By Bill Kaeppner

Do you want to ride dirt bikes on trails?

This seems like a crazy question, yet if you believe the adage "actions speak louder then words," you should understand why some government agencies think you do not want to ride offroad.

Last month OMTA (Ohio Multi-use Trails Association), along with members of Hocking Valley MC, Buckeye DualSporters, Honda and one of our local MSF trainers, went to the first scooping meeting at the Wayne National Forest. We had a strong showing, eight folks (five spoke) out 60 or 70 people there. Two folks spoke in favor of continuing logging and mineral extraction. Forty folks said kick the loggers, miners and dirt riders out. Remember, our relatively small number was a good showing for us!

There were three other meetings; I have no idea if anyone (motorized) even showed up at the others. No, we did not go to all the meetings, as 10 people are only 10 people no matter how many meetings they attend. We all have to be involved if we want to continue riding Wayne. If we do not have the will to be involved, others will use our inaction to kick us clean out.

When you read this you may have already missed a second chance to give input on what type of recreation will be in the new plan. From the time the latest intent letters were sent out until the last meeting was less then six weeks. Who's type of recreation will be pushed out if you do not show up?

The purpose of the public meetings is to share the results of the interviews and surveys. Participants in the meeting will be invited to identify opportunities for recreation development, both public and private.

Place	Date	Day	Location	Time
Jackson OH	April 1	Monday	Ohio State University Extension South District 017 Standpipe Road, PO Box 958 Jackson, OH 45640	7:00pm - 9:30pm
Woodsfield OH	April 3	Wednesday	Swiss Hills Career Center and High School Cafeteria 46601 State Route 78 Woodsfield, OH 43793	7:00pm - 9:30pm
Parkersburg WV	April 8	Monday	Dils Banquet & Meeting Center 521 Market Street Parkersburg, WV 26101	7:00pm - 9:30pm
Ashland KY	April 11	Thursday	Ashland Plaza Hotel 1 Ashland Plaza, Ballroom A Ashland, KY 41101	7:00pm - 9:30pm
Nelsonville OH	April 15	Monday	Hocking College, John Light Hall, Room 195 3301 Hocking Parkway Nelsonville, OH 45764	7:00pm - 9:30pm
McConnelsville OH	April 17	Wednesday	Morgan High School 800 Raider Drive McConnelsville, OH 43756	7:00pm - 9:30pm

If you ride the Wayne you must "sign up" as a friend of the Wayne to get notices. You can do so at www.fs.fed.us/r9/wayne/index.htm.

If you do not want to read about how we lost our trails, you must start going to www.ohiotrails.org for Ohio issues and, for national issues, the AMA (www.ama-cycle.org/index.asp), BRC (www.sharetrails.org/) or ARRA (responsiblerecreation.policy.net/home/).

et tu, ODOT?
Have you paid any attention to what ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation) is doing? They want to extend the four-lane portion of State Route 33 straight through Wayne so they will not have to buy more land. Good thinking. That saves money and cuts every trail at Wayne in half or more -- eliminates the Dorr run trail head too! The eco-radicals want grass-covered bridges for the animals; it does not take a brain surgeon to figure out what they want for us. You did not know you should write about the loss of Wayne to your representatives, did you? We just found out, too!

Will we cry for Wellsville?
If you live east of Columbus, you may know about Wellsville, 1,600 acres and rated one of the top-five off-road areas east of the Mississippi by a national off-road motorcycle magazine. OMTA is working with four-wheel drive and quad groups to keep it open. It is free to ride there, it is open and it is threatened. Two hours from Columbus and you never rode there? If we do not get involved, you never will.

Other issues
Do you know that we passed legislation to give immunity to political sub-divisions to build motor parks, extend liability immunity to landowners and provide financial incentives to allow access for recreation?

I could write volumes but the bottom line is if you are online, check the activists' sites weekly if not daily. Sign up at the offroad sites to get alerts and do not think you can respond to the alerts with "maybe next time." This could be the last time now!

I cannot make anything happen on the state level but we can!