NOHVA would
like to thank Yamaha for their
generous contribution to NOHVA.
Shown from left to right, Gary
Gibbs, Dan Nitzel, Dennis Walz and
Tami Walz.
In July of 2008
NOHVA applied for a grant from
Yamaha to cover our insurance
payment for next year. On October
16th Yamaha announced that they have
selected NOHVA as one of 16
organizations that received a grant
from Yamaha! The amount we asked
for and received was $10,000.
The amount NOHVA paid for insurance
in 2008 was $11,087. This year
we expect to pay over $11,500 for
insurance.
Providing
liability insurance for chapters and
the riding areas that we are
involved with is a necessary part of
our agreement with land managers and
land owners. The
insurance protects the land owners,
our officers and our volunteers
against any risks that our sport may
involve and helps give everyone some
piece of mind.
The 2009 Yamaha
Access Initiative GRANT was there to
ensure that the four public areas we
are involved with and that are now
open to the public at no
charge continued to stay open.
During our Summer Jamboree we saw a
considerable amount of rain.
This forced us to cancel or
drastically reduce our events at the
Jamboree. We depend upon the
events as a fund raiser for future
insurance costs and to pay for
maintenance, restrooms, trash pickup
and security. With the
decreased revenue that we saw this
year from our summer jamboree, the
Yamaha Access Initiative GRANT
prevented our organization from
going out of business. Some of
the areas we are involved with most
likely would have closed without the
Yamaha grant.
This year alone
insurance costs took over 24% of
our total expenses. With receiving
the Yamaha grant, we will be able to
continue our traditional refund of
membership fees back to our chapters
and help fund trails improvements
with projects that NOHVA is involved
with in Nebraska. The grant
will also help us have more funding
to cover expenses involving trail
work shops and defend the rights of
recreational and competitive ATV and
dirtbike riders involving potential
legislative initiatives proposed by
the Nebraska Legislature next year.
The program to
help organizations such as our own
developed by Yamaha is called the “G.R.A.N.T.”
(Guaranteeing Responsible Access to
our Nation’s Trails) program and
provides funds for projects
including:
+ Trail mapping
equipment and staffing
+ Legislative
lobbying efforts
+ Responsible
OHV rider education and outreach
campaigns
+ Signage and
building materials for trail heads
+ Campground
supplies
+ Construction
equipment for trail development
Yamaha
continues to support the greater OHV
community including public land
managers, private landowners, riding
clubs and associations in their
efforts to produce and maintain
areas for off-highway vehicle use.
So far this year Yamaha has awarded
nearly $600,000 in GRANTs.
“The growing
response to, and need for, the
Yamaha OHV Access Initiative is
indicative of the desire for
enthusiasts and advocates to enjoy
OHVs in a safe and sustainable
manner,” said Mike Martinez,
Yamaha’s general manager of ATV and
Side-by-Side (SxS) Operations. “In
light of changing national policy on
OHV access, the community will have
a continuing need for our GRANTs to
directly fund projects that help
maintain access to existing trails
and responsibly create new
opportunities for OHV use.”
We would like
to thank Yamaha for their
involvement in helping fund projects
supporting the sport of recreational
ATV and dirtbike riding. The
next time you stop by a Yamaha
dealer in Nebraska, be sure to thank
them for Yamaha's efforts to help
fund trails in Nebraska!
Dan Nitzel,
Business Manager and Co-founder
Nebraska Off Highway Vehicle
Association
2231 W. 10th Street
Grand Island, NE 68803
Phone 308-381-2143
www.nohva.com
