ROV DRIVER EDUCATION - Biologists Complete SxS Training

Biologists Complete ROHVA Basic Driver Course

QWR congratulates the biologists and specialists from AECOM and Applied Technology & Science (A-T-S) who recently completed the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA) ROV Basic DriverCourse (RBDC) taught at the Diablo MX Park located in Brentwood, California. 

These ROHVA classes were offered in recognition of the growing partnership between the scientific community and OHV professionals that both share a common commitment to managed and sustainable high quality recreation opportunities for both non-motorized and motorized activities.

Students Practice Exercise 4

  

As many land agencies and environmental consulting firms know, Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROVs) or Side-by-Sides (SxSs) are becoming increasingly popular and are the fastest growing segment of the powersports market.  These useful vehicles are also becoming an important land management or research tool.

QWR offers the RBDC course for agency staff, contractors, and 1^st responders that need to get certified or recertified before operating a government or corporate SxS. 

QWR believes that external partners will have an increasingly important role to play in helping provide access to certified safety instruction for staff that needs training.

Don Amador, President of Quiet Warrior Racing/Consulting, states, “It is a privilege and also fun to help train agency or corporate employees about how to operate their SxS vehicles in a safe and environmentally sound manner.”

“I really enjoyed seeing the RBDC students (many of them were new to driving SxSs) gain confidence over the course of the day using the skills they learned to safely operate their vehicle,” Amador concludes.

QWR appreciates the dedication of the biologists who want to protect natural resources for future generations.  And on recreation projects to ensure that units are maintained in a sustainable manner.

LINK TO ROHVA (Go ahead and take the free online ROHVA E-Course)

http://www.rohva.org/

*If you are interested in having Don teach a ROHVA ROV Basic DriverCourse, contact him at: damador@quietwarriorracing.com

HONE OHV LEADERSHIP SKILLS - Apply for the Mendocino RAC

RAC Appointment Letter

QWR believes it is important for OHV club representatives, leaders, or those looking to become leaders to develop their public land advocacy skill-set by serving on boards, commissions, or resource advisory councils (RAC).

By serving on a local RAC, you will meet and work with agency, government, and community leaders.  It is a great way to learn about land management issues, government and stakeholder collaborative processes, and grant funding opportunities.

The Mendocino National Forest, which is a premier destination OHV recreation area, is looking for a person to represent OHV recreation on the RAC.  Please consider applying for this position as it is a great way to serve the OHV community.

Please review the FS News Release below for information.  Please feel free to contact QWR/Don Amador if you have any questions.  Contact via email at: damador@quietwarriorracing.com

FOREST SERVICE RAC NEWS RELEASE

Officials of the Mendocino National Forest are conducting public outreach to fill four permanent seats and two replacement members to establish a full federal advisory committee for Glenn and Colusa Counties.

Once appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture later this spring, the RAC will solicit projects for implementation.  RACs were established as a provision of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.  By law the 4-year term, fifteen-member committee is composed of a wide representation of National Forest interests organized into the three categories below. An additional member is also appointed as a replacement should a committee member leave for any reason.

The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 or Public Law 110-343 replaced an arrangement that gave counties 25% of Forest Service receipts from logging, grazing, recreation and other activities on national forest lands.

RAC projects must have broad community based support with objectives that may include, but are not limited to: road, trail, and infrastructure maintenance or obliteration; soil productivity improvements; improvements in forest ecosystem health; watershed restoration and maintenance; restoration, maintenance, and improvement of wildlife and fish habitat; control of noxious and exotic weeds; hazardous fuels reduction; and reintroduction of native species. Projects must be on public land but can occur on private land if it can be demonstrated that there is a benefit to public land resources.

Interested applicants can apply for the Glenn\Colusa County RAC membership.  An interest form is available on the Mendocino National Forest website at: http://fsweb.mendocino.r5.fs.fed.us

Applicants must complete a cover letter and the short interest form.  Please address your correspondence to Ann Carlson, Forest Supervisor, 825 North Humboldt Ave., Willows, CA 95988.   Once committee members are selected an additional background screening will occur by the FBI. 

For additional information about the Secure Rural Schools legislation, including Titles I, II and III, please visit the SRS website at www.fs.fed.us/srs.  For further information or questions please contact, Christine Hill, District Ranger or Zach Rich, RAC Coordinator at (530) 934-3316 or Zach at-zachary.j.rich@usda.gov

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Thanks for your review of this RAC opportunity.

