Click here for the complete list of all available newsletter issues.

==========================================================

This e-mail newsletter is distributed by:

New York State Off-Highway Recreational Vehicle Assn.

NYSORVA, Inc
PO Box 338
Ravena, NY 12143-0338

Please copy and distribute to all interested parties.

Editor: Alex Ernst, aernst@albany.net

Our Official Homepage is located at http://www.nysorva.org

To request an addition to or removal from the list, e-mail aernst@albany.net listing name and e-mail address.

==========================================================

SUBJECTS FOR THIS NEWSLETTER ARE:

1: NYSORVA’s New Web Address

2: DEC Recreation Survey

3: New Member Club

4: Champion Land Q&A

5: AMA Public Lands Position Statement

==========================================================

1) WWW.NYSORVA.ORG GOES LIVE

We have a new web address using our acronym. The new site features refreshed sections, such as revised template letters for writing politicians regarding the Trail Fund bills. Check it out at http://www.nysorva.org.

2) DEC RECREATION SURVEY

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is developing a Recreation Master Plan for State Forests and Unique Areas in Region 7, encompassing the counties of Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga, and Tompkins.

To develop the plan, the regional managers have created a recreation survey. Based on the public’s input from the survey, they hope to address present and future recreational needs and to plan recreation-related management activities.

This is your opportunity to let state land managers know that you want ATV and off-highway motorcycling trail facilities. Apparently it was not enough that statewide recreation planning research conducted by the state in 1994 showed that ATV trail was the #1 request for new trail facilities. So, let’s back up the 1994 research with a resounding affirmation that we still want trails in 1999 and beyond.

Please get a copy, fill in and mail no later than June 1, 1999.

You can download the survey from our web site at

http://www.nysorva.org/decsurvey.pdf

(You will need the Adobe PDF Reader, available at www.adobe.com. You already have the reader if the file opens in your browser.)

Or reply to me with your fax number and I’ll fax a copy to you.

You can also request the survey by mail by writing or calling one of these NYSDEC offices:

Region 7 - Sherburne
P.O. Box 594, Route 80W
Sherburne, NY 13460
(607)674-4036

Region 7 - Cortland
1285 Fisher Avenue
Cortland, NY 13045-1090
(607) 753-3095

If you can, please also try to attend one of the public hearings on the plan, all held at 7PM at the following locations:

April 22: Homer High School, State Route 281, Homer
April 28: Johnson City High School, 666 Reynolds Rd, Johnson City
April 29: Sherburne-Earlville High School, 15 Chapel St, Sherburne
May 5: New York State Fair Grounds, Art & Home Center, Syracuse

3) NEW MEMBER CLUB

NYSORVA would like to welcome a new member club to the fold: Tri-Town ATV Trailriders Inc., PO Box 262, Winthrop NY 13697, Bob Griffith, Pres., (315) 389-4450. (E-mail contact: John LaMay, cat@slic.com)

The club’s area of interest is St. Lawrence County in the northwestern part of northern-upstate NY. Specifically, the club has participated in the opening of over 50 miles of legal ATV trail in a state reforestation unit located near Brasher Falls, NY. (See http://www.atving.com/tmpl/ridearea/maride.cfm for more information about this multi-use riding area.)

The ~100-member club was founded in 1997. The club writes to us: "We are interested in keeping the sport alive by opening new roads, organizing legislation, [and] the mapping and maintenance of trails." If you are interested in riding and helping out with this area’s trails, please join with Tri-Town ATV to help them see out their goals.

The club will be participating in NYSORVA’s ATV Raffle program with proceeds to be split between the club and NYSORVA.

4) CHAMPION LANDS RECREATIONAL EASEMENT Q&A

We’ve been following for a while now the deal that will transfer about 140,000 currently-private acres in the northwestern Adirondack Park, into state control. Of that, some 110,000 acres are slated to remain in the hands of a private forest products company but with an easement designed to afford the public a great deal of recreational access including, as the state has proposed, ATV trails.

Some notable information picked off the DEC web site:

Q. When will the lands be open to the public?

A. The State expects to close on this agreement in late spring or summer 1999, after details of the contract are finalized and approved by the State Comptroller and Attorney General, as required by law. DEC plans to open the river corridor lands it will own 30 days after closing, hopefully in time for the summer canoeing season. Public use of the easement lands will require extensive coordination with TFG. It is expected that the easement lands will be open to the public by Jan. 1, 2000.

[Note that staff of ATV Ruffriders Club, Inc. are working closely with the DEC to ensure that ATV access to desirable routes within the Champion Santa Clara Tract are included in the final easement and land use plan. Contact the club if you would like to help in this process. We will have the club to thank if trails on this land become a reality. -Ed.]

Q. What kinds of motorized uses will be allowed on the Champion lands?

A. A variety of motorized uses, including snowmobiling and mechanized aids for persons with disabilities, will be allowed on the easement lands. The level of motorized access on the lands being purchased by the State will be determined through the Unit Management Plan process.

Currently, 164 miles of roads and trails are open to public uses on all other public lands within the Adirondack Park. With the addition of the Champion lands, the amount of public lands available for motorized uses will at least double. An extensive series of trails and roads covering hundreds of miles exist on the easement property and will be made available for motorized recreational access under the terms of the easement. To ensure uninterrupted access to key recreation areas, the easement delineates 159 miles of specific primary access corridors (roads and trails) that will permanently be open to the public. These corridors will be marked for the types of uses allowed, including motor vehicle, snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle use where appropriate.

Hundreds of miles of other, secondary existing roads and trails will also be used for non- motorized and motorized uses, where marked and designated, subject to temporary, periodic closure by TFG for timber harvesting activities. These trails will be opened to motorized access when land management plans are finalized and roads and trails are marked and designated for appropriate uses.

The State also has the right to develop new roads, trails and parking lots, subject to TFG's reserved rights of forest management, as provided for in the Land Management Plan, which will be developed by DEC in conjunction with TFG, and revised as conditions warrant in the future, to guide the recreational use and management of the easement lands.

Learn more about the Champion Land Deal at http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/press/index.html.

5) AMA’S PUBLIC LAND USE POSITION STATEMENT

See the AMA web site for a comprehensive article on its position regarding OHV recreation on public lands:

http://www.ama-cycle.org/legisltn/lands.html.

[Back to News List]

[Back to NYSORVA Home Page]