Greenridge ORV trail threatened

http://www.dnr.maryland.gov/forests/orvreport.asp

Here is a link to the DNR's website containing their report on Maryland ORV trails. Greenridge ORV is currently closed and may be permanently closed as a result of the study. At the end of the report however, DNR says it is in their interest to expand the Maryland ORV trail network, mostly to keep people off of non-ORV trail land. You can post your comments to their website.

 

looks like this was already up on pirate ... and my letter was published

To whom it may concern:
As an avid OHV user in CA, who travels around the country in search of challenging public OHV parks to recreate on/in, I cannot thank you enough for considering the possibility of opening more land for OHV use.
We have relatively little legal lands to recreate on in the US, and the number of users is rising dramatically every year. Here in California the closest legal riding to me is about an hour on winding mountain roads, and the "good stuff" is a minimum of three.
as far as i know Maryland has only 86 miles of legally accessible OHV trails, but over 14.4% of Maryland's population over the age of 16 participate in OHV use. That works out to 577,600 people trapped into 86 miles of trails.
Imagine if that were one of your highways on your daily commute. You would find an alternate route. And in this case, alternate routes equal illegal routes.
I strongly urge you to add to the legal areas for OHV users to recreate on.
Sincerely,
F. M.

 

for anyone that is keeping up with this, DNR sent this email to people that left messages on their website.

Dear ORV Stakeholder -
I am writing to thank you for your time, attention and thoughtful input toward the ORV process thus far; and seek your interest in serving the process going forward. As promised, the Department is now preparing to finalize the named members for the ORV Stakeholder Workgroup. This group will guide us in determining possible locations for new ORV trails in MD. As mentioned in our last message, we intend to meet quarterly with a goal of identifying at least one new trail system in the next twelve months. This will require several on-site meetings in the field at locations worthy of consideration. To see these sites in person we will also need to meet during the day and generally on weekdays to avoid conflicts with landowners/managers-- so please consider those facts before submitting your name as a candidate to the group.

I will lead the ORV Stakeholder Workgroup with other DNR team-members supporting our efforts. Please reply with a short note expressing your interest in being named to the workgroup and the name of the organization and/or 'philosophy' represented by the group. We are generally looking for individuals who represent organized groups/associations/clubs in and around MD so please send one named representative (and perhaps one alternate) for each group. This workgroup will include non-riders but our focus will be on development of new ORV trail riding opportunities so please keep that in mind as it will mean a majority of members will be trail riders (including larger street-legal 4x4's, atvs, side-by-sides, dirt bikes -- dual-purpose and otherwise; and snowmobiles).

On behalf of the Department, thank you for your time and please reply with your note of interest by May 26, 2011 so we can compile the final membership and circulate our selections shortly thereafter.

Thank you and enjoy the weekend!

Paul