NOHVCC Helps Riders Protect Trails

With help from Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A., the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) will be conducting interactive web based workshops, or webinars, for OHV riders and anyone interested in OHV land use beginning in mid-June.  The workshops are designed to give riders the skills they’ll need to keep trails open in their areas.  The sessions will be 2 -3 hours long and will be conducted by the same OHV management experts who conduct the on-site NOHVCC workshops.

There are four separate modules that will be presented at various times to accommodate people’s busy schedules:

• The first session, Understanding Planning Processes, will help people understand the processes required for land planning, particularly on Forest Service Lands, how the process has changes since November, 2005, and how we reached this point.
• The second session, Getting Involved – Saving Your Trails, will help riders understand how to be effective in their efforts to influence the decisions that will determine where they can ride. 
• Sessions three and four, Planning OHV Trails – Part 1 and Planning OHV Trails – Part 2, will help riders and land managers understand how to plan, design, manage, and maintain trail systems that meet riders’ needs by providing high quality and adequate quantities of trails that riders will want to stay on, not trails that they have to stay on.

In addition to the interactive webinars, NOHVCC will be offering 14 video workshop sessions as podcasts.  The videos cover the same topics as the webinars without the interactive elements. Riders or groups who can’t participate in the webinars or workshops now have access to the knowledge they need to protect their riding opportunities.  The videos can be watched as streaming videos at www.nohvcc.org or NOHVCC can mail you a DVD with all sessions on one disc.

Russ Ehnes, Executive Director of the NOHVCC said “In these tight economic times we need to take advantage of technology to help riders get the information they need.  Last year we began developing the webinar and video programs with financial support from the Motorcycle Industry Council and Specialty Vehicle Institute of America.  This year, we will be delivering the webinars and videos with funding from the Yamaha OHV Access Initiative.  This program will help us reach thousands of OHV activists who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to take part in a NOHVCC workshop.”

The workshop modules were developed in cooperation with the American Motorcyclist Association, BlueRibbon Coalition, Motorcycle industry Council, Off-Road Business Association, Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, and United Four Wheel Drive Associations

For more information about signing up for the webinar sessions, viewing the video sessions, or to order a DVD, check out www.nohvcc.org or call 800-348-6487 .