To read about these important off-road topics in more detail and to learn about others go to ATV Parks and OHV Information.

Now onto the important off-topics:

• Crossbar Ranch ORV Area in Oklahoma Faces Closure - Natural gas magnate Aubrey McClendon, a natural gas tycoon, has made an offer to purchase the Cross Bar Ranch, which is owned and operated by the city of Davis as a “Western Wilderness Adventure”.  The city manager has reported that the ranch loses money.  This is not the kind of news I like to report folks.  Read more about this potential ORV Park closing  
• Okanogan-Wenatchee Forest ORV Travel Management Proposals To Be Presented - U.S. Forest Service has stated that it will unveil its first proposal to regulate off-road vehicle use in the Okanogan-Wenatchee Forest in September 2007 at a series of meetings.  Learn about the ORV Travel Management Presentation Dates
• Black Hills National Forest ORV Management Plans In The Works - US Forest Service has stated that it will unveil its first proposal to regulate off-road vehicle use in the Black Hills National Forest in September 2007 at a series of meetings. See the times and locations of the ORV Plan presentations.
• Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina Next For ORV Management Plans - The National Park Service has published a Notice of Intent to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for an ORV Management Plan at Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina. The plan will be used to guide the management and control of ORVs at the seashore for the next 15-20 years.  Learn about ORV meeting places and dates. 
• Eldorado National Forest ORV Plan Protesters Get Some Press - But barely! We get a few sentences with some snippets about our concerns and that’s it.  Where are the facts on how many trails they want to close? Where is the details of our side of the story? Nowhere, that’s where. The jerks in the press will not give us any due discourse for pleading our case. It is B.S.!   Don’t expect any help from these vermin.
• St. Joe State Park (MO) Under Scrutiny of EPA - The EPA has urged the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to move the ORV riding area away from the flats during the next several years and to warn park visitors of the threat of lead mine waste, which makes up approximately 1,000 of the park’s 8,200 acres. Bruce Morrison, spokesman for the EPA’s Superfund Division in Kansas City, was reported as saying “We see the continued use of the park for (off-road vehicle) riding and recreation in the mine tailings as inconsistent with EPA’s approach to reducing lead exposure in St. Francis County.”  Will this ORV Park be closed?
• San Bernadino County Board of Supervisors Votes To Keep Controversial Off-Road Ordinance - The vote was unanimous by the San Bernadino County Board of Supervisors to keep an extremely controversial, and what some are calling an illegal law, off-road ordinance in place despite the presence of over 100 people in opposition to the ordinance. The county statute went into effect on July 1, 2006, and created regulations against off-roaders.  The biggest issue among the off-roaders was the staging clause in the ordinance, which requires off-roaders gathered in groups of 10 or more to apply for a special $155 permit which can take four to six weeks to obtain.
• Somerset County, ME Seeing Benefit of ATVs - The town of Jackman, ME has begun to see the beauty in dirt, that is ATV dirt. The reason is that that thousands of ATV enthusiasts throughout New England and beyond have begun showing up in growing numbers throughout the year and not just in the winter (as snowmobile enthusiasts). The attraction is the 300+ plus miles of designated ATV trails in the Jackman-Moose River region. A 2005 analysis by the University of Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center estimated that ATVs contribute more than $200 million to Maine’s economy. Many feel that the financial impact is largely due to the expanded trail system.  What have we been telling people?  How is this always a mystery? The OHV enthusiasts are good for the economy and business!
•  Some Problems Arising In WV on the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System - Residents of the Windmill Gap area have said they feel constantly harassed by irresponsible ATV riders while local business owners relying on ATV users said only a small percentage of riders cause problems.
• Pownal, VT Officials Consider Allowing Use of Roads by ATVs That Connect With Trail Systems - The Pownal Select Board is expected to make a decision soon on whether or not to allow legal access to ATVs to use certain town roads that would connect existing ATV trails into a large loop system. Some board members have indicated they favor the proposal from a regional ATV club, and town officials have sought comment from opponents. Emotions and concerns run high on this issue. The Select Board has stated that they will issue their decision soon, but gave no time frame for the announcement.  Stay posted to our web site at www.kyorvpark.com for updates.
• Bridgeport, TX Developing A New Off-Road Park - Bridgeport, TX has just recently began opening trails in Northwest Park, a 300 acre OHV and hiking trail park. When the park is completed, it will have , an area for motorized vehicles, an area for non-motorized vehicles such as mountain bikes, a hiking trail system, and a camping area. The city is looking for volunteers to assist in trail development.
• Travel Management Plans Come To Texas National Forests and Grasslands In a Big Way! - Siting a projected increase in the use of off-highway vehicles (OHV) on national forests and grasslands in years to come, National Forests and Grasslands in Texas Supervisor Fred Salinas is proposing to implement a Forest Service Travel Management Rule regulation on the Angelina, Davy Crockett and Sabine National forests, according to a recent report from the US Forest Service.  Learn more about this OHV bad news.
•  The OHV Travel Route Fiasco in Eldorado National Forest Was Impacted By a Lawsuit - Another Greenie Use of the Courts To Push Their Agenda!  - As we reported earlier, the recently proposed travel management plan for the Eldorado National Forest has upset many off-road enthusiasts! The Forest Service has proposed a plan to close over 1,000+ miles of popular roads and off-road trails. The Environmental Impact Statement that came out of the Forest Service’s study has laid out five possibilities for approximately 2,250 miles of the existing roads and trails. The statement cites resource protection and a proliferation of user-created trails as reasons for the alternatives presented. As stated in the report “In their enjoyment of the National Forest, motor vehicle users have created numerous unauthorized routes…The number of such routes continues to grow each year, with many new routes having environmental impacts and safety concerns that have not been addressed.” As we have discussed previously, the trails were not illegally made! When a Forest is open without restriction that means that you can venture wherever you like! How is then doing it illegal?! This is Greenie language being used to make us look bad and turn overall political favor against us.  Every national forest has been instructed to draft a travel management plan, but the completion of Eldorado National Forest’s plan was dramatically altered by a 2005 court order that came about from a lawsuit filed by the conservation groups Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation, Center for Biological Diversity and the California Wilderness Coalition. The groups filed a challenge to the Forest Service’s original analysis of the impact of motorized vehicles on the forest that was originally contained in the 1990 trail management plan. As we have said before, look for more and more of these lawsuits all across the country. The OHV community had better get a legal defense fund going.

I wish our positive news outweighed the bad, but it is what it is and pretending otherwise woudl just be plain delusional.  THe OHV community needs to get better organized and deeper pockets to start fighting battles in the court system because that is where it will be won or lost.  Right now, we’re losing.  The money needs to come from all of the manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers making money off of the OHV sport, and all of the participants.  You’ll pay over $1,000.00 for a good lift, how much will you pay to keep these lands open to ride on?  Its time to get active and join one of the off-road coalition groups and financially support them.