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By: Robert Janis
NJOHVA Developing Ties between OHVers, the
Public and the State
According to Dale Freitas, president of the
New Jersey Off-Highway Vehicle Association, the
one major obstacle for the association is to
overcome the apathy of the OHV/ATV community.
The group has developed several ways to combat
it and has shown progress in making the
association a strong advocate for OHV/ATV
issues.
The NJOHVA was started in January 2005 as the
result of a meeting between the American
Motorcyclist Association, the ATV Association
and the National Off-Highway Vehicle
Conservation Council (NOHVCC). The mission of
the group is to change the perception of what
Off-Highway Vehicle recreation is all about.
“We’re not a lobbying organization,” explained
Freitas, “but we do spend a lot of time up at
the state house and at the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection. Our primary mission
is to promote responsible and safe operation of
OHVs as well as to facilitate the creation of
OHV riding opportunities both through support
for OHV clubs as well as the creation of OHV
parks and trail access.”
A Grass Roots, Low Budget
Operation
Freitas noted that when the NJOHVA got started
they discovered that the best way to carry
through is to develop a grass roots, low budget
operation. “Our first goal was to build
membership but most people won’t get involved
unless there are tangible results,” he said. “So
to grow the organization we needed access to an
advocacy recruitment tool very much like what
the environmental community uses to build their
ranks. We knew that if potential members felt
that they were able to make a difference they
would support us.”
The organization reached out to the MIC, the
American Motorcyclist Association and the
National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation
Council for support. As a result, MIC helped the
NJOHVA with a tool they use for ARRA. The
association then identified key OHV issues in
the state of New Jersey and developed an
advocacy program directed at the state
legislature to let them know that the OHV
community of New Jersey included close to
250,000 OHV users and that the NJOHVA
represented them.
They also spent a lot of time working the phones
and contacting legislators and their aides as
well as the media in order to introduce the
group. “The newspapers are always looking for
someone from the opposing side to provide
comment and we’ve positioned the NJOHVA as that
group,” said Freitas. Also, the association
stays on message always promoting responsible
and safe OHV recreation.
“After about six months of doing this, our
organization grew like crazy,” said Freitas.
“Every legislator in the state house was well
aware of the NJOHVA and the issues pertaining to
OHV recreation in New Jersey.”
Although keeping in touch with legislators and
other state agencies is a key to their success,
Freitas pointed out that the NJOHVA has no
lobbyists. “Actually our biggest obstacle as far
as lobbying is concerned is funding,” explained
Freitas. “Up until now everything has been out
of our pockets. We’ve applied for grants from
the industry and we’re waiting to hear who is
going to help us out. Currently, the only
lobbyists we have are John Parrinello, our
government relations/legislative officer, and
myself. Recently a lobbying firm in Trenton, New
Jersey has been helping us pro-bono because they
believe we’re ready to go to the next level, and
they’d like to help us get there.”
As far as influencing local city councils and
other state decision-making agencies, Freitas
said that the association leads by example and
creates OHV events that serve as a “Trojan
Horse” to get them into communities. “I then
partner with non-profits where we do an OHV
event and they work the gate, get the insurance
releases signed and keep the gate fee. It raises
a lot of money and once you get them used to the
model, you’re always welcomed back,” he said.
Freitas also targets local newspapers and radio
to get them to cover the events and encourage
them to cover the local kids who participate, as
well as their families. “This way the story is
always about how a local kid did well or how a
local kid had a legal place to ride and also
emphasize how the NJOHVA raised a lot of money
for the community. This resonates really well up
at the state house because OHV issues are local
issues,” added Freitas.
Motivating the Grass Roots
As mentioned earlier, one of the toughest things
the association has to deal with is the apathy
of the OHV community. One tool to get them
concerned and working is Get Active Advocacy
e-mail campaigns in which the message is always
responsible and safe OHV recreation. “Each
campaign we send out has a different message and
for whatever reason it has become somewhat
viral--people spread the word. They appreciate
that someone is actually doing work. And, as a
result, new membership is constantly growing.
Every meeting always has new faces and many of
them want to contribute in one way or another.”
The association is concentrating on getting
their members to get involved locally. “They
know the players and are familiar with the
politics,” said Freitas. He admitted that there
are areas the association needs to work on,
however, including recruitment, fund raising,
and dealer development. “But we’re getting
there. More dealers are taking notice and
getting involved. Now our goal is to create a
New Jersey Off-Highway Vehicle Dealer
Association,” said Freitas.
