|
By: Robert Janis
Make Friends and
Influence People
Joining a club is important, the clubs
are the voice of riders, and riders are
voters. This is the 2009 Fall ATVAM
convention held at Bemis Hill, near
Roseau, Minnesota
Warm, inviting meetings with elected
officials, Natural Resource Staff, and
ATVers is critical in promoting an
agenda that everybody can work with in
order to reach a common goal. Trail
access and responsible recreation is the
goal here.
Sign in the parking lot. |
In the 1930s, American self-improvement
author Dale Carnegie wrote “How to Make Friends
and Influence People.” The concept is
self-explanatory. You’ve also heard the phrase,
“You can attract more bees with honey than you
can with vinegar.” All this simply means that
you should create relationships with people who
hold power so that you can more easily sell your
ideas.
That is exactly what the ATV Association of
Minnesota and the
NorthStar ATV Club of
Minnesota is doing. And it has helped enormously
in the groups’ success of creating ATV trails on
the ground in several regions of Minnesota. The
groups concentrate on working with the state’s
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and
officials of the various local governments of
Minnesota. This strategy has proved more
successful than working with state officials
alone.
Phill Morud, director at large of the
All-Terrain Vehicle Association of Minnesota,
said, “It helps to have a prior relationship
with elected officials from the township level
to the state government. Just simply get on the
phone and call them or have breakfast with them.
Develop a relationship so they are more
receptive to you when you are trying to create a
trail.”
In Minnesota, and probably in most states in the
United States, the Department of Natural
Resources is a key agency with which to have
contact. The DNR has a number of grant programs
that provide funds for the development and
maintenance of ATV trails. It can be a major
source of money for a club that wants to start a
trail and maintain it. It is no accident that
Keith Myers, president of the NorthStar ATV
Club, and Morud has developed a strong
relationship with Wade Miller, parks and trails
area supervisor with the Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources (DNR). A simple explanation on
how a club can get a grant shows why such a
relationship is imperative. Miller explains.
“To apply for a grant a club or group comes to
the DNR’s Parks and Trails Division. They and a
DNR representative discuss a preliminary
proposal on a trail development after the club,
individual or group has identified a trail,
system of trails or tract of land they want
funding for to develop a trail. The rep gives
them a grant-in-aide manual which outlines the
criteria of the grant-in-aide program, an
application and several forms that must be
filled out. Also the club or group and the DNR
representative make a map of the area in
question and put together a project proposal or
application.
“Once that is done, the club or group must get a
sponsor. That can be any local unit of
government--a township, city, or county. The
government entity then drafts and passes a
resolution which identifies it as the fiscal
agent for the club or group. The sponsor then
submits the application for the grant to the
DNR.
“The application or proposal then goes through
an area review which includes the land’s
administrator, and/or the owner of the corridor
being considered. After the area review is
complete, the proposal goes on to other reviews
and the public is notified and given an
opportunity to comment and offer improvements to
the proposal. There are a total of three to four
levels of reviews before the proposal is
approved or modified. If approved, the club or
group gets the grant-in-aide permit and trail
insurance, and they can begin to maintain the
trail. As the club or group does work on the
trail, they document the work, submit
reimbursement documents to the grant-in-aide
program through the sponsor, and they are
reimbursed for their costs based on the
grant-in-aide allowable worksheet.”
Current and accurate record keeping is the
responsibility of the club or group and the
sponsor. The DNR grant-in-aide program pays up
to 90 percent of the cost of maintenance and
grooming and up to 65 percent of the cost of
acquisition, development, and administration. It
also pays for 90 percent of the trail insurance
that the club, individual, or group needs to get
every year. The permit is renewed every five
years and the grant money can be re-applied for
as long as all criteria are met.
Obviously, if you know the DNR representative
with whom you will be dealing as well as members
of a local government entity to sponsor you,
then the process works better and more smoothly.
However, you don’t necessarily have to rely on
the DNR for money. Phill Morud noted that the
All-terrain Vehicle Association of Minnesota has
seen funding come from counties. “We’ve had
counties who funded the trails or allowed clubs
to build trails on county land without going
through the grant-in-aide process,” he said.
“That’s when the county becomes very important,”
continued Morud. “It may own large enough pieces
of land from which trails can be created. Also,
an interesting thing about the grant-in-aide
program is that the sponsor can be any unit of
government. It does not have to have
jurisdiction over the area where the trail will
be created. A city could be a sponsor for a
trail outside the city’s limits.”
Still, if you are involved with the DNR, the
government entity can provide you with a
trail-building manual which offers the nuts and
bolts on how to build a trail and what the
standards are that need to be satisfied.
Jack Nelson, president of the Fourtown-Grygla
Sportsman’s Club, pointed out that if a bridge
needs to be constructed, it must meet certain
engineering standards as well as be
environmentally friendly. The DNR manual
provides the information needed to do this.
Keith Myers of the NorthStar ATV Club said that
his association has “great relationships” with
all the local counties in northwestern
Minnesota. He volunteered that his club has been
able to achieve a lot specifically with seven
counties in the northwest section of Minnesota.
Because of the clubs’ close relationship with
these counties, it is now permitted to use ATVs
for transportation, not just recreation, in that
region of the state. Moreover, the city of Thief
River Falls in northwest Minnesota allows the
use of ATVs as alternative transportation as
long as the driver has a permit. “It helps to
build relationships,” he said.
“It all comes down to developing relationships,”
concluded Myers. “They are just people like you.
Talk with them. Take them out for an ATV ride.
People only know what they’ve been told or
experience firsthand. When they hear that ATVs
can be a great family experience and a great
economic development tool, they will cooperate.
The key is to get to know each other and
understand each others’ concerns and address
those concerns to find common ground and move
forward.”
More information can be found at the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources website:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us. Click on “grants.”
Then click on “Recreation.” Then click on “ATV.”
Or at Find the Trails:
http://www.findthetrails.com. This site
identifies trails available for riding in
Minnesota and offers links to information that
guides you in the process of creating and
maintaining a trail.
|
