House Bill 2573, (also known as the off-highway vehicle, user fee bill) was defeated by a vote of 3-3 with one absent in the Arizona Senate Natural Resources & Rural Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Jake Flake (R-Snowflake) on March 19th.
House Bill 2573 would have provided resources to better manage Arizona’s growing off-highway vehicle (OHV) use while protecting wildlife habitat. OHVs have seen a 347 percent increase in usage in Arizona in the last few years, but law enforcement & trail development have lagged far behind. Through this legislation, dollars would have been provided by a nominal user fee to create new law enforcement positions, new land & habitat mitigation for damaged use areas, & better trail construction.