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By Robert Janis
The New Hampshire Off-Highway Vehicle
Association
Volunteer trail work |
New Hampshire is known as the Granite State.
No wonder then that the state association, the
New Hampshire Off-Highway Vehicle Association
(NHOHVA), is providing rock solid support for
ATVers and trail bikers statewide.
Founded in July, 2001 and based in Concord,
New Hampshire, the NHOHVA is focused on the
preservation of family-based motorized trail
recreation through safety and environmental
education. The group is built upon the local
ATV/trail bike clubs. A representative of each
of the local member clubs is seated on the Board
of Directors.
There are nine member clubs affiliated with
the NHOHVA. They are: the Ammonoosuc Valley ATV
Club, Bath, New Hampshire; Grafton County ATV
Club, Canaan, New Hampshire; Merrimack Valley
Trail Riders, Milford, New Hampshire; Mt.
Mooseilauke ATV Club, Warren, New Hampshire; New
Durham Valley ATV Club, New Durham, New
Hampshire; New Hampshire ATV Club, Auburn, New
Hampshire; Sullivan County ATV Club, Claremont,
New Hampshire; Valley Trail Association -- ATV
Club, West Ossippe, New Hampshire; and White
Mountain ATV Club, Lincoln, New Hampshire.
Members of these clubs are also automatically
members of the NHOHVA.
In addition, the NHOVHA promotes local
non-member ATV clubs on its website:
http://www.nhohva.org. These clubs include:
Androscoggin Valley ATV Club, Berlin, New
Hampshire; Black Water ATV Association,
Boscawen, New Hampshire; Contoocook Valley ATV
Club, Henniker, New Hampshire; Great North Woods
Trail Riders, Pittsburg, New Hampshire; Little Monadnock Family Trails, Troy, New Hampshire;
Littleton Off-Road Riders, Littleton, New
Hampshire; Millsfield ATV Club, Errol, New
Hampshire; North Country ATV Club, N. Stratford,
New Hampshire; Seacoast Trail Riders, Dover, New
Hampshire; Tri-County OHRV Club, Hillsboro, New
Hampshire; Trail Brook OHRVA Club, Lyndeborough,
New Hampshire; Umbagog ATV Club, Errol, New
Hampshire; and Weare ATV Club, Weare, New
Hampshire.
John Mercier is the current president of the
NHOHVA. Other officers of the association are
Larry Anderson, vice president; Dianne Raymond,
secretary; and Brenda Goodbout, treasurer. The
infrastructure of the association includes a
Legislation Committee (Jim Bird, chairman), a
Fundraising and Events Committee (John Mercier,
chairman), a Membership Committee (Brenda
Goodbout, chairwoman), a Public Relations
Committee (Buddy Dionne, chairman), a Website
Committee, a Safety and Education Committee
(Chris Oliverio, chairman) and a Trail Patrol
Committee (Tom Johnson, chairman).
As Mercier tells it, “I really don’t have much
of a background in ATVs. I’m an
environmentalist. I bought my ATV after reading
an article in Mother Earth News suggesting it as
a low-cost alternative to a tractor for small
homesteaders. I went to an ATV Pull that a local
club had to test my machine choice and ended up
recruited. I assumed duties first as a local
club events coordinator, then at the state level
as vice president. My movement up to president
at each the local and state level was purely a
progression. I don’t think 30 people have ever
witnessed me on an ATV.”
Mercier pointed out that the group is a mixture
of ATV and trail bike enthusiasts and
supporters. “Our focus is the recreational
aspect of the community,” said Mercier. “There
are many competitive leagues in the region to
handle other interests. One of these leagues,
Rock Maple Racing of the WPSA, has chosen to
seek an affiliation with us. Because of their
very strong support of “racing on the track, not
the trails” they were able to get the support of
our Board of Directors.
“On the national level, we work closely with the
National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation
Council because we are very much focused on
safety and environmental education,” continued
Mercier. We also realize that lobbying the state
legislature on ATV and OHM issues is an
extension of the educational function so we have
hired Curtis Barry of the DuPont Group, as our
lobbyist.”
NHOHVA trains volunteers for trail
patrol from the Androscoggin Valley ATV
Club |
There are three types of memberships--the
Enthusiasts Membership, the Business Membership,
and the Club Membership.
Anyone who rides an ATV or trail bike in New
Hampshire can join as an enthusiast’s member.
Yearly dues are $10 per member.
Businesses that are involved in the off-highway
recreational vehicle community are encouraged to
join the association via business membership.
Dealerships, trailside gas stations,
restaurants, and lodgings are encouraged to join
in this category.