The Atlantic Grand Prix
He volunteered that there are not many OHV/ATV
clubs in New Jersey. Instead, he describes the
community as being “a bunch of nomadic tribes.”
To unite the tribes and to lead to the formation
of clubs, Freitas has created the Atlantic Grand
Prix Series, which is a cross country series of
racing events for ATVs and motorcycles. The
events are run as community fund raisers with
the goal of developing OHV parks. “In New Jersey
we get about 400 participants and maybe 1,000
spectators,” said Freitas, who also serves as
the executive director of the series.
“The Atlantic Grand Prix gets us into
communities and gives us an opportunity to get
them receptive to OHV,” said Freitas.
The Atlantic Grand Prix Series started more than
25 years ago. Events are held in New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and New York. ATV and unregistered
motorcycle population makes up nearly 95 percent
of the OHVs sold in those three states. ATVs
make up about 65 percent of the market and
unregistered motorcycles account for about 30
percent.
The Atlantic Grand Prix events are not run on
state land, but it is being used to help protect
woodlands and farmland from being devoured by
development. “Farmers were being squeezed from
all sides and needed a creative way to generate
additional revenue and rural fire companies were
getting their budgets slashed and were finding
it harder to protect their communities. The
Atlantic Grand Prix saw an opportunity to
provide benefits to farmers, fire companies,
rural communities and the tri-state region and
at the same time promote the sport of OHV/ATV
racing,” said Freitas. The series runs their
events on farm fields in-between the farmer crop
rotations, old gravel pits that aren’t in use,
and ski resorts during their off season.
“The nice thing about this is that it really
doesn’t impact the environment, and we don’t
impact any sensitive state-owned lands,”
continued Freitas. “We only impact a community
one weekend a year. When we’re finished, we
clean up and move on to the next location. The
farmers then plant their crops and you’d would
never know that any event had taken place
there.”
The Atlantic Grand Prix Series also helps in
getting communities receptive to having OHV
parks. Then the association builds upon this by
participating in a New Jersey state program in
which the state’s Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) and a funding organization
which is a part of the DEP called the Green
Acres Fund, acquires open land for preservation.
The association uses this program to acquire
land that is converted into OHV parks.
Sponsors of the Atlantic Grand Prix include Can
Am, Moose Racing, ITP, Scott, Husqvarna, Pirie
Performance Products, North American Warehouse,
Montgomeryville Cycle Center, Mount Holly
Powersports, Surf & Turf Powersports, Cycle
World, Hanover Powersports, Mt. Holly, Sport
Honda Powerhouse, Southern Ocean Cycle Center,
Xtreme Machines, Trick Racing, Hamilton Yamaha,
The Quadbuilder and propilotsuspension.com.
More information on the Atlantic Grand Prix
Series can be found at their website (www.atlanticgrandprix.com).
Issues Plaguing OHVers/ATVers
Some of the major issues that are plaguing the
OHV/ATV community in New Jersey are attempts by
the legislature to pass laws that would put
motorcycle shops out of business and make it
illegal to operate an OHV. The NJOHVA was
instrumental in turning the premise of the bill
around so that the anti-OHV issues are out and
the bill now includes an OHV registration
program with funding going to OHV safety
training, creation of OHV parks and enhancement
to OHV riding opportunities in New Jersey. “I
guess 250,000 OHV users generate a lot of
potential revenue for the state,” quipped
Freitas.
NJOHVA does not get involved in lawsuits to
pursue their goals. Instead, they work with the
New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection as well as work on endangered species
issues favored by environmental groups, and they
also participate in meetings of environmental
groups. They also work with outside
organizations like NOHVCC, AMA/ATVA and MIC.
According to Freitas there are a few thousand
members of the NJOHVA. Anyone can join the
organization for free. Just register online at
http://ga3.org/njohva/join.tcl?is_preview=1.
The NJOHVA Website
The association also has their own website (www.njohva.org).
The site serves as the message bulletin board
for the group and includes everything you need
to know about OHV recreation in New Jersey. It
includes links to their advocacy tools; links to
legislators, agencies and OHV/ATV communities;
the NJOHVA brochure which can be downloaded from
the site; Action Alerts; and local news articles
concerning OHV riders from state newspapers.
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