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By: Robert Janis
ATV/BC Keeps British Columbia Governments
Aware of ATV Issues
According to Jeff Mohr, first vice president
of ATV/BC, the most urgent issues of concern to
the British Columbia ATV community is access to
public lands and recognition that motorized
sports has an incredible potential to attract
tourism to the province. The ATV/BC is an
organization that is actively involved with
various levels of government and the province of
British Columbia to resolve these issues. It is
also seeking ways to register trails and open up
exceptional areas of British Columbia to
motorized sports recreation.
The organization was founded on August 25,
2000 in Green Lake, British Columbia. Fifty
people representing three clubs met and talked
about a provincial organization. “The people
present decided to vote to form a provincial
association, chose the name ATV/BC and elected a
small committee,” explained Beverly Felske,
former president of the group and current member
of the board of directors. “When we tried to
register with the government under the Societies
Act, we were told that we couldn’t use ATV/BC as
the legal name because of the ATV act. So Quad
Riders ATV Association was chosen as the name by
the board of directors and then accepted by the
Societies Act. We are allowed to use ATV/BC as
our name except on legal documents.” The three
clubs involved in the formation of the group
were Quad Squad South Caribou, Prince George ATV
Club, and Revelstoke ATV Club.
“The mission of the organization is to preserve
our right to ride as a recreation group,”
explained Gordon Galloway, former treasurer and
current board member.
Local Clubs Are Foundation of Group
The association is built upon the foundation of
local clubs. “Normally, you join a local club
that belongs to the ATV/BC; and when you pay
your annual dues and club fees you become a
member of the ATV/BC. It’s sort of like a chain
of command,” said Dennis Webb, director of
communications for ATV/BC. “ATV/BC is member
oriented. Each individual member and each member
club has a vote at association meetings.”
Members assist ATV/BC by making suggestions and
show their concerns in other manners such as
participating in clean-up days during which
trails are maintained, added Jeff Mohr, first
vice president of the ATV/BC.
Since local clubs are an essential part of the
organization, ATV/BC encourages the formation of
local clubs. “We will meet with people and
provide assistance in doing what is necessary to
start and register a club as a Society.
Information is available on our website,” added
Mohr. “We will also meet with local clubs in
response to local issues and provide information
and guidance about people to talk with on
specific issues and help with trail
registration.”
The organization lobbies BC governments by
interacting with members of the governments
through their Land Issues Coordinator,
participate in the Off Road Commission (ORC) and
trail strategy Committee and through meetings
with government ministers and other bureaucrats.
It has one paid lobbyist, Terry Wardrop, members
of local clubs, and the board of directors of
the ATV/BC also lobby on issues in their
respective areas.
The organization also works with a variety of
other groups including the national ATV
Association in Canada, the All Terrain Quad
Council of Canada (AQCC), the Canadian
Off-Highway Vehicle Distributors Council (COHV),
the British Columbia Snowmobile Federation
(BCSF), Association of British Columbia
Snowmobile Clubs (ABCSC), and the British
Columbia Off-Road Motor Vehicles Association
(BCORMVA).
According to Mohr, the focus of the group is on
recreation and promoting safety. “We are
actively involved in promoting safety throughout
Canada through the Canada Safety Council
courses, and we participate in environmentally
friendly activity including clean-up days,” said
Mohr. The group will also teach the American
Safety Institute curriculum.
Currently, ATV/BC has 2,700 members. Benefits
for members include cheap insurance, access to
environmental and safety information, a
bi-annual magazine, and access to an
organization that can lobby government on behalf
of members.
The group also has a website (www.atvbc.ca)
which provides a means of communications between
members. According to Webb, members can write an
article and submit it to the website or the
group’s newsletter for posting. Webb and members
of the club’s board of directors review the
article; and if approved, it is posted on the
site or published in the newsletter and in the
Riders West Magazine. The site also includes a
members’ forum where numerous topics of interest
to the ATV community are discussed.
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