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By: Robert Janis
A Friendly Agenda
Proves Rewarding for All Terrain Vehicle
Association of Nova Scotia
People acute in the knowledge of making
friends and influencing people have learned that
you get better results with a cooperative agenda
than you would with a combative one. The All
Terrain Vehicle Association of Nova Scotia
(ATVANS) uses the tactic and has been able to
open up dialog with all from government to
environmentalists.
The organization was founded in March, 1997 by
six of the seven ATV clubs that existed in the
province of Nova Scotia at the time. The purpose
was to negotiate the future development of the
Rails to Trail Program. Today, there are 38
clubs associated with ATVANS. Members of the
various local clubs are automatically members of
the ATVANS. There are currently about 2,500
members.
The goal of the association is to offer ATV
safety training; promote the education of trail
issues to members, other trail users, and trail
developers; it also assists law enforcement. “We
wish to promote ATV as a responsible form of
recreation,” said James Anderson, director of
public relations for ATVANS. “We encourage
parental supervision, and we represent the
interests of ATVers to government and
landowners. We assist law enforcement
agencies in their course of duty.” ATVANS
cooperates with the police authorities including
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the towns
and districts police forces as well as the
Department of Natural Resources, which has
responsibility over ATV recreation, hunting, and
fishing.
The success of ATVANS is rooted in its concern
for those who are not ATV riders. It recognizes
that those who do not ride can still provide
much needed support. So, for example, the group
has liability insurance for private landowners.
ATVers who ride on private land and may get
injured do not have a need to sue the land
owner. “This provides peace of mind for
landowners throughout Nova Scotia,” said
Anderson.
Promotes ATVers as Cooperative Group
According to Anderson, ATVANS, does not lobby
the government. “We are really not a lobby
group,” he said. “We will represent, but we
don’t lobby. Although we have had problems, we
have been fortunate that the governments of the
province realize that ATV use affects such a
huge percentage of Nova Scotia. So we haven’t
had to do a lot of lobbying. Our greatest tool
has been to be recognized as a reasonable and
approachable influence on government.
2008 Marine Riders Rally |
“You could say that we do our lobbying by our
presence,” continued Anderson. “For example, we
support wilderness protection. Over a period of
time we have made it apparent that we are a
reasonable bunch. We are not looking for
anything special. We simply want to be
considered and treated fairly. By taking this
stance and living up to our end of deals, we
have developed a good reputation; and, as a
result, we are well treated.”
Education is a major part of the association’s
agenda. For example, it includes a safety board
that arranges and performs ATV training courses
in any part of the province for any age group.
It helps motivate members by encouraging them to
attend annual general meetings where they are
educated about current issues.
Members assist the organization by paying dues
and doing volunteer work. “We try not to ask too
much of our individual members.” said Anderson.
“The way ATVANS acquires our executives is
through volunteers. We also have individuals
chosen by the individual clubs in the province
who work with us and who come to our annual
meeting so that they can pass on information to
us. We work for the individual clubs.”
Although ATVANS does not organize local clubs it
certainly is heavily involved in supporting
them. “Many of the clubs are very old and have
evolved from snowmobile clubs,” said Anderson.
“People are motivated enough to start their own
clubs, but we support the clubs any way
possible. For example, we provide a safety
training course and we help them with
applications and paperwork to get grants for
trail development. We also have a trail
coordinator on staff. His function is to visit
the clubs and help them plan reasonable routes.
We also help with trail development and a little
bit with marketing and fund raising, and we have
people on our staff who can give water crossing
certifications.”
In addition, to help assist the clubs, ATVANS
has divided the province of Nova Scotia into six
zones, and each zone has a director who
communicates with the clubs in his or her zone.
Safety Minded ATV Rally |
ATVANS promotes ATV recreation at fairs and
other events. It also contributes articles to
local newspapers and works very hard to put a
friendly face on ATV recreation. “I work very
hard to convey the message that ‘You meet the
nicest people on an ATV,’” said Anderson.
Benefits of being a member include:
- Peace of mind
- Insurance coverage
- A knowledge resource
- Camaraderie
- Improved trail access
- Opportunity to ride in some areas of the
province where others cannot.
The organization has a website (www.atvans.org).
The site is used to inform people who are not
members about the agenda of the group, provides
an on-line application for membership, updates
news that is of interest to ATV recreationists,
includes a club directory which has maps of
different areas of the province and information
on the local clubs associated with the group, an
extensive calendar that has information about
events and rides planned by the various clubs, a
mission statement, history of the organization,
a photo gallery, and links to the Nova Scotia
Trails Federation and the Canadian Off Highway
Vehicle Council.
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