ROHVA SAFETY COURSE FOR YUROK BIOLOGY TEAM

SXS SAFETY TRAINING - North Coast Marine Biology Team

On May 3, QWR had the honor and privilege to teach the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA) ROV Basic DriverCourse (RBDC) on sovereign lands of the federally recognized Resighini Tribe of Yurok People.  The class was comprised of biologists from the Tribe’s Marine Natural Resource Management Program.

Exercise 4: Backing and Turning

 

The biology team wanted to take the safety course since they recently purchased a new Kawasaki Pro Mule 1000 from a local dealership in Eureka, CA to assist them in various research and monitoring projects as part of their management efforts in the Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area (IMSA) that includes coastal lands in California ranging north from Trinidad to the Oregon border.

 

CREATION OF IMSA

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/01/25/tribal-nations-designate-first-us-indigenous-marine-stewardship-area

 

One of the key topics covered in the class is Search, Evaluate, and Execute (SEE) and is one of the many important themes stressed by ROHVA in both the online E-Course and field training.   SEE is a common sense yet powerful decision-making process where a driver looks for various factors such as trail difficulty then evaluates the risk level of the situation and subsequently executes an action such as turning around and taking another route.

Exercise 3: Low Speed Steering Limits

 

Use of protective safety gear such as wearing a helmet and using eye protection is another area that is highlighted during online and field education process.

 

Don Amador, a ROHVA-certified DriverCoach, states, “It was great to get back to the north coast of California to help train tribal resource management specialists about how to safely operate a ROV/SxS .”

Exercise 5: Serpentine Forward & Reverse

 

“I always enjoy seeing students taking pride in learning some of the basic skills such as two-foot throttle/brake control to cross an obstacle, back-up, or load the SxS into a tight area such as trailer,” Amador concludes. 

 

QWR is a strong supporter of the focused safety efforts by our partners at CA State Parks OHMVR Division, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, ROHVA, Tread Lightly!, Kawasaki, and the CA Outdoor Recreation Foundation to address the rapid growth of ROV/UTV/SxS use on public lands.

 

Also since many land management agencies, tribes, and cooperators have increased the use of ROVs for recreation/resource management and fire suppression activities, QWR offers the RBDC course for agency or cooperator staff that need to get certified or recertified before operating a government or corporate SxS/ROV.

 

Finally,  a special note of thanks and appreciation to Dave Bertram and our good friends at Helmet House for donating full-face safety helmets and goggles to the biology department for use during the course and in their subsequent resource management efforts.

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 Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy and recreation management profession for over 33 years.   Don is President of Quiet Warrior Racing LLC. Don serves as the Western States Representative for the Motorcycle Industry Council. Don is Past President/CEO and current board member of the Post Wildfire OHV Recovery Alliance. Don served as a contractor to the BlueRibbon Coalition from 1996 until June, 2018. Don served on the California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission from 1994-2000. He has won numerous awards including being a 2016 Inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame and the 2018 Friend of the AMA Award. Don served as the government affairs lead for AMA District 36 in Northern California from 2019 – 2023. Don is a Core-Team member on FireScape Mendocino.  Don is a contributor to Dealernews Magazine. Don writes from his home in Cottonwood, CA.