I feel that the additional bureaucracy which would be created by eliminating blanket entrance permits in favor of single temporary permits is not only unnecessary, but also expensive, time consuming, and unfair to the forest products industry.

The current system is convenient for both forest industry, landowners, and VDOT. Our company has cooperated with VDOT for years under this system, and I feel that it serves everyone well. Moving toward a single permit would burden the forest landowner with basically an additional tax for using Virginia's highways to sell their products, and add yet another tax to the logging contractor who is already dealing with high fuel prices and equipment taxes. Forest industry does not have the luxury of staying on the job for months at a time, and must utilize many entrances throughout the state on a short term basis over the course of a year. I cannot think of another industry which would be as negatively affected financially by this proposed change. In addition to the unfair cost increases for the industry as a whole, I do not believe VDOT would not have the ability to process these many permit requests in a timely and efficient manner.

I understand the VDOT wants to insure public safety and protect the condition of Virginia's roads, but I feel that stricter enforcement of the current system is the best way to accomplish this goal without creating more unnecessary taxes and bureaucratic red tape.