Don Amador

Member, BLM Central CA RAC

Member, FS Region 5 Recreation RAC (2011-2015)

PSA - Support Post Fire Winter Seasoning of OHV Trail Repairs

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Post Fire Temporary Closure Sign on OHV Trail

Mendocino National Forest

As federal OHV recreation areas continue their post Mendocino Complex Fire phased reopening of designated roads and trails that provide looped opportunities or connectivity, it is important to respect signs on routes that remain temporarily closed so their post-fire reconstruction treatments can season or stabilize over the winter.

Post Fire Rebuilding of Soil Erosion Structures on OHV Trail

Mendocino National Forest

Many of those closed routes received extensive damage as a result of dozer lines blading out soil erosion control structures on the trail.  Other trails had OHV bridges destroyed by the fire or had huge gullies carved out by heavy post-fire rain events.

Damaged Timber Barriers and Natural Vegetation Barriers

Mendocino National Forest

Another “sign” to look for as you enjoy those routes reopened over the last few months are those trail or area delineators that were either completely or partially destroyed by the fire.

QWR urges the greater OHV community to respect those roads, trails, and areas that remain temporarily closed or burned over sections of the forest where delineators - or vegetation that functioned as natural delineators - were damaged or obliterated.

Be assured, the Forest Service, OHV clubs, and non-profit partners are working hard on various post-wildfire recovery projects so that an increased number of popular motorized routes can be reopened in a timely manner for casual trail riding and permitted events in 2020.

INDUSTRY ECON UPDATE - Federal Economic Report Includes SxS Recreation

Designated SxS/ATV/MC Trail

BLM's Chappie-Shasta OHV Area

 As motorized recreation continues to grow as an important economic contributor, QWR believes it is important for both private and public sector researchers to detail vehicle-specific analytics to better inform decision-makers, planners, and other stakeholders.

Off-Road Motorcycle Trail

CA's Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area

A recent update from NOHVCC and the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) confirms that SxS recreation WAS included in the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

LINK TO MIC NEWS RELEASE ON SXS USE COUNTED IN BEA STUDY

https://www.nohvcc.org/economic-data-shows-motorcycling-atv-riding-side-by-side-driving-among-nations-largest-outdoor-recreation-activities/

Don Amador, QWR President, states, “Today, OHV recreation not only provides access to high quality casual use trail opportunities and permitted events, but also provides motorized access to non-motorized activities.  I have friends and colleagues from both the OHV and conservation communities that also utilize SxSs for resource management, wildlife viewing, hunting, and stewardship projects.”

Open Sand Riding for SxS/ATV/MC and other OHVs

Forest Service's Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

“I believe outdoor recreation economic reports and updates are a critically important tool and breaking out data about the fiscal benefit that comes from specific vehicle types will better inform land management agencies as they plan for current and future OHV use on designated roads, trails, and areas,” Amador concludes.

FEDERAL RECREATION ECON REPORT MISSES SxS USE - AGAIN

SxS Touring on BLM Lands 

BLM, Needles Field Office, CA

QWR greatly appreciates the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) and their ongoing efforts to highlight the important fiscal contribution that outdoor recreation makes to the U.S. economy.

SxS Backcountry Exploring

Eldorado National Forest, CA

A news release last week from ORR about a new update from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) states this is the second consecutive year that the BEA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has released formal, national-level data, a notable milestone for the industry now identified as a unique sector of the economy. For the first time, BEA also released preliminary data on the outdoor recreation economy at the state level for all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Having a rich set of both state and national data on outdoor recreation to draw upon will inform decision-making by businesses, policymakers, and managers of public lands and waters.

LINK TO ORR NEWS RELEASE

https://recreationroundtable.org/new-government-report-reaffirms-outdoor-recreations-role-as-a-significant-economic-driver

As you may remember, on September 20, 2018, the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s BEA released data that shows the outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.2 percent ($412 billion) of current-dollar Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016. The BEA report notes the outdoor recreation economy grew 1.7 percent in 2016 which was faster than the 1.6 percent growth for the overall U.S. economy.

SxS Trail Use

BLM, Eagle Lake Field Office, CA

At that time, QWR contacted the BEA about our concerns that the agency may actually be underreporting the economic impact of “off-road” motorized recreation.  While BEA disaggregated motorcycle and ATV use from other motorized activities such as RVing, it appears the agency again fails to capture the direct and growing off-road economic impact of larger OHVs such as Side x Sides (SxS), jeep-type vehicles, four-wheel drive pickups, and all-wheel drive SUVs.

