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Maryland Department of Natural Resources Proposed Off-Road Vehicle Trail System Expansion

Please see http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/orv_Projects.asp

There will be a public meeting on Sept 4th 7pm at New Germany State Park.   Please attend if possible and comment regardless.

Points to consider:
1.  This is a good start but does not adequately replace the more technical trails at Green Ridge State Forest.  Please encourage DNR to establish more technically challenging, but sustainable trails for bikes, ATVs and jeeps.

2.  Please encourage the DNR to establish monitoring programs so that we can reduce the subjectivity of when a trail is no longer sustainable.

3.  Encourage the DNR to use volunteer labor to maintain and monitor trails.  Volunteers can also establish new single and 2-track trails at little or no-cost to the DNR.

Please send us feedback if you attend the meeting or if you comment by email.  Send your comments to info@mdohvalliange.org.

Proposed Off-Road Vehicle Trail System Expansion

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is proposing to expand its off-road vehicle (ORV) trail system. Three new ORV Trails are being considered: (1) one ORV Trail in Garrett County on the Savage River State Forest, in the general vicinity of St. John’s Rock-Red Dog Road, (2) two ORV Trails in Washington County, on DNR managed lands on Sideling Hill north and south.

Public comments will be taken at the September 4th starting at 1900 at New Germany State Park meeting following a presentation by DNR staff, via email or postal mail.

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St. John’s Rock Trail Evaluation Ride

The summer sun rises on western Maryland, and promised to deliver a new start. DNR extended an invitation to the members of Maryland’s new Offroad Vehicle Stakeholder Workgroup. The group was invited to evaluate the St. John’s Rock Trail in Savage River State Forest as a potential new OHV trail! PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TRAIL IS NOT OPENED TO THE PUBLIC AT THIS TIME!

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Still time to answer the survey

DNR reported that over 1300 responses to the survey have been collected to date.  The survey will remain open for a few more weeks.  Continue the great work and  help spread the word.  Consider dropping by your local bike shop and letting them know about the survey and also telling your riding buddies.  Here is print ready bulletin board flyer:  Survey Flyer

The DNR Survey is Open!

The long awaited Department of Natural resources survey is finally open.  Kudos to the OHVers among us that have been storming the Regional Stakeholder Outdoor Recreation Evaluation meetings with great enthusiasm.   It is very crucial the momentum continue and quantify the OHV users via the survey.

Get a vote in our OHV state lands, and help get a headcount of the OHV user community. Without your survey response, DNR won’t know how many of us need dirt under our tires.

There are at least 2 areas where you should watch for OHV inputs.  On the first page, ensure you mark OHV use, and also type a comment about lack of OHV access near the end of the survey.

Survey Link Here

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) encourages Marylanders to share their thoughts on State parks and lands through a quick and easy online survey.

The survey asks a variety of multiple choice and open ended questions that will help DNR determine which outdoor recreation facilities, programs and services do and do not meet the needs of the community.

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The Making of a Snowman

No doubt as snow is blanketing the Washington DC area today,  the work for the OHV community has yet to grind to a halt.  Making a snowman is not easy work, especially at the beginning.  Somewhere in the beginning of making the first snowball, it’s a lot of work.  However as the snowball gets bigger, the work gets easier and the snowball making is fun!

February was marked by many encouraging metrics for the OHV community. And that small OHV snowball is beginning to actually look like it will flourish! First off, did you happen to see this news article on 18 February?

Riding Trails a Possibility in Allegany County

To summarize the high points of the article:

  A recreational developer wants to bring a series of legal off-road riding areas to Allegany County for use by all-terrain and other vehicles.  Key to any trail system would be cooperation between the state and developers involving liability issues and the use of reclaimed strip mine lands.

Secondly, this past week, the Stakeholders’ meeting was a seismic event.   DNR is moving to the next phase leading to the opening of Savage River State Forest and the Sideling Hill Wildlife Management Area for OHV riding. Yes, you heard that correctly! It isn’t a done deal yet. The next step is in April DNR will conduct a 2-day field review which will included selected OHV participants to evaluate the proposed trails (read that to ride them), then a public comment period. If that goes well, then the State will award a contract for construction of parking, primitive camping, some trail extension, etc.  Volunteers will be a large part of trail construction. This all could lead to public riding starting in 2014.

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Marylanders Asked to Provide Recreation Information

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking citizens for their input on State outdoor recreation facilities and services in areas throughout Maryland. The Department gathered information from those in Southern Maryland earlier this month and a meeting for the Western Region will be announced shortly.

We attended the first meeting and thought it went very well.  Over 50% of the attendees were OHV enthusiasts.  From that meeting, we created a set of talking points for your consideration.  Please see AGENDA-with-talking-points and attend the meeting nearest you!

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Exciting times!

We are living in exciting times.  The future of Maryland Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) on  public lands is dynamic and hangs in a precarious balance.  As of 2011, Maryland does not have any significant OHV access on public lands, citing excessive environmental damage.

While the 2011 closure decision might have seemed like the darkest hour for Maryland OHVs, it has also been our biggest triumph.  Realizing that OHV area user group for state lands, Maryland chartered a new OHV stakeholder working group which began to bridge the concerns of the State with the needs of the OHV community to build sustainable multi-use trails.

While a little less than two years has lapsed, we now find ourselves embarking on a journey together.    The OHV community has rallied on grass-roots level and the Maryland OHV alliance was born.   We share the zest for OHVs with the tranquility of nature.   Maryland’s OHV alliance does not have single face; we are amateur racers, we are Marylander’s employed by the OHV industry as dealers, parts supplies and repair shops, we are multiple family generations raising strong children during OHV outings.

The alliance’s main goal:  To create sustainable, world-class OHV multi-use trails within Maryland’s forests and parks.

The alliance has a busy year planned, and 2013 has kicked off with a whirlwind of activity.  We’ll keep you updated on the following pages with our work, but to summarize there are many opportunities for the OHV public to be heard though meetings or sending comments to written plans.

Nobody will ever care as much about OHV use in Maryland as you do.  Consider joining us and together we can keep Maryland’s public lands open to the public.

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