entries concentrate on the primary issue of money for rebuilding highways as opposed to ancillary issues about trails and such.