Jeep on Rubicon Trail 

Eldorado National Forest/El Dorado County

QWR believes it is important for both private and public sector economists and researchers to “ground truth” their assumptions before starting their outdoor recreation economic studies.   This is not only important for BEA but for other government agencies as they try to quantify the recreation economic benefits to local communities and the U.S. GDP.

AZ OHV DECALS NOW REQUIRED FOR NON-RESIDENTS

CA OHV enthusiasts who like to visit AZ came back from the Labor Day Weekend to find that they are now required to purchase an AZ non-resident OHV decal before riding in that state.   The new decal program became operational on September 1, 2019.

According to the AZ Department of Game and Fish - Out-of-state residents wishing to legally ride their off-highway vehicle and support OHV trail maintenance, education and law enforcement efforts in Arizona can purchase a nonresident OHV decal beginning Sunday, Sept. 1.

The new decal was supported and pushed by the OHV riding community during the 2019 legislative session and was signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey. The law requires nonresident OHV owners to purchase a decal to operate the machines within the state.

All OHVs designed by the manufacturer primarily for use over unimproved terrain and that weigh 2,500 pounds or less are required by law to display a valid OHV decal to operate on public and state trust lands. This includes “street legal” OHVs that meet these two requirements.

Before the law was passed, nonresident OHV owners could ride their machines within the state for up to 30 days only if their state had a similar in-state resident decal program. There is no longer a grace period allowing nonresidents to operate without an Arizona decal and owners are now required to purchase a decal before operating their machines within the state. 

Those caught riding without a current decal can be fined.

LINK TO AZ GAME AND FISH NEWS RELEASE

https://www.azgfd.com/nonresident-ohv-decal-on-sale-sunday-sept-1/

Don Amador, QWR President, states, “I think the new AZ decal program caught a lot of CA OHVers  off-guard.  As a trail recreation professional and former CA State Park OHV Commissioner, I have always taken pride in our reciprocity with other states that have an off-road recreation decal or sticker program.”

“It appears this plan may have a lot of unintended consequences that include placing an additional fiscal burden on non-AZ residents who like to enjoy OHV recreation opportunities there or forcing states with long-standing OHV decal programs to reconsider reciprocity with AZ riders,” Amador continues. 

“I have reached out to the proponents of this new decal program for their rationale so CA OHVers can understand how this regulation was created,” Amador concludes.

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COLLABORATION FOR RECREATION – Understand, Respect, and Protect

2011 Agency-User Field Trip - Start of Collaborative Process

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

QWR remains a strong supporter of the collaborative process as it relates to public land recreation planning and management efforts at local, state, and federal areas.

The important role that collaboration plays was acknowledged by the California Coastal Commission at a recent hearing where they directed California State Parks to develop a local collaborative where various land/regulatory agencies, elected officials, businesses, OHV groups, and conservation organizations can work together to help develop responsible management concepts for Oceano Dunes SVRA.

A good example of successful collaboration at a popular recreation area can found at the U.S. Forest Service’s Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. 

Recent Collaborative Open Dune Restoration Project

                                                 Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

In 2014, the Save the Riders Dunes, a local OHV non-profit organization, met with conservation groups to discuss finding common ground with a goal of both protecting open sand resources and providing a high-quality outdoor experience.  That stakeholder process was centered on attending meetings and field trips where information was shared, values appreciated/respected, and new relationships formed.

QWR believes that robust collaborate effort is largely responsible for “Saving” the Oregon Dunes and creating a positive future there for both motorized and non-motorized recreation opportunities.

QWR encourages all those engaged in recreation planning efforts to take time to read the highly informative 23 page The Oregon Dunes Restoration Collaborative Report on how this diverse set of interest groups came together in a substantive manner to develop a strategy for managing the Oregon Dunes for current and future generations.

LINK TO OR DUNES COLLABORATIVE REPORT

https://www.saveoregondunes.org/learn/dunes-restoration-strategy/

QWR has an axiom that “The quality of your local FS/BLM/State Park OHV recreation program is or will be directly proportional to the quality of your engagement with agency staff and other users.”

If your club has not done so already, now is the time for your organization to appoint a designated representative(s) to attend local land use planning meetings and make that long-term commitment to help ensure that you and your family continues to have access to high quality trail-based or open sand recreational opportunities.  It is the future of OHV.

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