NEW FS TRAIL STATUS REPORT - HIGHLIGHTS KEY ISSUES IMPACTING TRAIL ACCESS

 

MY TWO CENTS

By Don Amador

December 18, 2025

  

NEW FS TRAIL REPORT HIGHLIGHTS KEY ISSUES

 

The second paragraph in the report actually highlights the key issues that need to be addressed by the Chief -- including having his office officially make management of recreation trails and facilities a priority!

 

2025 FS TRAIL STATUS REPORT

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/35318bd9-fb41-4ae1-a63b-d816afcfcdad.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_33

  

ONE OF MANY ARTICLES

https://open.substack.com/pub/ourpubliclandsandwaters/p/staffing-and-budget-cuts-are-leading?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

 

IMHO - the report fails to highlight Forests that continue to manage high quality trail opportunities largely due to their pro-recreation culture, can-do attitude, robust partnerships with OHV and other recreation groups, participate in diverse forest health collaboratives, and take advantage of non-federal funding such as state OHV grants monies or from Powersports Industry grants from Right Rider Action Fund, Polaris, Yamaha, etc.    Forests that don't have those factors are often the ones that falter the most.

 

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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. 

 

OHV SAFETY TRAINING - "RIDE TO RIDE AGAIN"

 

ROHVA RBDC - Exercise 4

RIDE TO RIDE AGAIN

To honor the 2025 “Ride to Ride Again” California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division’s (OHMVR) “Safety Week” effort, QWR recently taught the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA) ROV Basic DriverCourse (RBDC) at the BLM’s Chappie Shasta OHV Area near Redding, CA.

 OHMVR 2025 OHV SAFETY WEEK w TIPS

https://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=31772

 

 SEVERAL KEY THEMES OF THE COURSE

 

SEE - Search, Evaluate, and Execute (SEE) 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.

 

SAFETY GEAR - Protective safety gear is also another area that is highlighted during online and field education process.  Wearing a helmet, using eye protection, gloves, long sleeved shirt/jersey, and over-the-ankle-boots with non-slip soles can help the driver have a safe and fun trail experience.

ROHVA RBDC - Exercise 3

TWO-WAY TRAFFIC - Watch for two-way traffic.   When operating an on designated roads and trails always stay to the right since you never know if there is a vehicle coming around a corner.  

 

As a ROHVA-certified DriverCoach, QWR’s Don Amador, states, “It was great to get back out in the field yesterday at the BLM’s Chappie Shasta OHV Recreation Area helping train outdoor recreationists about how to safely operate a ROV/SxS on designated roads, trails, and areas.” 

BE A TRAIL HERO - Drive Safe

 

“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 ROV or SxS into a tight area such as toy hauler or small garage.  At the post training wrap up students said the online E-course was very informative and reinforced many of the safe driving techniques learned during the field exercises,” 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!, and the CA Outdoor Recreation Foundation to address the rapid growth of ROV/UTV/SxS use on public lands.

 

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