Members of local clubs throughout New Hampshire
can be a part of the NHOHVA as a club member.
There are two ways a member of a local club can
sign up as a member of the state
association--pay a yearly fee based on the size
of the club or receive free club membership by
automatically signing up all club members to the
NHOHVA at the discount rate of $5 per family.
As previously stated, the NHOHVA’s main focus is
the recreational aspects of ATVing. So the
preservation of trails for riding is a major
priority. With that in mind, one of the most
important elements of the association is the
Trail Patrol Program. The purpose of the program
is to assure proper use of the trails. Members
of the Trail Patrol Program are present on the
trails and assist in emergency situations and
educate riders on the laws and rules pertaining
to the trails. Special outreach programs and
training seminars are held by members of the
Trail Patrol and they also produce and
distribute educational pamphlets. It is the
members of the local clubs who administer the
program. In order to assure that the trails are
used safely, trail patrollers are permitted to
note the registration number, vehicle
description and description of any operator of
an ATV or other off-road vehicle that may not be
using the trail properly and pass the
information on to law enforcement agencies.
Local clubs are encouraged to establish their
own Trail Patrol Program and each patroller is
required to fill out a form each time they
patrol noting what they have observed. The forms
are given to the local club’s trail patrol
coordinator, and copies are sent to the
appropriate state government agency and to the
New Hampshire Off-Highway Vehicle Association.
The program also includes a Sound Awareness
Campaign, a pilot program designed to alert
riders to focus on the sound emission of their
machines. A sound reading is taken of riders’
ATVs as they ride the trails, and results are
compared to the decibel standards for the State
of New Hampshire. “This program is the first of
its kind,” commented Tom Johnson, the Trail
Patrol Coordinator for the New Hampshire
Off-Highway Vehicle Association. “We are taking
the first step in lowering the sound levels
created by OHRVs. We hope that once a rider is
aware that his machine is above the legal limit,
he will take steps to rectify the situation.”
To promote safety the NHOHVA is involved in
safety education classes. For example, the
association is working with the State’s Fish and
Game Department on seminars describing how to
instruct OHRV safety classes. The association
holds many of these seminars in conjunction with
local clubs. In addition, the NHOHVA is
currently developing a safety program with the
state’s 4-H Clubs. Representatives of the
association are traveling throughout the state
to promote safety in the NHOHVA Safety Awareness
Trailer. The association also has Adventure
Trails, a program that uses posters to spread
various safety messages throughout the state.
The messages are in the form of a quiz that kids
participate in to earn prizes.
Grass Drags |
Of course, the NHOHVA has a website:
http://www.nhohva.org. The site offers news
concerning ATVers and off-road vehicle
enthusiasts, information about pending
legislation and events; and a section called
“where to ride” to provide information about the
trails ATVers and off-road vehicle enthusiasts
can ride including the Jericho Mountain State
Park and trails that cross state and privately
owned land that are all created, maintained, and
administered by the local clubs. Moreover, links
are provided so that visitors to the site can
get additional information on Berlin Park from
the Jericho Lake ATV Park, the New Hampshire
Trails Bureau, and local clubs by simply
clicking the mouse of their computer.
A Links page allows visitors to access
information directly from the Vermont ATV
Sportsman’s Association, Jericho Lake ATV Park
forum, ATV Safety Institute, Tread Lightly, the
National Off-Highway Vehicle Insurance & Service
Group, ATV Maine (Maine’s state ATV
association), the All-Terrain Vehicle
Association (ATVA) the national ATV association,
the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation
Council, New Hampshire Fish & Game, the New
Hampshire Bureau of Trails, Blue Ribbon
Coalition, Rock Maple Racing, Berlin Chamber of
Commerce, and 6 Hours of ATV America.
Another part of the site has links to the New
Hampshire OHRV Laws.
Finally, interested visitors to the site can
download reports on The Impact of Spending by
ATV/Trail bike Travel Parties on New Hampshire’s
Economy during July 2002 to June 2003 as well as
a copy of “A Plan for Developing New Hampshire’s
Statewide Trail System for ATVs and Trail Bikes
2004-2008.” This plan could be used as a
blueprint by other states interested in creating
and/or expanding their off-road trail system.
Anyone interested in ATV riding, no matter in
which state you reside, should visit the site.
Again, the website address is:
http://www.nhohva.org.
(NOTE: DIRECTOR OF THE NHOHVA SAID IT WAS ALL
RIGHT TO SELECT PHOTOS FROM THE GROUP'S WEBSITE)
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