Thanks for your email Walker.
RTP grants are given by a state RTP committee managed by the Nebraska
Game and Parks Commission. I/We have been involved with the committee
since it's inception. I have initiated the only ATV/dirtbike trails
grant in nine years and personally managed the project at the Nebraska
National Forest near Halsey.
What issues at Halsey are you
concerned about? The fact of the matter is that for ATV and dirtbike
riders, the situation there has VASTLY IMPROVED there over the last
three years. Two years ago I was able to convince the Forest Service to
continue to allow dirtbike use there. EVERY YEAR we ask the forest
service to apply for RTP funds to do trail maintenance. They never
have. NOHVA contributes a considerable amount of funding at
Halsey. We've spent over $35,000 our of our treasury to fund
trails and maintenance at the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey over
the last five years. All of the improvements were completed with
volunteer labor from NOHVA members. Three or four times a
year members of our organization travel to Halsey to work on trails.
The fences and signs you see posted along the Dismal River trail and
other areas are paid for
by NOHVA and put up with NOHVA volunteers. The Forest Service
currently funds
no trail maintenance for ATV and dirtbike riders, but do help fund some
improvements for horse riders.
Dirtbikes are seen by most trail users and managers at Halsey as
the most damaging OHV use there, and since we are an ATV "and" dirtbike
organization, dirtbikes need to be included in the same trails as ATVs.
Now we have dirtbikers who "think" that if getting rid of the ATV riders
the situation would be better? What kind of drugs are these guys on?
If you have been a member of our organization, you would know about the
RTP situation in Nebraska. It appears in our newsletter nearly every
issue. If you were involved, you may be able to help turn the tide
against us.
No one in Nebraska are more frustrated about the RTP situation than
those involved with NOHVA. If you don't believe me, contact Doug Morris
head of the ATVA, Royce Wood, AMA, Clark Collins, Brian Hawthorne, Don
Amador of BRC, Dan Kleen president of NOHVCC and ARRA, Stuart McDonald
pres of American Trails. Believe it or not, the state is becoming
more receptive of our desires because our members have been pushing the
issue both in our state and nationally.
We are a chartered AMA/ATVA organization. I/We gave the AMA/ATVA the
some of the RTP information to begin with but they did not print the all gory details. Our
organization seems to be the only people in Nebraska who contacts state
officials about using these funds for public ATV/dirtbike trails, and
who work with federal people at Halsey.
While you may have all kinds of private places to ride, I have been
involved with representing our state's ATV and dirtbike riders in
government since 1990, and know of NO private areas at with " I " can
ride in confidence knowing that I am not trespassing. If I can't
find legal public places to ride, then it is obvious that 1000's of
other Nebraskan's cannot either. Additionally, some of the private
areas are too expensive for families to enjoy. In NOHVA's eye's,
there is a great need for reasonably priced public ATV and dirtbike
trails in our state.
The last time
there was an anti-recreational ATV/dirtbike law passed in Nebraska two years ago, our
organization mailed out thousands of notices to Nebraska riders and
dealers explaining that we need their help in Lincoln. Only three
people showed up for the committee hearings in Lincoln, including my
self, and LB333 was resoundingly passed. 2005 is going to be a year
where thousands of acres of public land at our National Forest
lands is going to be closed to
ATV/dirtbike recreation in Nebraska. I hope that those who like to
ride there will strongly voice their desires to see trails remain open
and there are plenty of miles of trails available for motorized
recreation.
Our organization and I have been involved with trying to get the state
to spend these funds that we pay on trails that we use, since the
program was conceived as the Symms Tails Funding act in 1996. This has
been extensively discussed in our publications to our members and you
can see it on our web site. We represent ATV and dirtbike riders on
state trails committees and before federal land managers.
There are many base reasons why our state has become one of the more
anti-recreational ATV and anti-recreational dirtbike states in the nation.
It's the people and
riders who live here. The main reason is that there is little support
among the public for public trails in Nebraska. Most people tell
senators that they have all kinds of private places
to ride now. They feel that if this is the case, then why are more trails needed in
the users/riders eyes? It is the consensus of our state officials that people are
happy with the current situation even though we have tried to convince
them otherwise.
It's no secret that there are influential dirtbike riders (and a dealer
or two) who do not support public trails, and blame us/me for our
current situation but do nothing themselves to help. Some of these
people have a financial interest in pricy private OHV parks and tracks. RTP
funds are meant to be spent on public trails. Whenever we get a lead on
a project to find public ATV and dirtbike places to ride, we follow it. No one else in
Nebraska does.
If it were not for our organization, the few public areas we now have
WOULD BE closed. Our organization pays the insurance bills to keep
these areas open, even though most of the riders who use the areas do
not support us by being a NOHVA member. Additionally, we try to provide maintenance funding
to public trails when we can
afford it.
If you want to discuss any of this more, I'd be glad to meet in person
with you or any group or discuss it over the phone. If you really want
to help the situation, then become involved and become aware of the
facts.