Goodbye to Snowdale State Park! Oklahoma Tourism Releases Only State Park On Lake Hudson

Sen. Micheal Bergstrom

Oklahoma State Senate

Communications Division

State Capitol

Oklahoma City, OK 73105

For Immediate Release: October 30, 2019

Goodbye Snowdale, For Now

For years now, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation (ODTR) has considered closing Snowdale State Park near Salina.

Since I took office three years ago, I successfully pushed back against the closure of the only State Park on Lake Hudson. Unfortunately, flood waters forced its closure this year for months. Then ODTR quietly pulled the plug on the park in August by not renewing its lease with the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), who has ownership of the property.

During our Senate and House joint interim study on the State Parks system on Monday, October 28, Snowdale was glaringly missing from the documents presented to the committees detailing the plans for our state parks, and Tourism’s Executive Director, Jerry Winchester, publicly stated that Snowdale had been returned to GRDA.

For the last couple months, I have tried to find a way to restore the property to the State Parks system, but Jerry Winchester and I have not been able to work this out. I still think he is the right man to be leading his agency, but he’s wrong on this decision which seems to come down to dollars and the ability of Tourism to quietly dump the property on GRDA.

GRDA will not open and manage Snowdale, so a solution is needed.

One such solution is pulling together a public/private partnership where Snowdale can still be a part of the state parks system, though a much-improved part of that system. The park will be available to the public with a variety of quality amenities and services, including camping and lake recreation. We can recreate Snowdale into a better state park on Lake Hudson.

That is what I am fighting for. If you agree with me, I suggest you let your voice be heard by calling Jerry Winchester at 405-815-6552.

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Turning Prison Cellphones Into Paperweights

Sen. Micheal Bergstrom

Oklahoma State Senate
Communications Division
State Capitol
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

For Immediate Release: October 22, 2019

Time to turn cellphones into paperweights

In September, Oklahoma prisons went on lockdown. It began with a gang-related fight in the Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center in Vinita before spreading to prisons throughout the state. A coordinated uprising, which resulted in injuries to correctional officers, the hospitalization of 36 inmates and the death of one inmate. All coordinated with cellphones.

Every year, more than 7,000 cellphones are confiscated in Oklahoma prisons. Thousands more probably remain undetected. Many of the phones being confiscated are less than an inch wide and a bit more than two inches long. They can be easily hidden and smuggled throughout our prisons.

Inmates are able to oversee a wide variety of criminal activities outside the walls of their prisons using cellphones. They are also able to intimidate and threaten individuals on the outside as well.

The solution exists. Jam cellphone signals within prisons. It’s done elsewhere in the world.

Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) won’t let us, while our nation’s wireless companies drag their feet on the issue.

Concern for bleed over, the possibility that someone outside the prison walls might be impacted by a prison jamming system, has the wireless industry urging the FCC to hold off changing its rules until all the kinks can be worked out.

Instead, other options are urged, like having prisons pay for expensive scans for cell signals so that the identified phones can be reported to a stolen phone database and switched off. Of course, any phone not turned on when the scans are conducted will still be usable by inmates. More phones will be smuggled in.

In a Senate interim study on Monday, October 21, we heard about an FCC approved signal blocking trial in South Carolina. Outside the prison, phones worked fine. Inside, blocked.

Is the technology perfect? No. But it’s close enough.

It’s time for wireless companies to join the call for the FCC to change its rules and allow our prisons to block cellphone signals. Now. It’s time for us to turn those phones into worthless paperweights.

For more information, contact:Sen. Bergstrom: 405-521-5561 or Micheal.Bergstrom@oksenate.gov

Bergstrom Takes Look At Technology In Transportation

Oklahoma State Senate Communications Division State Capitol Oklahoma City, OK 73105 The Senate Transportation Committee met Monday to examine what Oklahoma needs to do to prepare for the arrival of new transportation technologies. The study was requested by Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, vice-chair of the committee. Getting ready for the future; interim study examines new transportation technologies and their impact on Oklahoma      Self-driving cars, e-scooters, more commercial uses for drones and drone-ports and the expanded use of electric vehicles were all part of the discussion at an interim study held this week by the Senate Transportation Committee. The Monday hearing was requested by Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, who serves as vice-chair of the committee. He said emerging transportation technologies bring with them a host of opportunities and concerns that need to be addressed sooner, rather than later.      “It wasn’t that many years ago that self-driving cars seemed more like science fiction, but the fact is they’re going to be here in Oklahoma in the near future. There are many issues that need to be addressed before that happens, ranging from liability and safety concerns to economic development potential,” said Bergstrom, R-Adair. “The more I’ve studied this, the clearer it becomes that Oklahoma must be out in front of these technologies instead of trying to deal with complex regulatory needs after the fact. The interim study gave us a chance to hear from the experts as we prepare to examine possible legislation.”      Presenters included Sec. of Transportation, Tim Gatz, Tom Robins, Facilitator of the Oklahoma Autonomous Vehicle Steering Committee at the Department of Transportation, Leslie Gamble with AAA Oklahoma, James Grimsley, Executive Director of Advanced Technology Initiatives with the Choctaw Nation, and other transportation technology experts.      This past session, Bergstrom wrote and passed the Oklahoma Driving Automation System Uniformity Act, which preempts local laws and asserts that only the State may enact laws or regulations regarding the use of motor vehicles equipped with driving automation systems in Oklahoma. That new law took effect last month, but Bergstrom said there are many other concerns to deal with in the coming session and beyond.      “We’re seeing an expanded use of electric vehicles for city bus services and state fleets and in the private sector. But when gas and diesel taxes are used to help us maintain and build new roads and bridges, how are we going to address the lost revenue by those who use our roads but aren’t paying fuel taxes? And there are privacy concerns as well. Companies that manufacture e-scooters collect data every time someone rides one, but who else can and should access that information and under what circumstances? How can we position our state to take advantage of the new job opportunities that come with these technologies? We have a lot of work to do, and this study was helpful in giving us a glimpse at what’s coming down the road,” Bergstrom said. For more information, contact:Sen. Bergstrom: 405-521-5561 or Micheal.Bergstrom@oksenate.gov

Bergstrom appointed to Route 66 Centennial Commission

Oklahoma State Senate
Communications Division
State Capitol
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

For Immediate Release: October 14, 2019


Sen. Micheal Bergstrom

Sen. Bergstrom appointed to Route 66 Centennial Commission

State Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, has been appointed to serve on the Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission, a 21-member panel that will help plan the state’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of “The Mother Road.”

The commission was created by legislation approved and signed into law this year. Its members are charged with planning, coordinating and implementing programs and special events to celebrate the historic highway’s centennial in 2026 with the support of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat appointed Bergstrom to serve on the panel.
Construction on the highway began in 1926, connecting Chicago to Santa Monica with a route that ran through eight states—Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Approximately 400 miles of the historic highway runs through Oklahoma with a significant stretch running throughout Senate District 1.
“I’m honored and want to thank Senator Treat for appointing me to the Route 66 Commission. This historic highway’s centennial is going to provide a tremendous opportunity to further develop our state and district’s tourism industry,” said Bergstrom. “This will also help us energize our efforts to spur economic development and attract business and good jobs to the state and our district.”
The commission will meet quarterly to plan and sponsor official Route 66 Centennial events and activities.
Route 66 lost its official designation as a U.S. Highway in 1985.

For more information, contact:Sen. Bergstrom: 405-521-5561 or Micheal.Bergstrom@oksenate.gov